Westover councilman Leonard Smith resigns

WESTOVER — Westover’s city council accepted the resignation of 3rd Ward councilman Leonard Smith in a 3-1 vote at its regular meeting on Monday night.
“It is with a heavy heart that I will need to resign my post of 3rd Ward council person,” Smith’s resignation letter stated. “Due to personal reasons.”
The letter goes on to praise Westover and thank people Smith interacted with over the years. Smith could not be reached for additional information in time for this report.
Councilwoman Edie Viola voted against accepting Smith’s resignation but praised him for his service to both his country as a former Marine and Westover as a councilman.
Viola’s objection was because his resignation letter did not have a date and council needs to appoint a replacement councilor in 30 days or hold a special election. City Attorney Tim Stranko explained that the letter didn’t need a date because no matter when it was handed in, the resignation was not effective until council voted to accept it.
Councilors Smith, Al Yocum and Janice Goodwin were not present and did not vote Monday.
In other business:
Council accepted a bid for its new police annex for $52,450. It was the only eligible bid and will likely go up about $2,000 because it does not include labor costs for the roof, Johnson said.
Council passed and adopted a pay raise for the coming fiscal year for city employees on third reading.