PORTAGE – Three of the four village council members up for re-election in November are calling it quits.
Doug Maas, Tamara Sharp and Jay Sockman will not run, they said after Monday’s council meeting. John
Jividen said he would run for his seat again.
Mayor Mark Wolford, who was appointed in September when Richard Gill resigned, said he filed his
petitions Monday to be on the Nov. 3 ballot. The deadline is Thursday at 4 p.m.
Wolford said he feels that he would be abandoning the ship after leading the administration and council
into making several tough decisions. Those include enacting a 1 percent income tax this year and
watching the village be put into fiscal emergency by the state auditor in April.
"I feel I need to see this through," he said. "I’m really passionate about Portage. It’s
where I grew up. It’s who I am."
Wolford estimates that he spends 25 to 30 hours a week on mayor’s business, in addition to his job at
Kroger. His mayoral "duties" include the usual issues, plus mowing yards at homes that are in
foreclosure. He also recycles for about a dozen homes in town.
"I look around and I’m afraid this town is going to fade away," he said.
If elected mayor, he has several programs he’d like to enact once the village is back in the financial
black, such as recycling and a uniform trash pick-up.
"I guess I was just meant to be a public servant," Wolford said.
Jividen also said he feels called to serve. He said he has been asked to serve on council many times over
the years and will continue, if elected in November. He was appointed to council two years ago.
Sockman, who is council president, said he did not want to return.
"It’s too draining," he said.
Maas, who was appointed to a council seat a year and a half ago, said he is retiring.
"I’m retiring and I’m probably going to move away. It’s been an experience," he said. "If
I was staying here, I’d (run). I like a good fight."
Sharp said the council work is extremely time-consuming.
"I’m supposed to be writing my master’s thesis," she said.
Council members Marcia Wolford and Floyd Wilson and Clerk-Treasurer Bruce Shepherd are not up for
re-election.
Mayor Wolford and several council members said they were not concerned that there would be vacant seats
that need appointments come January.
"I personally have signed about five petitions (for council)," said Maas. "There’s going
to be some people up here."
