SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council voted three to one on Tuesday to name Carlton Jackson Jr. the next member of the council, filling a vacancy that has been open since former Councilor Anthony Smith resigned in September.

Jackson was nominated by Mayor Pro Tem Tamara Sheffield and was selected along with Councilor David Post’s nomination, DeeDee Wright, as the two finalists from among 13 Salisbury residents who submitted applications. Post was the only councilor to vote for Wright, with Sheffield, Mayor Karen Alexander and Councilor Harry McLaughlin all voting for Jackson.

“I think this is the most important vote we will cast during this term,” said Post.

Jackson is a long-time resident and community volunteer in Salisbury. Jackson now serves as the chairperson of the Rowan County Board of Social Services and has served on the city’s Community Appearance Commission, the Waterworks Visual Arts Center board of directors and the Rowan Helping Ministries board of directors. He has also worked with the Rowan-Salisbury School System through the School to Work program, according to a previous story profiling him.

“He has also been an employee of Duke Energy for about 40 years. I have personally known him and admired his commitment to community, serving in so many different ways. Particularly when there would be issues with Duke Energy for our community, he was always there,” said Alexander.

Alexander also mentioned that Jackson’s name first entered the process when he was recommended by Wright.

The 13 people that wanted to join the city council were required to go through an application process, which Alexander said provided plenty of information about each of the candidates initially. After the deadline, councilors were asked to parse the applications and decide on their top two candidates, at which point the councilors were encouraged to conduct individual interviews with the candidates and land on their top overall candidate.

One of the main reasons that Post supported Wright was because she had agreed to not run for reelection. He said that being an incumbent had “real power” when the election came around and that once the term was up, the seat would be “open and the public can make the decision.”

Alexander said that she did not want to choose Wright because Wright’s role in the community was an ability to watch the city government from outside and call out any issues she saw.

“She’s the provocateur. She’s the person that’s going to keep us always doing the right thing. She’s going to ask those tough questions from the (council room) dais. She’s wonderful, she’s an incredible leader,” said Alexander.

Jackson will be sworn at an upcoming city council meeting. His term will run through the end of Smith’s expected term, at which point the seat will be up for election in 2025.