PRAIRIE CITY — Saying he needs to devote more time to his work, the mayor of Prairie City has stepped down with a little over 10 months left on his two-year term.

Scott Officer announced his resignation at a meeting of the city council on Thursday, Feb. 15. He was elected to the unpaid position in November 2022.

The council voted to make council member Ed Clark mayor for the remainder of Officer’s term, which expires at the end of this year.

Officer, who works as an engineering technician for the Malheur National Forest, told the Eagle he resigned because growing demands on his time at work are making it difficult to perform some of his duties as mayor. In addition to a number of big projects on the horizon, Officer said, he also has a large amount of training scheduled.

“It was the hardest decision I ever had to make in my life,” Officer said. But being mayor involves a significant time commitment, he added, “and I’m just not going to have that time.”

Clark said he had no immediate plans to launch any new initiatives as mayor. For now, he added, he’s focused on getting up to speed in his new role and making sure that city projects currently underway, such as downtown sidewalk improvements and work on a municipal well, are proceeding as planned.

“I’ve only been on the city council since September,” Clark noted. “I’m on a pretty steep learning curve right now.”