Wellsville Mayor Randy Shayler is resigning effective Friday, Sept. 12.
The three-term Republican made the announcement at a Wellsville Village Board meeting Sept. 8.
Shayler said Deputy Mayor Ed Fahs will assume the duties of the office until the village board appoints a successor, presumably at its Sept. 29 meeting.
Shayler said an election for the final two years of his four-year term will be held in November 2026.
According to Shayler, the move to leave office before the expiration of his term was not a spur of the moment decision.
“I didn’t wake up yesterday morning and say, ‘I think I will (resign).’ This is something I have been thinking about for some period of time,” he said. “It is purely from the standpoint of that it is a good time for me personally (to leave office).
“I am 75-years-old. The time is right.”
A long-time director of Resource Management at Otis Eastern, Shayler won election to the mayor’s position in 2016, ousting incumbent Democrat Judy Lynch.
He was reelected by wide margins in 2020 and 2024.
Shayler believes the village made significant progress on several important fronts during his nearly decade in office.
Shayler said, “We did a lot for Main Street. We received a New York Forward grant of $4.5 million. We purchased the movie theater. There are a number of things that we have done from an economic standpoint that I think are very, very positive.
“I feel very good about what we accomplished. There is a lot of good people in the village government; elected, appointed and employed. The village is in very good hands, so I am not worried at all about anything that I am leaving behind.”
The Village of Wellsville has approximately 4,500 residents, according to U.S. Census figures.
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This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Wellsville Mayor Randy Shayler resigns. What happens next in Allegany County village
Reporting by Neal Simon, Hornell Evening Tribune / The Evening Tribune
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