December 1, 2005

Alexander steps down from Council

Mary Alexander resigned from Council.

By Robert Mihalek

Mary J. Alexander resigned as a member of Village Council on Monday.

Alexander notified Council of her decision in a letter to Council dated Nov. 28. Her resignation was effective immediately.

In early October, Alexander announced her intention to resign from Council because of health reasons sometime between the end of November and next spring.

In the letter to Council, Alexander said she plans to have back surgery in late January 2006, and soon thereafter, she and her husband, Bill Alexander, intend to move to Louisville.

She said in the letter that she realized during Council’s meeting on Nov. 21 that “I will not be here to implement any decisions made for the future of Yellow Springs. Therefore, it is only fair that I resign from my seat on the Council effective immediately.”

Stepping down now, Alexander said, would allow her replacement to be involved in Council’s decision-making process for 2006 as well as the selection of a new Village manager. Council is likely to hire a manager next weekend, Dec. 9–11, when two candidates are coming to Yellow Springs for job interviews.

In an interview on Tuesday, Alexander said that while she hates to leave Council, “at this point my health comes first.”

She said people would often stop her downtown and talk to her about Council meetings. “It’s been a real experience and I really enjoyed it,” she said.

She said she and her husband had had plans to eventually move to Louisville since before she joined Council. Bill Alexander is from Louisville and they have family living there, including a daughter, Mary Alexander said.

Alexander’s resignation comes a week after a new Council was seated, following the Nov. 8 election. Last week, Judith Hempfling, Bruce Rickenbach and Karen Wintrow were sworn in on Council. Hempfling and Wintrow are new to Council, while Rickenbach was appointed to Council last April.

Alexander first joined Council in March 2003, when she was appointed to fill a vacancy. She then received a four-year term during the General Election later that year.

The Village Charter requires that the remaining Council members appoint Alexander’s replacement within 30 days.

Whoever is appointed to Council will serve the remainder of Alexander’s term, which expires after the November 2007 election.

Council president Jocelyn Hardman said on Tuesday that Council will discuss the vacancy during its next meeting, on Dec. 5.

She said she plans to recommend that Council follow the process when Alexander and Rickenbach were appointed and solicit interest from villagers willing to serve on Council. Council would then appoint Alexander’s replacement out of those who applied.

Hardman also said it seemed unlikely that Council would appoint a new member before the interviews with the manager candidates.

However, she said that it may be possible that Council could appoint someone to serve as an interim Council member until a permanent replacement is selected.

The Village Charter does not address the possibility of Council appointing an interim member.

Hardman said that Alexander will be missed on Council. “She’s going to be very hard to replace,” Hardman said.

“She and her husband really embody that spirit of sacrifice and community that seems to really represent” their generation of Yellow Springs residents, Hardman said.

Contact: rmihalek@ysnews.com