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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

HELENA – The members of the Helena City Council appointed Andy Healy to City Council Place 2 during a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Jan. 13 at Helena City Hall.

Healy was chosen by the council following a series of interviews that were held in December in an effort to replace former Council member Chris VanCleave, who stepped down from his position due to health concerns.

Healy has been a resident of the city for 15 years and moved to Helena with his family after finishing up his work with the government in 2010. Originally from Mobile, Alabama, Healy has been serving on the TAG Grant committee and desires to address infrastructure and financial needs throughout the city.

“I signed up just to see if I could even be part of the selection,” Healy said. “I’ve been here 15 years and we can’t see ourselves going anywhere else. I have an older daughter that graduated from Helena and my youngest is in seventh grade now. We’re going to stay here. This is a beautiful community, and I’ve done a lot of work in the past. It was neat to actually get to the next level of being part of the City Council.”

Healy joins the municipal government almost seven months ahead of the 2025 election, which is set for Tuesday, Aug. 26, which will feature at least three new faces being elected to the City Council.

In other news, Mayor Brian Puckett gave a report on the municipal operations of the police and fire departments, discussing his satisfaction with the job they provided through the snowy weather conditions on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10.

Prior to the meeting, the council removed its plan to make the appointment of its liaison vacancies for the Helena Utilities Board, the Beautification Board and the Economic Development Board, tabling it for a future meeting for the new group of five council members to vote on.

The council also presented a proclamation declaring January 2025 as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month, highlighting the city’s commitment to strengthening awareness and prevention efforts towards such matters.

In other business, the council also accepted the employees who were elected to the Grievance Committee. Kevin Bullock, a human resources director for Impact Family Counseling, was selected by the council for appointment. Ben Nichols, an Army veteran and former police officer, was also selected as an employee to be appointed.

Both Bullock and Nichols will now be tasked with selecting a third individual to be appointed from the remaining three applicants, among which are Dawn Caballero, Mike Matthews and Andy Klein.

Finally, the council accepted the resignation of Helena Old Town Board Member Jason Pruitt. Pruitt resigns from the board following his time as the chairman, doing so in order to spend more time with his family and his business, Oversoul Brewing.