In a 3-2 vote, the Rollingwood City Council named Barry Bone as the city’s newest alderman July 21.

Bone, Leslie Davis and Kelli Carlton applied for the seat that was vacated when Bill Hamilton was elected mayor in May.

The four sitting council members were divided between Carlton and Bone, who were both in the audience Wednesday night. Alderwomen Sara Hutson and Roxanne McKee supported a motion to name Carlton to the council, while Shanthi Jayakumar and John Hinton supported Bone. Mayor Bill Hamilton, who votes only to break a tie, cast the deciding vote.

The city had the option to appoint an alderman or call a special election in November to elect someone to the empty seat. Hamilton emphasized the need to have a fifth council member during the upcoming budget discussions in which a property tax rate will be set for the city.

“I’ve had a number of comments from residents that we should wait and call an election in November,” Hamilton told the council and audience. “I used to be on that position. We will need to adopt a property tax rate and budget in September. We need four council members present for that, and there is a risk that an emergency could keep someone from being here.”

If the rate and budget are not set in September there is a risk that the city may not have a budget in place for the start of the new fiscal year in October.

During a contentious debate, McKee and Hutson criticized Bone’s past actions and a blog about city politics that he runs.

“This blog had a lot of sarcastic and very biting remarks against neighbors,” McKee said. “We need everyone to come together.”

She also criticized Bone for announcing earlier this month that he was resigning from the utility commission and that he would not be filling an application for the alderman position because of work commitments, only to file the application a few days later.

Bone explained that he was in pain the night of his announcement from a broken heel. He said his foot and leg were in an immobilizing boot Wednesday night, and that stress from work had caused him to withdraw prematurely.

“I should not have said that,” Bone told the City Council. “I started the blog because I thought the information presented to the public [by the city] was inadequate.”

Jayakumar was clearly upset by the negative comments about Bone.

“I can get along without going negative. I truly believe we need to move forward positively,” she said.

Jayakumar said that she supported Bone over Carlton for his professional expertise in finance, which the council is currently without and would come in handy during the upcoming budget discussions.

Alderman John Hinton agreed.

“We are going into the hardest budget year this city has every had,” he said. “Barry’s skill set will help us get through this budget season.”

“I reluctantly choose to support this motion,” Hamilton said, adding that he supported Bone for his financial skills as well.

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future,” he said during the discussion.

Bone will serve the remainder of Hamilton’s term on the council and will come up for re-election in May 2011.