Seven Springs mayor says she is leaving due to health
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on August 31, 2004 1:59 PM
SEVEN SPRINGS -- Former Mayor Jewel Kilpatrick told the town clerk Monday she's not coming back.
Mrs. Kilpatrick, who brought the town through a crisis following a flood in 1999, resigned earlier this month. In her letter of resignation, she called for unity and some help with the work she had been doing. She said Monday the town board hasn't offered either of those things in its proposals of a two-month, then a five-month leave of absence.
"If I went back, I'd be going back to the same thing," she said. "Two months or five months is not going to solve the problem. I don't want any more offers."
She said she thought it over and almost agreed to go back. "But my health won't let me do what I'd been doing before," she said. "Seven Springs is worth saving, but I've done all I can do. ... I want to see Seven Springs keep going, but it's time for somebody else to do it."
She said she feels guilty -- "like I've let Seven Springs down -- but I've got to take care of myself, too."
"I like this staying at home," added Mrs. Kilpatrick, who has been doing more work in her yard and has gotten a new puppy named Mr. Kilpatrick of Whitehall. She calls him Mr. K. "It's going to be hard keeping from doing stuff, but I owe it to my children, my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren."
Mrs. Kilpatrick started in town government as a town commissioner for two years. She then became mayor, serving for seven years.
During her tenure, the town has recovered from the flood of 1999, undergone a beautification campaign, gained a community park and a sewer system, purchased the former Seven Springs Baptist Church in the village for a new Town Hall and revised the town's ordinances. She brought community service workers to landscape the town grounds. She even gained certification and jumped on a tractor and sprayed the town for mosquitoes.