At its July 9, 2015 regular meeting the City Council accepted the resignation of Jim Clement as Mayor of Sandy Oaks.
Clement was not present at the meeting, but had given his letter of resignation to Alderman Earnest Gay, who read the letter to the Council towards the end of the meeting.
Before reading the letter, Gay told the audience and City Council that Clement had had rotator cuff surgery the day prior.
Clement mentioned his health in his resignation letter, saying the following:
I have been very humbled to serve as the city’s first mayor and have dedicated much of my life to serving this community. During my tenure I have always tried to do what I felt was best for the city and the community, but in the past few weeks it has been apparent that my service as mayor may not have been in the best interest of the city or my family. After much discussion with my wife and my family I have made a decision to step down from public office and focus on my health and spend more time with my family. So it is with great regret that I must resign as mayor of the city…
Later in the letter Clement said
I hope this isn’t the last of my involvement with the community.
After reading the letter out loud, Gay motioned to accept the resignation. Alderman Ball seconded and the City Council voted unanimously to accept it.
As Mayor Pro Tem, Gay led the meeting to the next item on the agenda which dealt with how to replace the mayor’s vacancy. He told the Council that he had discussed the issue with the City Attorney and the Council had 2 options, to either not have a mayor and allow Gay as Mayor Pro Tem to continue conducting meetings or choose an Alderman to be Mayor. Choosing an Alderman to be Mayor would also create another vacancy which would also have to be filled, Gay said.
Either of the two options would only last until a special election in November in which a new mayor would be voted into office. That Mayor would replace Clement and the office would still be up for election in 2017 for a 2 year term.
Gay told the Council it would be up to them to decide on which option.
The Council decided to leave the position of Mayor open and to allow Mayor Pro Tem Gay to plan and conduct future city meetings until the new Mayor is elected in November.
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