DAPHNE, Alabama— First term City Councilman Dane Haygood was appointed to the position of mayor Monday night after the council members voted for him 5 to 1.

Haygood is the 36-year-old councilman from District 7 who defeated Gus Palumbo for the seat in the municipal election last year. He will take the vacant mayoral seat left after the death of Bailey Yelding Jr. last month.

Haygood said he would work hand-in-hand with the council and that he was confident he and the council would continue to work together as Yelding envisioned.

“First and foremost I want to thank the council for entrusting me with this great opportunity,” Haygood said. “I’m certainly grateful, excited and humbled for this opportunity to serve the city of Daphne. I’m certainly not the most experienced member of the council.”

Haygood is president of H Properties LLC, a Baldwin County real estate firm. He formed the Brighter Baldwin PAC in October 2011 and has supported the campaigns of former mayoral candidate Derek Boulware, Probate Judge Tim Russell and District Judge Jody Bishop, who ran for a Circuit Court judge position.

Council President Ron Scott and Councilman John Lake were also nominated for the position by fellow council members. Four votes were needed for a council member to be elected to the post. Both Scott and Lake each received three. Haygood received five votes, with Councilwoman Tommie Conaway the lone nay vote.

Nominees could not vote for themselves because of the pay raise associated with the mayoral position. Haygood will finish out Yelding’s four year term and receive a salary of $75,000 a year.

Scott said that he felt the council made a good decision and that after working with Haygood for the last three months, he has seen a lot of promise in him.

“I found him to be extremely bright and extremely detail oriented,” Scott said. “I think we are going to get a new set of eyes. Mayor Yelding wanted to move the city forward and I think Mr. Haygood will take that same attitude.”

Not everyone was so enthusiastic about Haygood’s win though. Daphne citizen Rod Drummond spoke to the council during public participation.

“First I want to say congratulations to the new mayor. I know Mr. Ron Scott has been acting mayor here and I think he would have done a good job if he had been appointed tonight,” Drummond said. “There are several other people on the council that would have done a good job but they have very short experience in government. I am a little disappointed at the fact that nobody on this council never drew more than 18 percent of the vote from Daphne and a man who got almost 50 percent of the votes in the last election wasn’t even considered by anybody on this council.”

Drummond is referring to former Councilman Derek Boulware who was narrowly defeated by Yelding in a run-off last year. Because only citizens in each district vote for their councilman, Drummond said that at most 20 percent of the city voted for each of the council members, while the entire city voted for mayor. Only 121 votes separated Yelding and Boulware in the run-off election.

After Haygood was sworn in by City Clerk Rebecca Hayes, the council declared a vacancy in the District 7 seat. Citizens of District 7, which covers the northern part of the city including the northern part of Lake Forest and Timbercreek, who are interested in the position have until Feb.18 at 5 p.m. to notify City Hall. The council will then interview the candidates and select one to fill the position in a process similar to the one used to appoint the new municipal judge last month said Scott.