Mobile County Musical Chairs

Court Government County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood resigned Tuesday leaving the District 1 seat open once again.

by Tiffany Craig

Published: Tue, August 26, 2008 - 10:59 am CST Last Updated: Tue, August 26, 2008 - 11:18 am CST

Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood resigned from her position.

The *now* former north Mobile County leader says she has turned in her county car and credit card and is moving out of the office immediately.

Ludgood's departure comes after months of legal wrangling over the position that she won in a special election. Ludgood defeated Republican Juan Chastang in October 2007 after a judicial panel removed him.

The panel agreed that Riley violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by appointing Chastang. Justices have since ruled in Riley's favor.

On Monday, Attorney General Troy King instructed Mobile County officials to stop paying Ludgood.

Ludgood responded, "I'm not arguing that I have a legal leg to stand on that's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is that until a court decided that should happen there really should be no vacancy here but i'm not gonna stand by and let it appear that I'm being forced out of office that's not good for District 1 and that's not good for the county."

You can hear more of Ludgood's comments by clicking on the video.

The empty seat isn't expected to stay cold for long. Chastang has said in the past that he wants the position back. Ludgood plans to run for the position again in November.

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claycitymadness Says:

Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 11:30 am

finally someon in local government does the right thing, although i really think when she won the special election the will of the voters had been put to the ulimate test. and i hope she wins in november, chastang is republican slime, what do i remember about his short term in office,? that riley appointed a republican to a democratic district andthat he wanted to sell the old courthouse site to a private developer to put luxury condos there. yeah he is really going to have the needs of the voters at heart. the voters that will his wallet