At a special called meeting of the Temple City Council, councilman Jay Mann resigned from his post and his father, Larry Mann, was appointed by the council to replace him.

The younger Mann had served on the city council since 2010 after being elected in 2009. His term expires at the end of this year.

"I'm humbled and honored at the level of trust the citizens placed in me to represent them on their city council," said Mann. "I'm honored to have worked alongside other great public servants as well and will miss everyone dearly. I pray that God has blessed everyone and everything they do."

Larry Mann and Temple Mayor Rick Ford said Jay left his post because he has moved to Bremen to be a part of that community, and also to serve as a pastor at LifeGate Church, which is located in the city. Mann has a secular job at the moment, but eventually plans to transition into pastoring full time.

"Jay's a pastor at a church in Bremen and he's trying to help grow the congregation and be involved in the community, so he decided to move there," said Ford. "He had to resign because he no longer lives in the city limits. If you move while in office you have to resign and vacate your seat."

Ford thanked Mann for his service to the city.

"We appreciate Jay Mann," he said. "He served admirably and did a great job for the city. But in turn we're getting a good person with experience. The city is in good shape either way."

The city council seat will stay in the Mann family with the appointment of Jay's father, as it has for more than 20 years. Larry Mann served on Temple's city council from 1990 to the end of 2009 and said the council asked if he would finish his son's term.

"The city charter reads that if someone has less than a year to serve on their term then the mayor and council can appoint someone, so they talked to me and asked if I could come on," Mann said. "It was a unanimous vote, so I'm back."

Mann's seat is one of three that is up for re-election in 2013. The three council members up for election are Mann, Terry Bivins and Ford. However, Mann said his appointment will not lead to another full term on the council.

"I will not run for re-election," said the elder Mann. "I don't plan to run again, I dropped out three years ago. They thought that since I had experience I could catch up pretty well and I'd know what's going on. It takes someone a little while to learn what's what so that was my reason for accepting. But I don't plan to run again, someone else will do it starting next January."

Mann's appointment will last until Jan. 1, 2014, when the new council is sworn in following this year's elections. He said he hasn't outlined goals for the year just yet, but he will begin work right away.

"I'll just look at what's going on," Mann said. "I've always stated my opinion, good, bad or whatever. Since I've been away from the council I haven't kept up with the city so it'll be a little learning curve."

One reason Mann was appointed immediately was that Councilman William Simmons has been out lately with lingering health issues, which would leave only three sitting council members in Jay Mann's absence. At least three members must be present to conduct a meeting, so if any one of the three missed a meeting no business could be conducted. Mann's appointment on the same night as his son's appointment will prevent this scenario.

Mann said his son has been a member of LifeGate Church for about two years, and in that time the church's membership has grown steadily.