Maricopa City Councilmember Vincent Manfredi is getting a second opportunity to serve as vice mayor. He will serve Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026, after previously serving as vice mayor in 2022.

Sitting Vice Mayor Henry Wade tonight thanked the council for the opportunity to serve and said Manfredi “is going to do even more with the capacity that he possesses.”

Councilmembers unanimously voted in favor of the motion.

Manfredi said he looks forward to stepping back into the role, particularly as the city braces for a busy year on transportation.

“It’s an honor to be chosen by my fellow councilmembers and mayor unanimously to serve as vice mayor,” he said. “Over the next year, we’ll be faced with many transportation issues and fighting to keep the funding we have in place.”

In addition to his role on Maricopa City Council, Manfredi serves on several regional transportation bodies, including the Arizona Rural Transportation Advisory Council Board, Pinal Regional Transportation Authority Board, Arizona League of Cities and Towns Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Works Committee and the Maricopa Association of Governments Transportation Policy Committee.

The vice mayor’s one-year term is mostly ceremonial, but the person in the seat is responsible for performing the mayor’s duties when the mayor is absent. That includes attending local, regional and state meetings if the mayor cannot.

Councilmember Amber Liermann, who served as vice mayor last year, called the position “quite a time commitment.”

Manfredi agreed. Before Wade’s tenure, he noted the role can feel like “more work than just being a council member.”

“When the mayor is not available, you are the mayor. The vice mayor goes to a lot of different events, talks to the people and does speeches and ribbon cuttings if the mayor is not available,” he said last year.

Editor’s note: Vincent Manfredi is the owner of InMaricopa.