SCRANTON — Tom Schuster was the lone member of the next Scranton City Council to express interest in serving as council president when the city’s legislative body reorganizes in early January.

The five members who will make up that iteration of council — Schuster, Mark McAndrew, Jessica Rothchild and newcomers Patrick Flynn and Sean McAndrew, all Democrats — held a brief caucus Thursday to discuss the coming reorganization.

They made no formal decisions about leadership roles, committee assignments or anything else during the roughly 14-minute-long session run by current council Vice President Mark McAndrew, who asked his current and future council colleagues who among them was interested in the president and vice president positions next year.

Schuster was the only of the five to express interest in the council presidency, while Flynn and Rothchild both noted their interest in the vice presidency. Whatever the incoming council ultimately decides will be made official during council’s Jan. 5 reorganization meeting at City Hall, when and where Flynn and Sean McAndrew will be sworn in.

Council reorganization meetings must take place on the first Monday of the year.

Schuster, an incumbent councilman appointed to fill a vacancy in 2020 and elected to a full council term in 2021, was reelected to a new four-year council term in November’s municipal election. Flynn and Sean McAndrew, Mark McAndrew’s nephew, also won council seats in the Nov. 4 contest and will replace outgoing Councilmen Bill King and Gerald Smurl, the current council president, during next month’s reorganization.

King did not seek reelection this year.

Smurl did, but withdrew from Democratic primary contention in March over issues with his nomination petitions. His subsequent run for reelection as an independent candidate was unsuccessful. With three council seats up for grabs, Smurl finished fourth in a six-man race, well behind Flynn, Schuster and Sean McAndrew.

Mark McAndrew and Rothchild, both of whom were first elected to council in 2019, were reelected in 2023 to new four-year council terms they’re currently serving.

While nothing’s yet set in stone, Schuster said he’s ready for the role should he become council president.

“With me and Mark and Jess being the senior leaders of council, I’m ready to step up and I’m looking forward to 2026,” Schuster said. “I want to take a look at the zoning ordinance and a couple other things that we’ve been talking about moving into next year.”

Members were not yet sure Thursday when on Jan. 5 the reorganization meeting will take place.