Bauxite aldermen will have to select a temporary City Council member after one of their own resigned Monday.
Alderman Allison Cain resigned effective next Wednesday after the regular monthly City Council meeting Monday, saying in a letter to fellow city officials that she and her husband came to the decision “after much prayer and thought.”
Aldermen will appoint another council member to take her place until Dec. 31, when Cain’s term was set to expire.
“It has been my pleasure to serve the citizens of this town for the 3½ years,” she said in her resignation letter. “I have always strived to do what was in the best interest of the citizens and Bauxite.”
The nearly two-term alderman encouraged her peers to choose someone who will “put the needs of the City of Bauxite first and be able to work with others in a respectful and professional matter,” the resignation letter states.
According to Arkansas Code Ann. 14-45-103, aldermen need a voting majority to fill a City Council vacancy. The council makes the selection at the first regular meeting after the vacancy occurs, the law states.
Cain, who notified Mayor Johnny McMahan of the resignation before Monday’s meeting, recently bought a home in Benton, he said. McMahan said he wished her the best of luck.
“She is honorable, smart, fair and fearless, and it will be hard to replace her,” he said. “I understand their move, as her moving out of Bauxite will get her out of the ‘fray’ and the ‘hot mess’ of the politics of Bauxite and she can focus on her children, church, and family and leave all of this behind.”
No one has applied for the position yet, McMahan said, adding that he would send out notice in his monthly water letter that he’ll likely send out Monday.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 04/24/2014