By Judy Reed

The Cedar Springs City Council met on Thursday, August 11.

The Council accepted the resignation of Council member Robert Truesdale, who retired effective June 30, and adopted a resolution honoring and thanking him for his service. He was elected in 2012, and was mayor during his first year on council.

Current Mayor Jerry Hall asked to appoint firefighter Jerry Gross Sr. to fill Truesdale’s spot. Gross is already running for the seat in November’s election, and Hall felt since Gross was already interested, it might be good to appoint him for the last couple of months preceding the election. However, a question arose on whether it might be a conflict of interest to have a firefighter on City Council, and whether he would have to retire from firefighting.

Gross, who also formerly served as fire chief, said he asked the interim City Manager about that before deciding to run and was told it wasn’t a problem. “There was a former firefighter who served on the Council for many years (Leon Avery) and it was never a problem,” noted Gross, who said he could abstain from voting on financial issues concerning the fire department.

“I don’t want to quit firefighting yet,” he said. “It’s my life.”

City Manager Mike Womack said he received some information from the City Attorney regarding the issue, and was going to look into it before the next City Council meeting.

City Council member Rose Powell will also be running for her seat in November. She and Gross are the only two on the ballot.