During a special meeting Monday night, the Red Bud City Council unanimously elected Susan Harbaugh as acting mayor following the resignation of Tim Lowry.

Lowry announced at a city council meeting earlier this month his intention to resign due to a personal “pending issue” which he was not able to comment on.

Had Lowry completed his term, he would have been in office until 2023. Lowry had been Red Bud’s mayor since 2011.

Harbaugh, who has served as an alderwoman since 2017, was just re-elected to another term on the council in April. 

She becomes the first woman mayor in Red Bud’s history, and will serve the remainder of Lowry’s term.

“What an honor and a privilege to be chosen by my fellow councilmen to lead the City of Red Bud as acting mayor,” Harbaugh told the Republic-Times. “While it is fun to pause for a moment to celebrate, there is much work ahead to be done. I would like to see Red Bud is managed in a meaningful way, preserving the best of small-town life while looking to the future. I want Red Bud to be known as a safe town where people want to live, work, play, eat, shop. I also want to thank all the citizens who have reached out with kind words of support and encouragement.”

Harbaugh is the first alderwoman to complete a term in Red Bud and the first to get elected to a second term. 

Harbaugh is retired with 35-plus years of of accounting experience, 30 years of staff management and 20 years of union contract negotiations. 

She is in the Board of Directors for the St. Clement Community Foundation, Clifftop, McKendree University Alumni Association and Red Bud Regional Hospital, and is a member of the Lower Kaskaskia Stakeholders, Kaskaskia Valley Audubon Society, Monroe County Herb Club, Red Bud Womens Club and Red Bud Chamber of Commerce.