Whigham mayor resigns, work on City Hall still ongoing

Whigham Mayor Jimmie Laing has resigned from office three months before his term was due to end and a new mayor was set to take his place.
Laing, who did not seek reelection, announced his intentions to resign at the Sept. 10 Whigham City Council meeting.
Saying he has personal reasons for his decision, Laing later told The Messenger, “I enjoyed it while I was there. I need to give it up and let someone else do it.” Whigham Mayor Pro Tem Jim Sellers is serving as acting mayor until January when George Trulock will take office.
The Whigham City Council, which meets on the second Tuesday of each month, will have only three more meetings before Trulock is sworn in as mayor.
Laing had served as mayor for nearly eight years, signing up to run for the two-year terms four times without ever facing opposition. Before serving as mayor, he had also served on the Whigham City Council.
Laing and his wife of 54 years, Barbara, are both natives of Climax who moved to Whigham in 1976 with their children, Timothy, Elizabeth and Cindy. Laing has been retired from Torrington (now Koyo Bearings) since 1994.
Meanwhile, Whigham City Hall employees continue to work out of the Whigham Police Department as construction work takes place on the city’s headquarters where a mold and moisture problem was discovered over the summer.
City operations have been relocated across the highway from City Hall since the end of June. City Clerk Lisa Calhoun says during the weeks since, crews have installed a new roof and a French drain, removed wainscoting from an interior wall and treated it for mold. A faux stucco covering on the exterior East wall was torn away and after the wall was allowed to dry out, it was sealed and covered with genuine stucco, Calhoun says. Repairs have been made to the South side of the building, but more remains to be done inside and underneath the building, she says.