Fairfield councilman steps down, council seeks applicants for vacant seat
FAIRFIELD – After more than 14 years as an elected official, vice-mayor and Councilman Tim Abbott is resigning his Fourth Ward seat.
The finance and budget chairman is retiring from his job at Duke Energy and moving to Florida. His resignation is effective July 1.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for our city,” said Mayor Mitch Rhodus.
“It’s been heartwarming for me to know that somebody has always had his eye on the checkbook.”
Every year since first taking office as an at-large councilman in 2006, Abbott has chaired council’s finance and budget committee.
After serving two, four-year terms as an at-large councilman, Abbott was term-limited and required to sit out for two years. He was elected as a Fourth Ward councilman in November 2015, and re-elected in 2019.
“Not too many elected officials get to chair the same committee the whole time they’re in office. What I’m most proud of is our bond rating of (Aa1), the best bond rating a city of Fairfield’s size can have,” Abbott said.
“We’ve worked hard to keep that even during some serious economic downturns.”
Abbott said he’s proud of the many projects over the years related to infrastructure improvements and quality of life – “there are too many to count.”
Among those are Village Green, golf course clubhouse, the dog park, city-provided paramedic service and ongoing conversion of the fire department to all full-time personnel.
He said he’s happy with the direction the city is headed.
“I couldn’t be more happy. We have a tremendous leadership team led by Scott Timmer,’’ Abbott said.
“With Scott’s leadership and this mayor and city council – they are doing all the things to move Fairfield forward.”
Fellow councilman Tim Meyers ran in the same 9-person at-large race in 2005, coming in second to Abbott. He jokes that although Abbott was the top vote-getter, “if you go by cost per vote, I won,’’ Meyers said.
He describes Abbott as “a great leader, a visionary in property maintenance and very well connected to the industrial base in Greater Cincinnati and the State of Ohio.”
Council is accepting resumes from those interested in taking over Abbott’s unexpired term, which ends Dec. 31, 2023.
Applicants must be residents of the city’s Fourth Ward for at least one year. A cover letter and resume should be submitted to the clerk of council’s office at the municipal building, 5350 Pleasant Ave., no later than 5 p.m., July 1.
Email awilson@fairfieldoh.gov or call 513-867-5383 for information.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Fairfield councilman resigns, council seeks applicants for vacant seat
