When Pittsburgh City Council members open their regularly scheduled meeting this morning, the first order of business will be to elect a new council president.

Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Jim Motznik Click photo for larger image.

The former president, District 1 representative Luke Ravenstahl of the North Side, was sworn in as mayor after the death of the late Mayor Bob O'Connor late Friday and, by law, has had to give up his council seat.

That leaves council with eight members and District 4 Councilman James Motznik, the council president pro tem, in charge.

"Right now, I'm the acting president," Mr. Motznik said last night. "If something were to happen or they needed to get hold of council members and have a quick meeting, it would be up to me to make sure that happens."

Mr. Motznik said he will open today's meeting at 10 a.m. and then turn it over to City Clerk Linda Johnson-Wasler, who will call for the election of a new president.

Mr. Motznik, who has been president pro tem for four years, said he has spoken with all the members and asked them to support his bid for the job.

With an even number of members, it is possible there could be a tie vote, but there is no tie-breaking procedure. In the event of a tie, the members would recess and discuss the matter, then vote again.

"Somebody needs five votes to become the president," Mr. Motznik said.

Otherwise, he said, the meeting -- the council's first since its three-week August recess -- should be brief.

"There won't be a lot of legislation introduced, and there won't be a final vote on anything because we just got back," Mr. Motznik said. "The only thing is we have to do is reorganize. When there's a vacancy in the presidency of the City Council, at the next meeting, council needs to elect a new president."

The council president is in charge of scheduling public hearings and meetings and assigning council members to chair eight different committees.

If he is elected council president, Mr. Motznik said, he would be obligated to surrender his chairmanship of the council's Parks, Recreation and Youth Policy Committee until Mr. Ravenstahl's seat is filled in a special election on the November ballot. That chairmanship would likely remain empty in the interim, but Mr. Motznik said he would probably continue to oversee operations "so everything keeps moving forward."

As far as the other committee chairmanships are concerned, he said, "I'll probably leave council members where they're at. If everybody's on the same page, I'm not going to make any waves.

"No matter what happens, the business of the city of Pittsburgh has to move forward. And it will."