Xenia City Council appoints Urschel as mayor

Xenia has 15 applications for two now-vacant city council seats, has 60 days to fill them.
Xenia City Council President Will Urschel has been named mayor as outgoing mayor Sarah Mays prepares to take a county commission seat.

Xenia City Council President Will Urschel has been named mayor as outgoing mayor Sarah Mays prepares to take a county commission seat.

Xenia City Council’s president has been appointed mayor as outgoing mayor Sarah Mays prepares to take a seat as a county commissioner in January.

William Urschel will need to run for office in November of 2025 to be reelected as mayor.

Mays and City Councilman Levi Dean, who was elected a state representative in the November election, resigned their positions Monday morning.

“My heart is here. I have done my best to leave it all on the table. I’ve put everything I’ve got into this job,” Mays said. “My heart has been to lead in this community, but lead by serving and advocating.”

Urschel was appointed to city council after the death of vice president Dr. Edgar Wallace in December 2020. A pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Xenia and an Air Force veteran, Urschel works for Dayton Aerospace, Inc. Urschel was reelected to the council seat in 2021 and has since served as both vice president and president of council.

“Sarah has shepherded her passions well in all those situations for the community,” Urschel said Monday. “There have been times where we haven’t all agreed, but they have been things that you have passionately believed are in the best interests of our community.”

Council has 60 days from Monday to appoint two new members. As of Friday, the city has received 15 applications for the two council seats. Interviews for those candidates will begin in January.

The remaining five members of the seven-member council are Urschel, Vice President Wesley Smith, plus James Crawford, Ethan Reynolds and Faith Sorice.

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