ARMSTRONG, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa mayor who is among a slew of town officials charged with a string of felonies and misdemeanors in a city embezzlement case has resigned his post.
Armstrong Mayor Greg Buum, 69, submitted his written resignation Monday night at a City Council meeting, the Des Moines Register reported. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has charged Buum, the town’s police chief, its city clerk and two former clerks in an alleged plot to loot the city coffers.
Buum also is charged with misusing a saw from the town’s volunteer fire department to benefit his private carpentry business. He and the others — which include police chief Craig Merrill, city clerk Tracie Lang and former city clerks Connie Thackery and Mary Staton — were arrested earlier this month. Buum is free on $67,000 bond.
Armstrong is a community of 900 people located near Iowa’s border with Minnesota and is about 40 miles from the popular Okoboji vacation area in the state’s northwestern corner.