(Posted Feb. 15, 2016)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Charles W. Neff resigned as mayor of Mount Sterling. Lowell Anderson, village council president, is filling the seat.
According to Anderson, Neff submitted his letter of resignation at town hall on Feb. 8, returning the same day to remove personal items from his office. He did not attend that night’s regular council meeting. His letter does not state why he stepped down.
“I wasn’t surprised, but I didn’t think it would be yesterday,” Anderson said on Feb. 9 about Neff’s departure. He added that Neff “did a commendable job” in his longtime service as a councilman and as mayor.
Neff had just started a new four-year term in January, following re-election in November. Anderson will act as mayor through the end of this year. The unexpired term will be up for election this November.
Anderson has prior experience as mayor of Mount Sterling, winning election in 1976 and serving for 12 consecutive years, prior to which he served his first stint on council. His current tenure on council started 12 years ago. He also spent 12 years as a Madison-Plains school board member.
A retired teacher, Anderson is a member of Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church, Masonic Lodge 269, the Mount Sterling Chamber of Commerce, the Madison County Republican Central Committee and the Mount Sterling emergency squad board.
Neff’s resignation follows the resignation of village administrator Joe John-son, whose last day on the job was Jan. 15. Council set a meeting for 12 p.m. Feb. 13 to review applications for the position. Interviews will follow at a later date.
In addition to his responsibilities as mayor, Neff was filling in as village administrator after Johnson left. Now, those duties fall to Anderson. As for when council hopes to name a new village administrator, Anderson replied, “Soon.”
