T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Don Vincenzo, St. Clairsville City Council member and son of former mayor Robert Vincenzo, receives a proclamation honoring his recently deceased father.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — St. Clairsville City Council mourned the recent loss of former mayor Robert Vincenzo at Monday’s meeting.

Vincenzo began working in city politics by serving on council in 1978. From there he became council president and then became the mayor of St. Clairsville for 24 years, from 1992 through his retirement in 2016.

“I’d like to acknowledge that last week, we lost a real pillar of our community, Mayor Robert Vincenzo, former mayor of the city of St Clairsville,” current Mayor Kathryn Thalman said.

She then announced that she had signed a proclamation making May 5 a day of remembrance and celebration of the late Vincenzo.

“His leadership left a lasting impact on the city by receiving grants for many infrastructure improvements, and whereas, thanks to his vision, the community garden, the National Road bike trail and Central Park, including the amphitheater, are a huge part of our daily lives, and whereas it is fitting and proper that the city of St. Clairsville recognizes and honors the life, leadership and legacy of Robert “Bob” Vincenzo, acknowledging the profound impact he has made on our city and its people. And now therefore be it resolved that I, Kathryn Thalman, Mayor of the City of St. Clairsville, do hereby proclaim our heartfelt gratitude for the life and service of Robert Vincenzo in witness thereof, I heretofore set my hand that May 5, 2025, as a day of remembrance of Mayor Robert Vincenzo, and I encourage all residents to reflect on his enduring legacy and contributions to our community,” she said.

Council member Don Vincenzo, son of the late mayor, thanked Thalman for the proclamation and her kind words and said that his father truly loved the city of St. Clairsville. He added that in his father’s final days, when he would talk to his father about any city business, that his ears would perk up with excitement and love.

“It’s heartfelt from all of us and, as I told you when I came down to the funeral home, I didn’t know your dad really well, but when I got elected, he very generously gave me his time. I went down to their home, and he kind of gave me an idea of what to expect as mayor. Some of it was fun stuff, some of it not so fun, but he kind of gave me the lay of the land, and that was terribly generous of him. So thank you again, and the seeds of our success are grown from the seeds he planted,” Thalman replied.

Service Director Scott Havrey added that when he got hired by the city 11 years ago, Robert was the person who hired him and he has been grateful ever since.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Tom Murphy echoed Thalman and Harvey’s sentiments, saying that he had a great deal of respect for Robert Vincenzo and spent many years working alongside him.

“He was a great council member, president of council, and ultimately mayor. I worked with him for 13 years, and he was a great advocate for the city. He was not here for personal gain, and when making decisions, it was always for the greater good of the city, and not for special interest,” Murphy said.

Following the proclamation, Police Chief Matt Arbenz announced that the city’s police department received the Gold Award for 2024 management, dissemination, timing, update and training of departmental policies and procedures from Lexipol, which is its highest level of recognition. He said that the police department’s policy and procedures are constantly changing because laws constantly change.

“Every day we have every officer that works here has to get on and do daily training bulletins, so they’re trained daily on our policy and procedures. And they’re huge for law enforcement, it’s a lot, they get on every day and if any law changes our policies have to get changed. So they have to get on and acknowledge all those changes. And then they get on every day and train on a scenario basis to see if they respond correctly and to what our policy procedures are. And then I work to go through them and change things that aren’t per se law changes, but more changes in the community or the ideals or goals of the department or the city,” Arbenz said.

He added that this was the fourth year in a row that the department has been recognized by Lexipol for its excellence.