Mayor won’t seek another term
Staff writer
Hillsboro Mayor Lou Thurston won’t seek another term.
His term will end in a little less than two years, and he thought the time was right to identify a council member he might support to be the next mayor.
He has thrown his support behind council member Ronald Wilkins.
“He is someone I am mentoring who will do a tremendous job,” Thurston said. “He will have my support. It is time for the younger generation to step up.”
Thurston would have retired earlier, but he and his wife were tasked with raising their three grandchildren, which took time away from what they wanted to do.
“I am retiring from my day job,” he said. “Me and my wife want to travel and do other things.”
There is not much Thurston does not like about being mayor, but he never knew the amount of checks and documents he would be signing.
“What I enjoyed the most is serving the community and having the chance to make a positive impact,” he said.
When choosing to run the first time eight years ago, he told his wife this would not take much of his time.
Speaking to a fourth-grade class, Thurston was asked whether he was scared to run for mayor.
He told the class he was not until his third week on the job, when the city’s administrator at the time collapsed with Stage 4 cancer.