Vanessa Weinert
JAMESTOWN – A member of the Jamestown City Council has submitted her resignation.
Jamestown City Council President Marie Carrubba announced during Monday’s city council voting session that first-year Councilwoman Vanessa Weinert (D- At Large) had submitted her resignation, based a situation in her personal life that resulted in her not being able to attend council meetings in recent months.
“It is with great regret that I had to submit my letter of resignation from Jamestown City Council. I have been honored to serve Jamestown over the last year and I was looking forward to working to make Jamestown an even greater city,” Weinert stated Tuesday morning on her Facebook page. “As many of you know, my family has endured a personal tragedy and I have to spend this next year focusing on my daughter.”
Weinert was elected to one of the three at-large seats on the council in the November 2017 general election.
The council unanimously accepted the resignation Monday night, resulting in an opening on the nine-member panel.
Under the city charter, the mayor is responsible for selecting a person to fill a vacancy on the council, with a majority approval by the city council. The person appointed to fill such vacancy shall be a member of the same political party as the person who vacated the office.
Because Weinert is a Democrat, the mayor will have to appoint a resident of the city who is also a member of that party. During the 2017 election, both former council president Greg Rabb and former county legislator Robert Whitney ran for At Large council seats but were defeated. Of the two, Rabb received the higher number of votes. It’s not known if either is among the possible people being considered for the post. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi was absent from last night’s meeting so we were unable to get comment from him regarding possible names to consider.
The council has 60 days from the date of Weinert’s resignation to identify and act on an individual to fill her vacated seat. Once that person is seated, he or she will remain on the council until the next General Election, which is on Nov. 5, 2019.
Meanwhile, Weinert also said she may return to public service in the future.
“I love this city and I plan on re-engaging with politics and the great community work that comes with that once I have gotten past this part of my life. Thank you all for your support. This has truly been a very difficult decision,” she said.
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