London city council seeks to oust Mayor Randall Weddle amid misconduct claims
The London city council is seeking to oust Mayor Randall Weddle amid claims he’s guilty of misconduct and willful neglect.
The council sought to adopt a resolution during its Monday night meeting that would mandate a public hearing, which could have led to Weddle’s removal.
The resolution passed by a vote of 5-1, with council member Stacy Benge the lone dissenter. But after about 40 minutes, as council members and city lawyers further debated the resolution, Weddle stormed out, leading to confusion about whether the motion was fully approved before Weddle ended the meeting.
Weddle did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.
The council outlined several accusations against Weddle, who was elected mayor in November 2022.
Among the claims were that Weddle hired people for positions not approved by the city council; paid employees excessively; removed and appointed members of the London Housing Authority without going through proper channels; directed the housing authority to not follow laws and regulations; misused police resources to give himself personal protection; failed to live in city limits; and used a personal media outlet to harass a city employee.
The meeting became heated after the accusations were presented. Community members criticized the council for hiring lawyers to handle the matter, including T.J. Roberts, who represents District 66 in the state House of Representatives.
Weddle criticized the council for not investigating the accusations before coming forward with charges.
“They’ve accepted these charges without one exploratory committee, one investigation, one time coming to the city hall to look into documentation, without going to the housing authority to look at documentation,” Weddle said during the meeting. “You read social media and now you want to charge me with a bunch of lies.”
The resolution says the public hearing to deliberate the accusations is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 20. The council could vote to remove Weddle from his office as mayor, but the vote would require a unanimous decision.
The attempt to remove Weddle comes amid a tumultuous year for the mayor.
Three residents in particular — brothers John and James Phelps, and Elijah Jarvis — were critical of Weddle after city police shot and killed 63-year-old Doug Harless while trying to serve a warrant for stolen property.
A mix-up in housing numbers in the rural area led police to the home of Harless, even though he was not listed as a suspect in the investigation.
The three residents eventually sued Weddle for defamation after he claimed they were part of a pedophilia ring. The Phelps brothers filed a separate lawsuit from Jarvis, and Weddle has requested the lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice because it fails to state a claim against Weddle that would warrant relief.
The next hearing in the lawsuit between the Phelps brothers and Weddle is scheduled for Aug. 12.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM.
