Waverly mayor Reed announces resignation

WAVERLY -- Waverly Mayor Dale Reed announced his resignation Tuesday night, just days into his latest term.

Reed announced his resignation before other elected officials were sworn into office at the beginning of the Waverly City Council meeting.

Reed ran unopposed for re-election in November. He did not offer a reason for his resignation, but told attendees he thought he had served to the best of his ability. He left the meeting shortly after the announcement without any further comment.

Reed was serving as council president in 2006 when he was appointed to the mayor's post after former Mayor Bill Kelly resigned. He was replaced by current president of the board, Greg Kempton.

Kempton, who had served as the city's At-large representative and had been re-elected president in an unopposed race in November, will be mayor of Waverly for the next two years. He will be required to run in the next primary election in 2014 to keep the seat. Kempton said he wasn't surprised by the resignation but that he was surprised by the timing.

Replacing Kempton could prove difficult, as council was split three against three as to whom to appoint to fill the position.

After Kempton was sworn in as mayor, Joyce Thompson, 1st Ward, Dick Demlow, 2nd Ward, and Tom Patterson, At-large, supported a nomination of Patterson to serve as council president after Kempton's departure. New 5th Ward Councilman Brian Blakeman joined his father, Forest Blakeman, 4th Ward, and Bret Bevens, 3rd Ward, in voting against Patterson, and Bevens nominated Forest to serve as president. The trio voted in favor of that motion, but Thompson, Demlow and Patterson voted it down.

Demlow then moved that the council approve Patterson as president for Tuesday's meeting only so it could conduct business, but that also failed in a 3-3 deadlock along the same voting lines.

The council eventually unanimously agreed to allow Thompson to serve as president pro-tem for the Tuesday meeting. The face-off set the stage for another disagreement.

The council had to take nominations to fill Kempton's at-large seat vacancy. Thompson, Demlow and Patterson nominated former councilman Steve Fisher, who chose not to run in 2011 for the seat the younger Blakeman has. Fisher said he would agree to serve if appointed, but both Blakemans and Bevens voted against it.

Bevens then nominated former council member Jonathan Claytor, who in 2006 at age 23 resigned from the council. His nomination was supported by the Blakemans, but defeated by Demlow, Thompson and Patterson.

The council has 30 days to appoint a seventh council member to replace Kempton on the board and to select a new member to serve as council president. If members don't, Kempton in his new mayoral capacity will have to make the appointment.

"I really do want council to make that appointment, and I believe they can," Kempton said, hinting that the council could call a special meeting to discuss and reach an agreement on the issue.

In the meantime, Kempton said his biggest issue will be tackling the city's budget, which needs to be cut by about $500,000, according to Auditor Harvey Whaley's estimates.

"The general fund and building the budget is going to be my number one (priority)," Kempton said.

Source: http://chillicothegazette.com/article/20120104/NEWS01/201040305/1002/rss01

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