Kahl takes oath of office as village president
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
At Tuesday’s Village of Walworth Board of Trustees new faces took the Oath of Office, effectively taking over their respective seats on the Village Board.
Mary Ann Kahl, who accepted a position as the Walworth Joint School District 1 administrator shortly before the April 7 election, was sworn in Tuesday night as the village’s new Village President. Kahl defeated incumbent David Rasmussen in the April 7 election, garnering 211 votes compared to Rasmussen’s 167.
However, Kahl said prior to the election, if she won, she would politely decline the seat.
Village of Walworth Clerk Donna Schut said Wednesday area news sources have reported that Kahl might only be serving as village president until July 1, when she officially takes over as district administrator for the school district, and would step down at that time.
Kahl was unavailable Wednesday afternoon prior to publication to comment on the topic, though comments from Kahl will be available at mywalworthcounty.com at a later time.
In a previous article, the Walworth Times noted that Rasmussen would likely retain his seat if Kahl did not accept the seat, however, Schut said this is not the case at all.
According to Schut, in the event Kahl does step down from the seat, the Village Board would then have to appoint a new village president. She said this would be done by a majority vote and typically a current village trustee is appointed to fill the seat, as it is easier for a trustee, someone familiar with the roles of sitting on village government, to take over the role. If this is the route the Village Board were to take, Schut said they would then additionally need to appoint someone to fill the vacant trustee seat.
Rasmussen’s term ended Tuesday and as he only ran for village president, he is no longer on the board.
In addition to Kahl, Thomas Connelly Jr., took over the seat of Dennis Vanderbloemen Tuesday night at the Village Board meeting. Connelly garnered 241 votes in the April 7 election, the most of the four candidates vying for trustee seats.
well based upon my recent ( April 4th) visit going Thru the Town of Walworth?
1- It looked like a Ghost Town
2- It looked like 50% of the Stores were closed and Empty
3- I was looking for the sign saying “Would The Last person leaving, Please Turn Out the Lights”
Thus I’m surprised they even have enough people left to Be on the these Boards?
Of course, I was just passing thru on my way to Janesville
Which BTW? Is another Town that is starting to Look like a Ghost Town..