UPDATED 2:45 P.M.
PEKIN, Ill. -Pekin Mayor Mark Luft has resigned.
Luft stepped down ahead of Monday evening’s Pekin City Council meeting. He indicated he’s been offered a good opportunity, but didn’t say anything else.
Luft opted not to see another term as mayor in the April election, and also lost his State Representative seat in Springfield to Travis Weaver.
Luft says stepping down is one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do.
“My heart and soul will always be there. It will always be a deep love of mine. But sometimes we have to admit our work is done in certain areas. So we’ll always be proud of the work we do,” Luft said.
Luft has been in Pekin city government for eight years, but the last several have been difficult, with him getting criticized for not recusing himself from a matter that temporarily threw council member Becky Cloyd off the April election ballot for mayor, and after the council voted to fire Mark Rothert as city manager — a man Luft praised for keeping city operations together.
Luft says he is hopeful the next mayor will understand that running the city is not a one-man operation.
“I hope whoever leads here from here on out is open-minded enough to look at the work it took to make things happen, the relationships it took to make things happen, and the kind of team it took to make that happen,” Luft said.
Council Member Becky Cloyd has been appointed mayor pro tem until a new mayor is installed in May.
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