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The Mayor of Valdosta, John J. Fretti, quietly resigned from office Tuesday afternoon, effective midnight, Sept. 2, 2011.

Fretti served as mayor for nearly 8 years. On Friday, Aug. 26, he entered a guilty plea in Lowndes County Superior Court to felony false statement stemming from an investigation into his being doubly reimbursed by the city and state for the same trips.

Southern Circuit Judge Harry J. Altman is scheduled to sentence Fretti on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

Qualifying for the mayor’s seat is underway for the Nov. 8 election. Since that election is within six months of the resignation, no special election will have to be held.

City Manager Larry Hanson said Tuesday that Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Payton will assume the duties as mayor pro tem, but the city council will have  to appoint someone to serve as mayor until the November election.

“Councilman Payton would have to resign his seat to be mayor for a few months and he doesn’t want to do that,” Hanson said. “The council meets next Thursday, Sept. 9, and they will appoint someone to serve as mayor until the term expires at the end of December.”

Hanson said he assumes the council will appoint someone who has previously served as an elected city official but not someone who is currently running for office.

Payton will continue to serve as a councilman and as mayor pro tem.

The last time this issue occurred was when Mayor James Rainwater passed away on Oct. 12, 2003, just a few weeks before the election. At that time, Councilman David Sumner assumed the role of mayor, but had to resign his council seat to do so. He had already qualified to rerun for his seat in the November 2003 election, was re-elected to his seat and stepped down as mayor at the end of 2003, re-assuming his duties as a newly elected councilman at the beginning of 2004.

Hanson said that Larry Rodgers served as interim city councilman in Sumner’s seat in 2003.

“This process is very confusing and I’m sure those who wrote the city’s charter 150 years ago did not foresee a circumstance quite like this one,” he said.

Attempts to contact Fretti were unsuccessful.