By Bill Houston
Racine, WI — In a letter to Mayor Cory Mason Friday, Nov. 8, 4th District Alderwoman Tracey Larrin resigned from the Racine City Council.
Pointing to ongoing health issues and a new work schedule, Larrin wrote “Mayor Cory Mason, please let this serve as official notice that as of Friday, November 8, 2019, I resign my position as City of Racine Alderman of the 4th District. As such, I will not be seeking re-election in April of 2020.
“Lingering health issues have begun to impact my ability to attend meetings and execute my duties as an alderman. I do not believe it is fair to the Council as a whole, to the committees on which I serve, or to my constituents who rely on me to represent them, for me to remain in office if I can’t fulfill my obligations,” Larrin explained in her notice to the mayor.
“I have recently switched employment and my work schedule also conflicts with city meeting times,” added the second-term alderwoman who worked previously as a deli cashier for Captain John’s Sammys and Such, 1240 N. Main St., Racine.
In her statement, Larrin made no mention of her August application for a $20,000 city home improvement loan through the Rebuild Racine program, which caused the city to publish a mandatory “conflict of interest” notice and accept public comments.
Calling the publication “a standard step in our ‘conflict of interest policy,’” at the time, City Communications Director Shannon Powell explained comments “are heard by the Loan Board of Review and taken into account as they decide whether or not to approve the loan.”
Earning an annual salary of just under $6,700 as an alderman, Larrin was not a member of the Loan Board of Review.
First elected to a two-year term in 2016, Larrin won her first bid for re-election in April 2018 against retired electrician Dennis Montey.