Bay St. Louis to hold special election for Ward 5 council seat

Bay St. Louis will hold a special election next month to fill the unexpired term of Ward 5 Councilman Buddy Zimmerman.

The city posted a notice on its social media on Monday to announce the election to be held September 17.

The Council accepted the resignation at its August 6 meeting.

Zimmerman submitted his letter of resignation the afternoon before the meeting and did not provide a reason for the resignation and did not attend the council meeting that night.

He told WXXV he didn’t want to resign, but did so for health reasons.

Zimmerman was a longtime employee of the city, serving as director of Public Works. After retiring, he ran for the Ward 5 seat and took office in July 2017. He was re-elected to a second term in 2021.

Residents of Ward 5 interested in running for the seat can pick up qualifying information from the municipal clerk at City Hall. The deadline to qualify for the seat is 5 p.m. August 28.