Meaford Mayor Wally Reif stunned the community with the sudden announcement of his resignation at a council meeting held Monday night.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the mayor read a statement about the trials and tribulations he has experienced during his second term in office and announced he would step down after council sets the 2008 budget.

Reif took direct aim at the RAMSS ratepayers organization and the local press for constant criticism of the current council and its management of the municipality since taking office in late 2006.

Using terms such as "rubbish" and "mean spiritedness" that Mayor informed the sparse audience and the rest of council that he was stepping down.

"I entered municipal politics to help this community," he said. "It seems now I'm more a hindrance than a help," he said.

The Mayor said a citizen recently asked him how many years the recent stress and controversy around the council table and at the municipal office had taken off his life.

"It hasn't added any," he said. "That was harder than I thought," the mayor said at the end of his statement, his voice shaking with emotion.

The surprise resignation marked a dramatic turn around from November 2006 when Mayor Reif was re-elected to a second term with a stunning 70 per cent of the ballots cast. A few months after the election, controversy struck the municipality when CAO/Treasurer David Free - a key staff hiring during Reif's first term - suddenly left the municipality.

Free claimed he was dismissed by council, while the municipality insisted the parting was a resignation. The situation concluded with the municipality negotiating a financial settlement with the deposed CAO/Treasurer.

Bad news continued in the summer of 2007 when council announced a surprise deficit in the 2006 budget. Then, two weeks ago, it was revealed that the municipality has a deficit as high as $1.7 million in the 2007 financial results.

On the morning of the mayor's resignation, a petition asking the provincial government to conduct an investigation into the mayor's involvement with the defunct ratepayer's group known as "Cut Our Taxes" was released to the media.

Prior to last year's election, Cut Our Taxes hosted a blog site on the Internet that featured anonymous postings that were highly critical of other members of council. Members of the group also attended meetings in large numbers and were very vocal in their criticism of council and their support for Reif.

Although the head of the group promised it would be back if the new council didn't properly manage the municipality's affairs, it has been silent throughout the deficit controversy and has been largely absent from council meetings during the past 12 months.

Former councillors Paul Hutchinson and Sam Luckhardt allege in their petition that the mayor leaked information to the group, which then harassed members of council and are asking council to request a judicial inquiry into the group's finances.

The mayor's surprise announcement was a thunderclap in the middle of what was otherwise a routine evening. Only five councillors were present at the meeting. Council met Monday night to hold to public meetings for routine zoning amendments. The audience in attendance was sparse and the Rogers television crew that tapes regular council meetings was not present.

"I was taken by surprise," said councillor Jim McPherson.

Some members of council lingered around the council chamber after the mayor had exited the premises. Members of council still in the chamber said the municipality is close to setting a budget for 2008 and that the period between the mayor's announcement and his final resignation shouldn't be long.

"My mouth is open as well," said Deputy Mayor Francis Richardson, who now likely faces the expectation that as Deputy Mayor he will assume the Mayor's chair.

"I need to talk to the mayor before I say anything else and I need to find out what the Municipal Act says," he said.

Councillor Cynthia Lemon said the mayor's sudden departure was going to add another layer of difficulty for a council that is already shell shocked.

"This isn't going to heal the wounds any faster. We have a whole new set of hurdles to jump (over) now," she said.