Fourth District City Councilwoman Kristen M. Nye is anticipated to be the new president of Richmond’s governing body.

Next Tuesday, Jan. 2, City Council will hold its organizational meeting to vote on new officers following the departure of Dr. Michael J. Jones.

He will officially step down Sunday, Dec. 31, as council president and as the 9th District representative, as he prepares to take the 77th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates that he won in the November election.

Ms. Nye has served as council vice president during the past year, and a majority of her colleagues have signaled that she will have their support.

The key question is who will serve in the No. 2 council post. Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch had appeared to be the favorite.

Her election would mark the first time in decades that a Black member would not hold a leadership post on the council, in part a reflection that the city has flipped in the past 13 years from majority Black to majority white in the wake of the significant population growth.

In addition to her council seat, Ms. Lynch is a wife, mother and full-time lobbyist at the state level. She gave birth to her third child on Dec. 13. Grace Eloise Jane Dunbar was born a healthy 7.1 pounds, it was announced.

Ms. Lynch’s interest in serving as a council officer will become clearer when the meeting takes place.

Following the election, the council will meet in committee and consider taking the first step toward extending city employee health and family leave policies to domestic partners, whether same sex or opposite sex.

Ms. Nye has introduced a resolution that calls on the administration to develop a plan that would allow the partner of a city employee to be added to that employee’s health insurance and allow city employees to take family leave for matters involving their domestic partner on the same basis as spouses now can.