Sheldon, Iowa — The mayor of Sheldon may soon resign to become the manager of the Sheldon Crossroads Pavilion Event Center. That’s from Sheldon City Manager Sam Kooiker.
Kooiker tells us that the Crossroads Pavilion Board decided to offer the position to Sheldon Mayor Katricia Meendering at their meeting on Wednesday night.
Kooiker says that if Meendering is approved by the city council as the new manager of the Crossroads Pavilion, she would need to resign her position as Mayor of Sheldon. Kooiker says if everything comes together, while they don’t have a firm start date, they expect Meendering would start in early March. Her starting salary would be $53,625 per year, with a raise to $55,000 per year on July 1st.
While Kooiker says there is every indication that the council will approve hiring Meendering to the events center position, that confirmation has yet to take place.
He says if everything goes as expected, the next item of business would be to start the machinery to select a new mayor.
In other words, Kooiker says that if the council appoints a new mayor, that person would only hold the office until the next general election this fall. But the person elected at that point would fill the remainder of the term, through 2021.
In the meantime, if the mayor resigns, Mayor Pro Tempore Brad Hindt would serve as acting mayor for up to 40 days, and would also keep his vote as a city councilmember.
We asked Mayor Meendering her thoughts on the situation.
She says she looks forward to serving the city in a different capacity. Meendering tells us that if everything goes as expected, she will also resign her position as Children’s Ministry Coordinator at the Sheldon United Methodist Church. She says she plans on continuing to be involved with her city and her church through volunteering. She says she’s both nervous and excited about the new opportunity.
