Carol Cole
The Norman Transcript

There were tears and smiles as new Mayor Cindy Rosenthal and five councilmembers were given the oath of office at Tuesday's special meeting by Municipal Court Judge David Poarch.

Rosenthal is Norman's second female mayor after June Benson, who served as mayor for two terms from 1957-58 and 1959-60 after election by council. She is Norman's first popularly elected woman mayor, and served for three years as Ward 4 councilmember, representing central Norman.

Rosenthal is a political science professor at the University of Oklahoma and the director of the Carl Albert Center.

After giving Rosenthal the oath of office, Poarch administered the oath to Ward 1 councilmember Bob Thompson, Ward 3 councilmember Hal Ezzell, Ward 5 councilmember Rachel Butler and Ward 7 councilmember Doug Cubberley.

Council filled the Ward 4 seat vacated by Rosenthal by attorney Carol Price Dillingham, who was given the oath of office by Poarch shortly after that.

Rosenthal, who had a wide smile for much of the evening, joked over a small verbal stumble as she introduced the balance of the evening's agenda.

"This takes some getting used to," she said.

As the meeting concluded, Rosenthal said the door exhibit at the Depot exemplified the future of Norman.

"A time of doors that are opening and doors that are closing," Rosenthal said, referring to the exhibit that was up on the walls at her inaugural block party Sunday. "We are opening a door here for the future of the City of Norman with a new city manager."

She said she felt particularly honored and humbled to have been elected as mayor for the next three years.

Rosenthal said she was looking forward to working with new councilmembers Ezzell and Dillingham and the rest of the council.