Houston mayor, deputy mayor resign after five months

What you need to know:

• Houston Mayor Jason Kahn and Deputy Mayor Dan Lewis resigned Thursday after about five months in their roles and returned to regular seats on the City Council.
• Kahn said he resigned due to personal issues and time constraints. Lewis said he resigned to give the city a fresh start as Khan stepped down.
• The council selected former Mayor Carter Cole as mayor in a 6-1 vote and unanimously chose Jeffrey Brasel as deputy mayor, with both taking office immediately. Cole said he plans to restart some stalled city programs.

• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

HOUSTON -- Houston Mayor Jason Kahn and Deputy Mayor Dan Lewis have resigned from their positions and returned to regular seats on the city council, effective immediately.

The council voted 6-1 to select Council Member and former Mayor Carter Cole to take over the top seat, with Council member Lisa Johansen voting no. 

Council member Jeffrey Brasel was unanimously selected as deputy mayor.

Kahn and Lewis announced their resignations at the beginning of a regular City Council meeting Thursday, with Cole and Brasel voted into the roles immediately afterward. It is Cole’s fourth term as mayor. 

Kahn said he resigned because he cannot devote enough time to the job and because of personal challenges that have arisen since his election in October. Lewis said he resigned in tandem with Kahn to give the city a fresh reset.

Houston is a second-class city. The mayor serves a one-year term, is appointed by a vote of the council rather than by residents, and receives a salary of $1,500 a month. Council members are paid $50 per regular meeting. 

The mayor is expected to work for the city at least 100 hours a month, according to Houston city code. The deputy mayor is expected to fill in for the mayor when needed but does not have a required number of work hours.

Kahn was first elected to the council in October. He was selected as mayor in a 4-3 vote during a chaotic council meeting late that month, during which Alaska State Troopers were called to restore order following repeated outbursts from members of the public and a disagreement between council members over meeting rules and a possible conflict of interest in selecting Kahn.

Kahn said he decided to submit his resignation earlier this week but had been thinking about taking the step for a while. The job came with a greater learning curve than he expected, he said in an interview. 

“I feel bad for my decision,” he said during the meeting. “I wish I could’ve kept on going.” 

Cole said he learned of Kahn’s resignation during the council meeting. He said he will focus on cleaning up waiting paperwork and pushing forward city programs that were paused after Kahn’s selection as mayor.

“I’m going to get a lot of things back on track,” he said in an interview during the meeting. That includes filling the city's vacant treasurer job, he said.  

City Treasurer Samantha Jones resigned last month. Cole said he plans to contact her to see if she will consider returning to the job.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com