ELKINS — Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco announced Tuesday that he will not seek another office, two days before a public hearing on a proposed city charter change that would have allowed the city’s mayor to hold an additional elected office.

Marco provided The Inter-Mountain a letter on Tuesday which he said was sent to all current Elkins City Council members. The letter reads:

“Recently, I decided to explore running for another office while retaining my position as mayor. I have since dismissed the idea and decided to focus on my task at hand of leading the City of Elkins to the best of my abilities.

“However, while considering this possibility, I discovered that the Elkins city charter has a restriction that goes beyond what is allowed under state law. Specifically, Elkins is a Class III city (based on size). Under state code, mayors in Class III cities are permitted to hold other elected positions and remain in their role as mayor. (There are several Class III West Virginia cities where this is already happening.) It is only in Class I or II cities where mayors are not permitted to hold additional elected office.

“I requested the Elkins City Council to consider changing our charter so that our rule is no longer stricter than in state code. To my chagrin, this request has caused a divide within our community, and that goes against everything I stand for as mayor. Therefore, I would like to withdraw my request for the change in City Charter Section 3.04 (B) ‘Holding Other Office.’ 

“I apologize for any inconvenience and division I may have caused within our community,” Marco wrote.

Elkins City Council was set to conduct a public hearing on the proposed amendment at Elkins City Hall on Thursday at 7 p.m., just before the scheduled City Council meeting. 

According to information released by the City, Marco made a request to the City’s Rules and Ordinance Committee to eliminate the particular section of the City Charter that prevents the mayor of Elkins from also holding another elected office at the same time.

That request was pushed on to full City Council, which voted unanimously Sept. 21 to allow City Clerk Sutton Stokes to begin the process of amending the City Charter.

The ordinance would have to be voted on at two readings to be approved by City Council. The second reading would have been on Nov. 16.