ASHLAND (UPDATED 12:25 p.m.) — Ashland Mayor Glen Stewart announced Monday morning that he will retire from office effective Jan. 21, 2017.
The mayor gathered city employees in his office to make the announcement.
“The last few months have shown that the demands of the job are continuing to increase and my capability to cope with these demands has become increasingly difficult. I recognize this and have decided that it is time to step aside and allow Council to appoint an individual of their choice to fill the position of Mayor for the City of Ashland,” Stewart said in a press release.
City Council has the responsibility of appointing a new mayor within 30 days of Stewart’s last day in office. The new mayor will fill the remainder of Stewart’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2017. Any registered voter in Ashland is eligible to be appointed.
Stewart said he was staying on as mayor through Jan. 21 to help ensure that the processes of repairing the streets and hiring new safety personnel that voters approved last month are under way before he leaves.
“We have made some serious commitments to our citizens relative to the income tax issue. I want to be around to do all I can to see the implementation of the processes, including spec preparation and hopefully a quote package ready to go out for bid to pave our streets. We need to get the hiring process underway for our Police and Fire Divisions. I recognize that the actual bringing on of additional safety personnel will go well beyond Jan. 21, but I want to see that the process is absolutely set in stone,” Stewart said.
Stewart began serving as mayor of Ashland on Jan. 1, 2008, when he replaced Bill Strine, who also resigned as mayor. He served the final two years of Strine’s term after being appointed and then won two four-year terms.
Stewart had previously served 15 years a a city councilman for Ashland before becoming mayor. He was on council from 1981 to 1989 and then again from 2001 until he took over as mayor.
Current council members praised Stewart for his work in leading the city through some difficult times.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Glen Stewart the entire time I’ve been a councilman, and it has been a wonderful experience,” said City Councilwoman Sandra Tunnell. “He has led the city through some major growth and and change and has been an excellent steward of the taxpayers’ monies. He has been a terrific supporter of our city and his leaving is a definite loss for our community.”
“I have had the opportunity to work with Mayor Stewart in a number of capacities over the years as a county commissioner, ODOT official and a councilman, and I have a great deal of respect for him,” Councilman Matt Miller said. “He has always represented our city in a very professional manner and as mayor he has done a great job of managing the inner-workings of city government. I’m sorry to see him go and I wish him nothing but the best.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
