DEPORT â Sometimes, navigating life can mean making tough decisions. And Monday, Deport Mayor John Mark Francis made one. The three-term mayor, only recently reelected, announced his resignation at a special City Council meeting, citing persistent health issues that he said were getting in the way of him doing the job in the way heâd like.
âSo the way that I would want to be mayor I realized, well, I canât be active and do the job I want to do,â Francis said Tuesday.
Just over six years ago, Francis was in a serious car wreck involving a semi that left him with major damage to his left knee that required surgery, and he had to have an operation on his right arm. Francis said heâs been living with pain for years since and is in need of another surgery. With the full-time responsibility of being mayor, he said he felt he could no longer provide the level of involvement he wanted to bring to his position. The decision was one he said he agonized over, but