MOUNT VERNON – Mayor Richard Mavis will not seek re-election in November, ending a 24-year run as the city’s leader.
Mavis did not file a petition with the Knox County Board of Elections for the May primary. The deadline to submit petitions for city government positions was Wednesday.
Mavis told Knox Pages he is planning on retiring after the next mayor takes over on Jan. 1, 2020. He said the decision had been a long time coming.
“For me, it wasn’t an immediate decision. I wasn’t going to run again after this last term. I love this job, first of all. It’s not anything to do with the job. It’s just that age catches up with us,” said Mavis, 76. “And even though my health has generally been good, and I still feel like I can do the job, I think after 24 years (it’s) always good to have different people, different ideas come in.”
Mavis has served as Mount Vernon’s mayor since 1996. He oversaw several major city projects in his unprecedented six-term run, including the expansion of Coshocton Road (which cost north of $4 million) and the construction of a new fire station.
Under Mavis’s watch, Mount Vernon became more mobile. City government led multiple transportation projects, including the transformation of Gay and Chestnut Streets from brick to asphalt and the reconstruction of the Mount Vernon Avenue/Newark Road/South Main Street intersection.
Mavis oversaw the construction of Hiawatha Community Pool, which was completed with help from the community. The city made its biggest investment to date – the construction of its current water treatment plant – which it just paid off in December (it cost $18 million over 21 years).
The city also bought property at Ariel-Foundation Park and the old B&O Railroad station, as a way to preserve integral pieces of the city’s history. Mount Vernon initiated curbside recycling, became involved in the Delaware-Knox-Marion-Morrow Solid Waste district, and completed several other major sidestreet infrastructure projects during Mavis’s tenure.
“I think the city’s moved forward,” Mavis said. “And I think that’s what every mayor would want – is to make sure that whether you’re here one term or six terms, you want to make sure you’re always moving forward. And I think the City of Mount Vernon did.”
Mavis said that when he retires, so will safety service director Joel Daniels. Under statutory government, the mayor hires their safety service director. Daniels has served in the role for the majority of Mavis’s tenure.
Mavis said the mayor’s administrative assistant – in this case, Clerk of Council Tanya Newell – will typically be encouraged to stay during a time of administrative transition.
On Thursday, Mavis thanked the people he’s worked with in the city over the past 24 years. He is a Knox County native, having graduated from Danville High School in 1960, and said he has enjoyed his time as Mount Vernon’s leader.
“I’ve had great people,” Mavis said. “Mount Vernon’s been a great place.”
What’s next
So, now looms the big question: Who will replace Mavis?
Only one person filed a petition to run for mayor in 2019: Matt Starr. Starr announced his candidacy last Friday and, pending any last-second write-ins or independent filings, will run unopposed in November.
Starr, a Republican, lost to the Democratic Mavis by 160 votes in the 2015 mayoral election.
According to Board of Elections officials, write-in candidates will have until Feb. 25 to register. Their names will not appear on the ballot, but they will be recognized as official write-in candidates upon certification. Independent candidates will have until May 6, the day before the primary election, to file a petition.
The petitions filed by Wednesday’s deadline will not be certified (and thereby ballot-eligible) until the Board of Elections holds its Feb. 15 meeting. The board will confirm petition signatures and make sure all requirements are met to run for each position at the meeting.
If the names on the current primary list are certified, BOE officials say there will be no need for a primary election on May 7. There are no contested races (within a party), and only one race – for Third Ward city council representative – features opposing candidates.
If there is indeed no primary election, BOE officials say it will become a special election. Mount Vernon City Schools, Northridge Local Schools and North Fork Local Schools will all have items on the ballot.
Here is the list of who filed petitions for city positions by Wednesday’s primary deadline:
Mayor: Matt Starr (R)
Auditor: Terry Scott (R)
Law director: Rob Broeren (R)
Treasurer: David Stuller (R)
Council president: Bruce Hawkins (R)
City council at-large: Tanner Salyers (R), Janis Seavolt (R), Julia Warga (D)
First Ward council: Samantha Scoles (D)
Second Ward council: John Francis (R)
Third Ward council: Andrea White (D), Tammy Woods (R)
Fourth Ward council: Michael Hillier (R)
Pending certification and last-minute write-ins, this will be the list that appears on the November ballot. This means there will be major change in council over the next year, as four members – Sam Barone (First Ward, Democrat), Nancy Vail (Third Ward, Republican), Chris Menapace (at-large, Republican) and Starr (at-large, Republican) – will step away and new members will step in.
Mavis expressed his support for the city’s new candidates on Thursday.
“I’m pleased with the people that are out there and put their name on the ballot to be considered,” he said. “There will be some new faces.”
