Sturgis, S.D. (KELOLAND) — Sturgis held an emergency meeting Wednesdaay in response to the sudden resignation of Mayor Mark Carstensen. He’s stepping down in the middle of his current term, and the council needs to find someone to replace him.

News that Mayor Mark Carstensen is stepping down spread through town quickly.

“Well, I was taken back a little bit. My wife shared it with me on Facebook, shared the post on Facebook with me, and so I read through it and it doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t surprise me, there is a lot of stuff going on in Sturgis,” Sturgis Strikers Bowling Alley Owner Max Harms said.

This was Carstensens 5th term as Sturgis Mayor.

“He had a heart for public service and it’s just sad that this city has lost such a great leader,” Sturgis Director of Communications Deb Holland said

Now, the city is moving forward as quickly as it can.

“The transition team got together because we don’t have a city manager right now, and we talked about how to proceed. Well, the first thing we did was go to South Dakota state laws to determine how this succession, you know, would go.” Sturgis Director of Communications Deb Holland said.

This decision from Mayor Mark Carstensen to step down from his position which he has been in office since 2009 here serving the people of Sturgis was very sudden and now the board is going to have an emergency meeting tonight to appoint somebody to finish out his term.

“I hope that whoever comes in, in my opinion, does as well as we have in the last 13 years. In my opinion, I think Sturgis is way better off now than it’s been,” Harms said.

The Sturgis City Council meeting for nominations will start very soon. We will continue to provide information as it becomes available.