A man who spent more than half a decade as a Sycamore alderman is back on the City Council.

David Stouffer, 40, was appointed in an unanimous Council vote on Monday to fill a vacated 4th Ward seat. Ben Bumpus, elected to the seat in May 2023, resigned from the Council because he moved, officials said.

As a former alderman, Stouffer said knows he’s volunteering for an often thankless job. But constituent voices are key to his success, he said.

“People were not shy before, I hope they’re not shy this time,” Stouffer said. “Shoot me an email, a phone call. If you see me walking around feel free to come up and say ‘Hi.’ Always happy to listen to different points of views and have constructive conversations.”

Stouffer declined to seek reelection in 2023. He and his wife were expecting a baby and he said wanted to focus on supporting his family.

He said he’d planned to return to public office eventually.

“My plan was actually to run in a year and a half, when that seat was going to be up for election and this just kind of expedited that process for me,” Stouffer said.

Bumpus could not immediately be reached for comment, and did not attend Monday’s meeting.

City Clerk Mary Kalk said Bumpus had referenced plans to resign at a recent Council meeting. Mayor Steve Braser said Bumpus had resigned because he moved.

It’s not clear when Bumpus formally vacated his seat. He attended and participated in the Sept. 15 City Council meeting, and was absent from the Oct. 6 meeting, documents show.

Stouffer was not sworn in Monday, and didn’t participate in any votes or take the empty seat on the dais.

He said he’d heard around town that the Council seat would soon be open.

“And a couple of days later, I thought about it a lot, I talked with the wife, I thought that would be more of a conversation but she didn’t even blink an eye,” Stouffer said. “She was like ‘Do it.’”

This is a developing story which could be updated.