It’s all set in St. Clairsville.
St. Clairsville’s City Council has a vacancy in the Ward 3 Council position and is seeking applicants who have: resided in Ward 3 (SW quadrant) for at least one year; been residents of the City for at least two years; and are registered voters. Any qualified residents with interest in serving must hand deliver a letter of interest with special qualifications which would be beneficial to the City, and a current resume, to the Municipal Building (100 N. Market St.) on or before Friday, August 26th, at 4 P. M. Applicants will be interviewed by the City Council to determine the most qualified applicant. If questions, please contact the City on 740-695-1324.
The deadline to provide a letter of interest and a resume was a week ago, and now Mayor Kathryn Thalman and her Council members have scheduled time to weigh the municipality’s options.
On Thursday, September 8, 2022, at 7:00 P.M. in the Municipal Building’s Council Chamber, the St. Clairsville City Council will hold a Special Session to discuss the appointment of the Ward 3 Council Member. The Municipal Building is located at 100 North Market Street, St. Clairsville, OH. All discussions regarding appointments are private and will occur in Executive Session per ORC 121.22(G)(1). If questions, please contact the Council Clerk, Jacob DeBertrand, on 740-695-1324 or by email (jacob.debertrand@gmail.com).
Why the opening? The individual who once filled the Ward 3 seat, Mark Thomas, resigned about three weeks ago after pleading guilty on August 15 to federal mail fraud. He was accused of four counts of federal mail fraud related to his former law practice and his representation of an elderly client suffering from a form of dementia from whom he allegedly stole a half-million dollars.
After entering the plea. Thomas now could face a max sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. Included in the settlement was restitution to the tune of $882,502, according to the federal court order.
On the same day Thomas entered the guilty plea, he delivered this letter to Mayor Thalman and his former council colleagues.
Dear Mayor Thalman, Council President Velas, my fellow council colleagues and city administration members:
It is with heavy heart that I advise you that, effective today, August 15, 2022, I am unable to continue to serve as the City’s 3rd Ward councilperson. I have lived here for 54 years and my love for the City is beyond words. I ran for office last year for I felt I could amicably work with all of you and play a very small part in helping Saint Clairsville prosper and grow. While my service has been short, I am elated that we have a council that is professional, courteous to each other and truly has the city’s best interest at heart.
I implore all of you to please keep the lines of communication open, at all times, and work as one cohesive body to serve our residents to the best of your abilities. While there are many present day challenges facing the city, I too encourage you to always look to the future to insure we take advantage of all of the current and future opportunities that will help Saint Clairsville shine with each day.
It has been an honor and a pleasure servicing the city’s residents and I thank the residents of the 3rd Ward for electing me to serve this great city.
Therefore, effective this date, I hereby tender resignation of my council seat. I trust you will begin the immediate process of appointing my successor. I wish all of you much success as you continue to work to keep this city in the great shape that it is in and work even harder to improve it with each future day.
Thank you kindly.
Mark Thomas, 3rd Ward City Council member
Brief Tenure
He ran unopposed on the November ballot for the Ward 3 seat and 89 registered residents voted for Mark Thomas.
The former Belmont County commissioner was sworn in prior to taking his seat on Jan. 1, 2022, but then, a little more than eight months later, Thomas vacated the position.
“Mark absolutely did a great job as a council member in St. Clairsville and I would say his heart was truly into making the city a better place to live,” said Mayor Thalman, now near the end of her second year after defeating two opponents on Nov. 5, 2019. “But what he has experienced is very unfortunate and now we have to move forward and find someone to fill that council seat.
“Mark was very hard working and he wanted what was best, and now I hope we can find someone who will work like he did so we can continue to see progress in St. Clairsville,” she said. “Mark had great ideas and he looked at the larger picture most of the time. That can be difficult to do, too, because far too often people get focused too much on their own little world. I can’t say that about Mark Thomas.”
Thomas has been in the local headlines for several years for his service as a county commission, but also because the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct suspended his law license in 2015 after he failed to provide documents requested by the board. Thomas also was a partner in Ye Ole’ Alpha, a very popular former Wheeling eatery that closed and was auctioned in October 2019.
In April 2018, Thomas was found not guilty in Ohio County Circuit Court after being charged with alleged embezzlement from a former client. The trial lasted two days and the jury returned the not guilty verdict following about 30 minutes of deliberation.
The former attorney was arrested and charged with the four counts of federal mail fraud in early October 2021.
“I am not sure when he placed his name on the ballot if he believed his situation would turn out differently than where it is today, but I can tell you that I feel he did the right thing when he needed to do it. I’m sure he was hoping he could remain a member because he always came to our meetings ready to work and with a lot of new ideas,” Thalman said. “But when it came time for him to step down, he was gracious about it.
“Mark paid attention to any grants on the state and federal levels, and he would remind us that we have as much right to the funds as anyone because they are taxpayer dollars,” she recalled. “He also loved the live entertainment at the park and the many other activities we’ve had in the city this summer. He was a big supporter of making St. Clairsville a better place to live.”
Like Molasses
Mayor Thalman wishes she and her council cohorts could have filled the Ward 3 seat by now, but that is not how the process is dictated by Ohio Revised Code.
That is why a week from now is when Thalman and council members will have the chance to discuss the position with interested residents.
“I just hope we find someone with the same level of interest who does pay a lot of attention to everything that is going on here in St. Clairsville and throughout this valley region. That’s what Mark did for us and that is why I say that he served this city well,” Thalman insisted. “We want to find someone who is willing to work with everyone so we can move forward. No one wants to go back to the time when our meetings were nothing but a bunch of arguments.
“Mark had the attitude to work toward the betterment of the city,” she said. “That’s why I would like to see it move along quickly because I believe that’s very important for the people of St. Clairsville. I’m hoping we can wrap up this water project we’ve been working on all year long, but government does operate at the speed of molasses and it’s very frustrating. But it will be completed soon.”
