Village shakeup: Several elected officials suddenly resign from village of Phillipsburg

While the resignation letters of Grill, Newsom, and Mullins did not outline any reasons for their departures, Phillips’ letter alluded to apparent strife within the village’s leadership.

“It was a pleasure to serve the residents of the village of Phillipsburg,” Phillips wrote. “I have witnessed council members tear this village apart and now the same people who tore it apart are going to make it better.”

Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Phillips, Mullins, and Grill could not be reached.

Village council voted July 8 to appoint former Councilman Josh Simpson as mayor, and Hope Hoard as vice mayor.

Both Simpson and Hoard will serve in their respective roles through Dec. 31, 2025. The mayor position will appear on the November ballot, and a vice mayor will be appointed during council’s first meeting of the year in 2026.

Council also voted to terminate village administrator Steven Woolf, and to appoint Lori Hartman as part-time fiscal officer. The services of traveling Uniform Accounting Network fiscal officer Richard Ford have also been enlisted, officials said.

The village will not be hiring a new village administrator, citing cost-saving efforts.

On July 29, Jacob Groh and John Ritter were appointed to fill the council seats vacated by Mullins and by Simpson’s shift to mayor.

In a post to the village’s social media on Wednesday, Simpson shared goals for his new role.

“My goals for the village are simple: spend our tax dollars on tangible assets for the village. Fire/EMS, police, parks, streets, (and) water are at the top of my list,” he wrote in the Facebook post. “I believe transparency is the only way to run a local government; our plan is to live stream meetings and make minutes, contracts, etc., available to the public and easily accessible.

“It’s time we start investing our time, efforts, and funds in Phillipsburg for Phillipsburg,” he continued. “We have a great team full of motivated, like-minded people willing to do what’s right for Phillipsburg. I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity and look forward to the road ahead.”