Surprise’s vice mayor will step down Friday with a few months left on his term.
Vice Mayor Jim Biundo has twice been appointed to the Surprise city council, most recently in 2014.
When voters went to the polls Aug. 30th, they decided not to give Biundo another term.
Before the election, Biundo filed an ethics complaint against Mayor Sharon Wolcott when she campaigned for his opponent. Wolcott won re-election after running unopposed.
Biundo said the clash did not figure into the decision to resign, and he hasn’t decided if this is the end of his political career.
“I’m not sure that there is a lot I could get accomplished over the next three or four months in a lame duck situation,” Biundo said. “So I thought it best for everyone concerned."
By the time the city finishes taking applications, conducting interviews, reviewing public feedback and choosing Biundo's replacement, there will be about 75 days before the term expires.
The replacement won’t automatically become vice mayor. Unless the council decides otherwise, city officials said the council’s most senior member, John Williams, will take over for Biundo.
City code says the council must vote on a new vice mayor by Jan. 30, 2017.
