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BRIDGEPORT - Less than two weeks after pleading guilty to theft in office charges, David Smith resigns as mayor of Bridgeport.
The announcement was made during Tuesday's regularly scheduled council meeting when Solicitor Michael Shaheen received a message from Smith's attorney.
"I just received communication from the attorney for Mayor Smith who is on leave but has not resigned his seat. That in fact, effective immediately he resigned his seat as mayor of Bridgeport," Shaheen said.
While in office Smith allegedly stole more than $20,000 from the village between 2016 through 2019. He was accused of removing cash payments and corresponding traffic tickets and using the money for his own personal gain. Following Smith's arrest in February, he temporarily relinquished the mayoral duties and day-to-day operations in light of the allegations.
On July 8, Smith pleaded guilty to third-degree felony theft in office and first-degree misdemeanor conflict of interest.
He is awaiting sentencing and could face up to 36 months in prison.
Acting Mayor Norma Teasdale will remain in the position until the upcoming election. Teasdale said she is unsure whether she will run for mayor as of yet, but is looking into the possibility.
In other council news, Fiscal Officer Chris Kirby gave his financial report to council during the meeting. Kirby said there must be changes made within the village's budget to keep them on track with the Financial Recovery Plan.
The plan was implemented last year shortly after the village declared a state of fiscal emergency for being more than $700,000 in debt between the general fund and street construction maintenance fund.
"There's going to have to be some changes in the budget, maybe some more deductions in the budget so that you guys don't overspend what you're supposed to," he said.
Kirby asked council members to review the budget to possibly eliminate any unnecessary expenditures.
"If there's something in there that you feel as though you could do without, I would suggest you start thinking about it now because you're going to have to cut the budget a little bit," he said.
Kirby also said there are two village employees who have applied for unemployment that should not be receiving it.
He said he is taking care of the issue.
Another financial issue Kirby addressed was that the village had not paid the IRS since 2015.
"I got them to wave most of the penalties, which was about $70,000, but it cost us about $70,000 to get up to date. So you've got a lot less money than you had when you first began the year, but anytime you can save money you've got to do it" he said.
Kirby said he is working on various items in order to save the village additional funds.
In other news, council reminded residents to ensure all garbage is in bags inside cans in order to be picked up by sanitation. The village has a maximum of five can maximum.