MUNCIE, Ind. — On Friday, May 29, the City of Muncie announced that Director of the Muncie Redevelopment Commission Jeff Howe has been appointed Muncie’s Deputy Mayor. Following the announcement, a press release stated that Howe will also serve as acting mayor while Dan Ridenour recovers from surgery for several weeks.

Previously, Ridenour announced on WMUN to host Steve Lindell that Muncie City Council President Jeff Green, a Republican from District 1, would take the responsibility of mayor. The deputy mayor position was defunded by council in late 2024, leaving the appointment of a council member as the only option. Ridenour told Lindell on radio “it’s not like he [Green] will be in the office everyday running the city, but he will be there in those instances where something needs to be signed or handled.”

Yesterday’s announcement came as a major surprise, both because of Ridenour’s previous announcement and because the deputy mayor role has no funding. Ridenour said Howe is “doing this for free because I don’t have a budget for deputy mayor, so he is taking the deputy mayor role for now and we’re not going to pay him any extra.”

According to Indiana Code, if a mayor is expected to be absent from office they may have either a deputy mayor or a member of the city legislative body fill in. According to the press release, “the temporary designation of Acting Executive will take effect at 12:00 a.m. on June 1, 2026, and will remain in place for fifteen days. Mr. Howe will continue to serve in his current role as Director of the Muncie Redevelopment Commission while assuming the temporary responsibilities of Acting Executive.”

Ridenour first announced his prostate cancer diagnosis in late April in a video posted to the City of Muncie’s Facebook page. The diagnosis was a result of an October biopsy and a recent follow-up in April, and the mayor worries if the cancer “progresses so fast before we get it removed that it gets into other organs.” His surgery is scheduled for June 2.