For one day and one day only, the City of Troy had a new mayor.

Jimmy Lunsford stepped aside and let the Mayor for a Day Carly Smith take the reins and the responsibilities of operating the city along with the day’s city clerk, Rebecca Brown, and city council members, Caleb Gray, Sara Saunders, Ja’Toriana King, Chandler Cox and Trace Jackson.

The newly appointed officials for the day were the winners of the city’s 8th Annual Mayor for a Day competition.

“The winners were chosen through an essay competition by a panel of anonymous judges,” said Erin Wood, city of Troy planning assistant. “Seventh graders from Charles Henderson Middle School, Pike Liberal Arts School and New Life Christian Academy participated in the competition. The purpose of ‘Mayor for a Day’ is to show the future leaders of Troy how our city operates and also to get students involved in the community.”

The Mayor for a Day, city clerk and council members first visited the tourism and public relations department and then toured the Johnson Center for the Arts, the police station and Fire Station I.

After lunch at Ruby Tuesday with Mayor Lunsford, City Clerk Alton Starling, city council members and the judges of the essay competition, they toured the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant and then went to City Hall to write a resolution based on one of their essay topics.

Mayor Carly Smith, PLAS, was impressed with the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

“It was interesting to see how our waste water is turned into drinking water,” she said.

The mayor’s city clerk, Rebecca Brown, PLAS, also found it interesting to see how wastewater is turned into clean water, “Even though it smelled really bad.”

Three of the council members found the waste water treatment plant “interesting.”

“But it was very stinky,” said Caleb Gray, PLAS but Trace Jackson, CHMS, was impressed that the city of Troy uses no chemical in its treatment of water and that it’s a natural process.

Ja’Toriana King, CHMS, learned “new stuff” about where wastewater goes but she really liked the police station because she had her mug shot taken.

Sara Saunders, PLAS, got her mug shot taken at the police station and also enjoyed seeing the fire station.

Chandler Cox’s favorite place to visit was the police station.

“It was a great experience learning about what they go through every day,” said Chandler of PLAS. “I also liked seeing what criminals go through when they go there. Having our mug shots taken was fun, too. Everything has been great.”

Wood agreed.

“Everything went extremely well,” she said. “The students are intelligent and they gave us a glimpse into the future of Troy. From what we saw, it will be in the hands of good leaders.”