Aurora Alderman Keith announces resignation

Come Jan. 3, Aurora Alderman Leroy Keith will have a new job in Atlanta.

Keith announced his resignation from city council Tuesday evening effective Dec. 31.

Keith, a 20-year U.S. Army veteran and current forensic scientist supervisor at the DuPage County Sheriff's crime laboratory, will be the chief of an expeditionary force laboratory for the Department of the Army.

“Our loss is the country's gain,” Alderman John S. “Whitey” Peters said.

Keith said the expeditionary force laboratory is a mobile lab. But he did not elaborate about his new position, saying he's saving most of his comments for Tuesday, when city council will have to pass a resolution approving his resignation.

“He was always really prepared,” Mayor Tom Weisner said. “He was an energetic, very involved alderman.”

Weisner will appoint a replacement to fill Keith's seat until the 2013 election because the deadline to file candidacy for the 2011 election already passed, Chief Management Officer Carie Anne Ergo said. Had Keith announced his resignation sooner, his successor could have been elected.

Weisner will consider submissions of resumes from residents of Aurora's ninth ward on the city's far east side when making his decision. His appointment must receive city council's consent before Keith's replacement can become an alderman. Keith was first elected in 2003. He has lived in Aurora since 1999 with his wife, Susan, and their three children.