When the Lathrop City Council convenes next week, there will be somebody new stepping in to run meetings in the absence of Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal.

Lathrop City Councilwoman Minnie Diallo was appointed last month as the city’s new vice mayor – a position that had previously been held by Paul Akinjo, who has indicated that he will be running for mayor later this year.

Diallo was elected in 2020 and will be finishing her current term with the upcoming election.

The appointment is routinely made in December by the mayor, and according to the council’s own rules and procedures, in the absence of the mayor the vice mayor has all of the same powers including signing resolutions that were adopted in their presence.

The only time that the appointment is not made in December is if there is an election that could impact the makeup of the council and the meeting occurs before the official certification of the results.

Diallo, a lifelong resident of Lathrop and member of the Cotton Family – immortalized forever in Reverend Maurice Cotton Way and Missionary Minnie Cotton Lee Park – had been active in local politics even before her election to the council.

During the summer of 2020 – prior to being elected to her current seat, and while serving as a city commissioner – Diallo helped organize Lathrop’s Black Lives Matter march in River Islands. Diallo had been active for years in various local capacities.

She also played a role in creating a city-recognized and sponsored event honoring Juneteenth – the formal celebration and new federal holiday that honors the day that slavery formally ended in the United States of America.

While the transition has already formally taken place, the council’s next meeting will mark the first time in over a year that Akinjo hasn’t been seated to the right of Sonny Dhaliwal on the council dais. That dais will look very different next year now that Dhaliwal – currently finishing a record sixth term at the helm of the city – has said he will not run again and is vying to represent Lathrop on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

Akinjo, who has been on the council for more than a decade, has said that he will run for the mayor’s seat in the upcoming election.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com.