Phoenix-area mayor announces resignation at council meeting

PHOENIX — The mayor of a Phoenix suburb announced her resignation at the end of a city council meeting Tuesday night.

Sharon Wolcott of Surprise cited personal reasons for stepping down from the job she has held since 2012.

Her final day will be Nov. 16.

Wolcott’s residency has been in question for the past year. Surprise Today reported the former councilwoman and her husband bought a home in Oro Valley.

City code Sec. 14-7 requires a candidate — including mayor– must at least live in the city for a year before an election.

Mayor Wolcott @AZSurprise announces plans to resign. Per City Code Council must appoint, no later than the 2nd regularly scheduled meeting after a resignation, a new mayor from its own membership to fulfill the
remaining 2-year term. pic.twitter.com/b09wShOI4H

— City of Surprise (@AZSurprise) November 7, 2018

The news website said in a financial disclosure statement Wolcott used the City Hall address as her place of residence, which is allowed by the state.

She ran unopposed in 2016.

Wolcott said in a statement, “What better time to hand the baton to a successor who can keep the momentum going? And so it is with a sense of joy for all we’ve done together and in anticipation of all that I know is right around the corner, that tonight, I make my final report from this dais.”

She went on to say she would be submitting her resignation letter Wednesday.

The new mayor will finish out the two-year term.

An email from the city laid out the selection process:

Any council member may nominate any eligible candidate, with no second required. All nominations must occur prior to voting. Voting will be by written ballot. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes will fill the vacancy. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of votes, the two candidates receiving the highest votes will be considered in a run-off vote. The first candidate receiving an affirmative majority of the votes cast will fill the vacancy. The meeting may not adjourn until the vacancy has been filled.”

The next regularly-scheduled meeting was set for Dec. 4.

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