Less than a day into his tenure as mayor, Kevin Meara is struggling with council over exactly when his tenure will end.

Hamilton may have its next mayor Friday afternoon, if the town council has its way. A majority of that body has requested they meet less than a day after the municipal Republican committee decides on three names to replace convicted former mayor John Bencivengo.

Councilwoman Kelly Yaede, who has put her name forward as a potential mayor, signed off on the Friday meeting and said the council can’t delay.

“I believe it is best to have a more permanent mayor as soon as possible in order to move forward from this unfortunate chapter in Hamilton’s history,” she said.

Meara, who took over for Bencivengo after he resigned last week, said he was concerned about the council’s motivations. He still maintains his presidency of council and scheduled a special meeting to select the new mayor Dec. 20, two days after conducting interviews with the candidates.

“If we start to try to hijack and manipulate the process the public is going to lose full faith in what we’re doing,” he said.

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