WASHINGTONVILLE Councilman stands in line to be mayor

Hartman said he does not want to be mayor.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
WASHINGTONVILLE -- Councilman Michael Donnalley will likely be the village's next mayor.
Council accepted the resignation of Mayor Charles Morrow, effective Nov. 1, and council president Roy Hartman, in line to become mayor, resigned as council president but remains on council.
Hartman said he is willing to serve on council and be council president, but he does not want the responsibility of being mayor.
Lawmakers then appointed Donnalley, who was absent, council president. Council members said Donnalley would accept the council president's position, and ultimately the mayor's post.
Retiring to Fla.: Morrow announced at the Sept. 18 council meeting that he would not complete his term. He resigns with two years remaining on his four-year term. He has bought a home in Florida and will retire there.
Don Vos, commander of the Columbiana County Unorganized Militia, asked to be appointed mayor or a councilman.
Because Morrow's resignation does not become effective until Nov. 1, however, there are now no vacant seats.
Council has 30 days from the date Morrow's resignation is effective to appoint his successor.
Vos told council and Morrow at the Oct. 2 meeting he would like to be considered a candidate for village council.
Vos later said he considered running for mayor after Morrow said he would resign. Several people urged him to run for mayor, he added, but county board of elections officials told him Morrow resigned too close to the election for the mayor's race to be on the November ballot.
What law says: John Payne, county elections board director, said by law the council president is the successor to the mayor.
If the council president doesn't want to be mayor, he resigns as council president, and council then appoints a new council president, Payne said. The new council president then moves into the mayor's seat if it becomes vacant, he said.
Four of six council members' terms expire Dec. 31 and, come January, there will be at least three vacant seats.
Hartman, Larry Dickson and Norman Sommers did not file for re-election, nor did any challengers file to fill those seats. The terms of Councilwomen Theresa Allison and Laura Trummer expire in 2003.
Donnalley, an incumbent, is the only candidate on the Nov. 6 ballot, as a write-in.
Write-in rules: Payne said that by law votes for write-in candidates in Ohio don't count unless the person previously has filed as a write-in candidate and paid a fee. That deadline was Sept. 17.
He said anyone now willing to be mayor or serve on council should notify incumbent council members of their interest.
tullis@vindy.com