City officials, Megan Hedwall discuss her resignation

HORNSBY, Tenn. — The mayor of a town in West Tennessee resigned from her position after more than two years in office.

Hornsby, in Hardeman County, has been dealing with some big problems over the course of two years.

Earlier this month, their mayor, Megan Hedwall, decided to step down from her position.

“Well, it was a surprise and unexpected,” said Alderman Patricia Plunk.

“We were not quite expecting it, for her to resign like that,” said Alderman Curtis Vandiver, who is filling in for the position of mayor.

On March 7, Hedwall addressed the Board of Aldermans with a resignation letter for her position.

“There’s been this pattern over the past two years as I been in office where,” Hedwall said. “It came to a point where the Board of Aldermans was not looking out for the best interest of the people.”

This came as a shock to many board members. However, in Hedwall’s resignation letter, she stated that her and the board members did not share the same values.

“I believe in limited government and that people should have the decision to do with their property and their money what they want. That is my value, so one of the things I ran on was trying to decrease property taxes,” Hedwall said.

Along with property taxes, Hedwell and the board also disagreed when it came to the town’s water system.

“It’s really slowed down progress, I think, in Hornsby. We wanted to do this water grant work on our water system, and that was something she’s very opposed to,” Plunk said.

Hedwall was elected as mayor in November of 2020. This is the first time in the existence of the town that a mayor has resigned.

“I am still solid on my decision. I’m not sure what’s ahead for me, but I know I will be spending my time holding my local elected officials accountable, which I firmly believe every single citizen should be doing,” Hedwall said.

Vandiver is temporarily filling in position. Next month, any citizen in the Town of Hornsby can come before the board and explain why they want to be mayor for the remainder of the term.

The town will choose an interim mayor at the next Alderman Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 4.

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