A usually-reliable source says Sonny Vickers will be appointed
interim Mayor of Valdosta tomorrow
by the

Valdosta City Council at its 5:30 PM 8 September meeting.

Since he’s

running unopposed
for

City Council District 3,
Sonny Vickers can resign from that post,
get appointed mayor,
and get re-elected as Council 3 in November.

This is the same method used in 2003 when former Mayor
James H. Rainwater died before the election.
Council appointed David Sumner interim mayor.
According to the VDT 31 August 2011:

At that time, Councilman David Sumner assumed the role of mayor, but had
to resign his council seat to do so. He had already qualified to rerun
for his seat in the November 2003 election, was re-elected to his seat
and stepped down as mayor at the end of 2003, re-assuming his duties as
a newly elected councilman at the beginning of 2004.

If they don’t appoint Vickers interim mayor tomorrow,
the Valdosta City Council will probably appoint somebody else.
According to the VDT today:

Vickers is among those being considered for appointment by council,
along with Dexter Sharper and David Sumner, who are also former council
members. Vickers pointed out that he did not submit his name for
consideration, but rather it was mentioned in conversations with other
council members.

We’ll see.

In the November election, one of

Brooks D. Bivins, John Gayle, or Gary Minchew
will be elected mayor (unless of course there’s a runoff).

-jsq