PERRYSVILLE — A chair now sits empty at Perrysville Village Council after a recently re-elected member realized he could not attend all of the council meetings in 2026.
The seat was left vacant by David Artrip Jr., who was re-elected in November to what would have been his third, four-year term.
Artrip was never sworn into his term at the first council meeting of the year on Jan. 5.
Artrip said he vacated his spot on council because of work conflicts. He is a firefighter for the Ohio Air National Guard unit’s fire department at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.
“It became increasingly harder to make some of the meetings,” Artrip said.
Firefighters work atypical schedules, which Artrip said resulted in him missing three council meetings in 2025. After mapping out his schedule for 2026, he realized he would be missing six council meetings in 2026.
Perrysville council has one monthly meeting, meaning he would miss half the meetings in 2026.
“I didn’t feel right about that,” he said.
In his letter of resignation, Artrip said, “[In] past years, I’ve used personal vacation to attend the meetings but that is not something I can continue to justify doing.”
Per Ohio Revised Code, Perrysville Village Council will elect someone to fill the vacant seat. If council fails to do so in 30 days, then the mayor shall appoint someone to the seat.
The village is accepting letters of intent from people who would be interested to fill the council seat. So far, it has received two letters, according to village fiscal officer Laura Shank.
Letters of intent can be dropped off at the village office, located at 120 North Bridge St., ahead of the next council meeting on Feb. 2.
The council term expires Jan. 31, 2029.
