FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The City Council’s new president will be featured tomorrow in a public television broadcast as one of five veterans honored in a show entitled, “America’s Veteran’s: A Musical Tribute.”

Lonnie Mixon, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander and pilot with hundreds of combat-hour missions in Vietnam and dozens of rescues during his two-decades-long career, was elected president unanimously by the council Monday.

“Things are starting to run more smoothly now,” said Mixon, referring to the past year’s work of the new council that took office in November 2008. That first year has been marked by a number of legal changes in city procedures made by the council and subsequent, often heated, disagreements with Mayor Tim Kant over how municipal government should be run.

During the 2 p.m. Sunday broadcast on Alabama Public Television, Mixon will be one of five veterans chosen to represent each branch of the armed services. The U.S. Air Force Band will perform during the program, with Lou Gossett Jr. as master of ceremonies.

“I was proud for you,” Fairhope Chief of Police Bill Press said Thursday to Mixon at a personnel board meeting about his selection for the broadcast.

Mixon’s first year on the council has been a busy one, including his work as chair of the council’s finance committee and budget study group; as a leading member of the new Financial Advisory Committee; and his active role as liaison to the Strategic Planning Steering Committee and its efforts to develop a strategic plan for the city.

“Things just need a little tweaking now,” said Mixon, regarding the work he said had been accomplished by the council during the past year. “What I plan to do (as president) is make sure we do what state law says (regarding how city government should operate).”

At Monday’s council meeting, Mixon was elected to fill Councilwoman Debbie Quinn’s position as president, who stepped down after one year on the job.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, but I felt that it was time for another council member to gain the experience of council presidency,” Quinn said this week. “When the new council came in a year ago, its members were committed to do the job they were elected to do and provide direction and control over government operations that are based within the state constitution. We began to set the tone of government and have started enacting the laws that are establishing a better managed, fiscally sound city. It has been an honor to be my city’s council president,”

Councilman Mike Ford, the most senior member on the council and who has often cast the lone vote in support of policies supported by Kant and against changes made by the council this past year, was elected president pro tem, who presides during the council president’s absence.