The Iowa City City Council unanimously elected Bruce Teague and Megan Alter as mayor and mayor pro tem, respectively, on Tuesday. 

Teague and Alter were the only nominees for the two positions. 

Alter will serve her first term as mayor pro tem while Teague will serve his second term. 

“As we move forward in the next two years, I realized that there is a lot of learning to be done in this role as the leader of the city,” Teague said at the council’s special formal meeting Tuesday morning. 

In a statement to The Daily Iowan, Councilor Shawn Harmsen wrote that he thinks Teague is the right person for the position.

“As I’ve said when campaigning, I have a lot of respect for the job Bruce has done the last two years in the face of major upheaval,” Harmsen wrote. 

While Teague will continue his role as mayor, Alter will be taking up the position previously held by councilor Mazahir Salih, who did not seek re-election. 

Alter said she appreciates the hard work that the previous council has done, and hopes to continue to deepen relationships she has in the community as mayor pro tem. 

“You have been tested and tried and each one of you has brought a unique skill set and got a common approach in terms of trying to find the best answer for the city,” Alter said at the meeting. “It is something that I have greatly appreciated over the past several years before the work of COVID and social justice protests.”

Although Alter is new to the council, she isn’t new to working in the community, she said at the meeting. Alter said she has a lot to learn, but understands that there is no training when it comes to tackling problems. 

“I think that also what’s happened in the past two years is that no matter what kind of onboarding or orientation there is, the work is going to be there and is going to call upon each and every one of us as well as myself and that there isn’t necessarily training for that,” Alter said. 

Alter campaigned on expanding affordable childcare in Iowa City, and said at the meeting that she is confident in the council’s ability to find local solutions. 

Both Alter and Teague voiced their dedication to work alongside the rest of the council in the next two years as mayor and mayor pro tem. 

“I want to make sure that you all feel that you have an open door anytime to come and have discussions with me, because I really believe that as a council in order for us to work, being authentic and transparent is going to be the best way that we can work together,” Teague said.