GREG KIPP
By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — Following the death of Elk Mound Village President Steven Abraham, the Elk Mound Village Board has appointed Trustee Greg Kipp as village president.
Kipp, who was serving as president pro tempore, was appointed at the March 7 Elk Mound Village Board meeting.
Appointing a village president from the remaining trustees on the village board is not the same as appointing a new trustee, said Jason Brasch, an attorney with Bakke Norman Law Offices.
Abraham was both the village president and a trustee on the village board, he noted.
The village board will have to decide if the trustee seat will remain empty until the next election. If the village board appoints someone to the open seat, that person would be a village trustee but not the village president, Brasch said.
Five candidates are running in the April election for three open seats, so the open position will fill itself, said Terry Stamm, village trustee.
Steven Abraham’s trustee position is not up for election until next spring in 2023, Brasch said.
The village board would have to wait for the election until a year from now to fill Abraham’s position, would have to hold a special election or would have to appoint someone to the position for one year, Kipp said.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved appointing Kipp to fill the village president position for the remainder of Abraham’s term.
The Elk Mound Village Board also voted unanimously to appoint Terry Stamm to the president pro tempore position.
Stamm abstained from voting.
Abraham died unexpectedly February 27.
According to his obituary, Abraham, a Retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer 4, was originally from Winona, Minnesota.
He joined the United States Navy in 1971 and retired after 31 years of service.
Abraham was first elected as Elk Mound Village President in 2017.
