ALEXANDRIA, Ohio -- Regardless of what community you live in, you want your local government to work for you.
But in a small Licking County community, some residents say government is not working and many of the leaders are jumping ship all together.
For John Garber of Marion, Alexandria was a spot he didn't really want to stop.
"I got a speeding ticket," he said.
But it was time to pay up. He had the money, but there was one problem.
"(There was) no one to take the payment," he said.
Except for a few hours on Mondays, the village government is closed, NBC 4's Marcus Thorpe reported. The administrator quit on Friday.
"It's very frustrating. I don't know where this town is going to go. For three years, it's been unstable," said Bill Lisk, an area business owner.
The mayor resigned, along with the court clerk and solicitor. There are also two currently open village council seats.
"I have clients that used to work, so I hear their side. The business owners have their side. It's hard to say who's right and wrong," said Wendi Zigo, of the Village Spa.
Lisk said transparency has been a problem in the community.
"There's a lot of people who won't build in the town for reasons we are talking about today," he said.
Some of the questions arose after former Mayor Carol Jasper quit in March.
Village Councilmember Naomi Compton said Jasper didn't pay a water bill for more than a year, then paid the bill and quit shortly thereafter.
Compton said another incident included the disappearance of $225 from the clerk's desk. A police report was filed, but no one was arrested.
For the owners of the Village Spa, village government has had quite the makeover.
"We love Alexandria, want to see it prosper, think it could grow," Zigo said.
Now, they and others want some stability in the community.
The current mayor and two acting village councilmembers didn't want to comment about the issues.
A renewal levy is on the May 5 special election ballot. Without the levy, financial situations that could partially be blamed for the mass exodus might leave the community in an insurmountable hole.
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