Wellington City Press Release
Effective this afternoon, Mayor Joan Powell, has made the decision to resign as the mayor of Wellington City. She has given careful thought about this decision and has decided that being able to spend time with the family without having to return home for city business is important. And… the annexation issue was finally clarified, and the cost of annexing into the city versus staying in the county was the deciding factor for her decision.
Mayor Powell released the following statement:
“I love Wellington City dearly. I’ve lived in Wellington City for 44 of my 45 years of married life. I wanted very, very much to put our new home in the city for a number of reasons, but after having a conversation with Julie Medley and Rose Van Wagoner last week, the writing on the wall was much more clear.
We recently sold our older home, which was in the city limits, to our granddaughter and her fiance. That meant I could no longer claim it as my primary residence. The ducks were lining up and this is something I felt I needed to do.
We, (the employees), have been through a lot in the 6.5 years I have been here as mayor. All of the employees were new, (with the exception of Ed Ericson, and thank God he was here to help us), and we muddled through the tough stuff and bonded together. Wellington City has top-notch employees right now. I hope the mayor that succeeds me will appreciate the fact these young people have stepped up to the plate to serve, and be employed, and hopefully build a career here. They are smart, amazing people, who, like me, love the city and enjoy their jobs. I always felt I didn’t have to micro-manage them, because of the trust between each other that we built together. I’ve learned they will come and tell you anything, good or bad, whether they wanted to tell you or not. I hope that relationship continues.
I want to thank all the folks in the county, and the mayors of the other cities, for all the support and friendship we’ve shared throughout these past few years. Carbon County is a great place to live.
I don’t plan on being completely away from the city, as I would like to stay and volunteer at the Knight Ideal Pond and the Wellington City OHV trail. Those are two great assets to our community and are well worth establishing. I won’t be the “boss” any more, but I will work under the city council. Trails are what I love!”