Athens County Coroner Harold Thompson resigned with two years left on his term, leaving Athens Medical Associates physician Carl Ortman to fill the position.
Athens County Coroner Harold Thompson officially resigned from office at Tuesday morning’s county commissioners meeting. He sent in his letter of resignation on Sep. 25, after six years of service.
Thompson had two years left to his term.
Dr. Carl Ortman, a physician with Athens Medical Associates, was named interim county coroner effective as of 12:01 p.m. Wednesday. Because the coroner is an elected official, the Athens County Democratic Party’s Central Committee will have to nominate a candidate to replace Thompson.
The committee must wait five days for other potential candidates to apply before officially naming a coroner.
Thompson was unable to be reached for comment.
Alan Trout, county democratic party chairman, said that Ortman will most likely fill the remaining two years of Thompson’s term.
“Carl is a very nice guy, I think he’ll do well,” Trout said.
County Commissioner Charlie Adkins said that Ortman seemed to be enthusiastic about the position. Ortman was also unable to be reached for comment.
"During our conversation, he seemed to be very excited to take that challenge on,” Adkins said.
Trout added that only one other candidate had applied for the position, though he was a medical student and his schedule would likely conflict with coroner duties.
The commissioners also reopened bidding for the second time for the Nelsonville Neighborhood Facility Improvement Project, with no bids received.
Bids to install a natural gas generator at the Rome Township fire facility, which were also put on hold about three weeks ago due to overbidding, were reopened as well.
The fire department committed an extra $5,000 from their own budget to the project, said Jessica Powers, Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Plan representative. The project was initially expected to cost $28,100.
Two companies were able to bid within the county’s budget, JM Miller Enterprises and Deskins Electric Ltd., and the bids are now being reviewed by Powers.
"We will speak with Nelsonville Restoration Foundation to see what we can do," she said.
@alexmacleo7
am892313@ohio.edu
