CEREDO, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The last time the town of Ceredo elected a new mayor, Richard Nixon was president, the Beatles were on top of the pop music charts, and an actor named Jack Nicholson had found fame with a movie called "Easy Rider".

After being mayor of Ceredo for 40 years, Mose Napier decided not to run for re-election, and Saturday night Ceredo voters elected their first new mayor since 1969.

Being elected to the same office for nine consecutive terms suggests that Mayor Napier was doing something right.

"You could go to him with problems, and he helped you solve them," Ceredo resident Delcie Elkins said.

"Somebody that could be mayor for that long must have had the support from the community," Ceredo resident Bernard Walker said.

Despite continued support, Napier's ailing health forced him to decide it was time to call it a career.

"He was a great mayor, but he just got old and sick, and it was his time, and he realized it,” Delcie Elkins said, “and that's the best thing to do, when you realize you can't do the job any longer, then it's time to let someone else."

That someone else is Otis Adkins, who served as a city councilman for Ceredo the last four years and had full support from Napier during the campaign.

"He's been a mentor to me,” Adkins said of his predecessor. “Just serving with him has prepared me to do the job of mayor in Ceredo."

Although Napier is officially stepping down, the longtime mayor says he hopes to stay involved.

"I want to continue being active and being a part of it,” Napier said. “They might want to ask me a few questions, and I'd be happy to tell about some things we did and how we did them and why, and I think that would be good to have continuity that way."

Continuity has been a constant for four decades in the town, and the new mayor hopes to keep it alive.

"Ceredo does a lot of things and does them well,” Adkins said. “I want to make sure we continue doing that, following in his footsteps."

Napier says some of his proudest achievements were constructing several new buildings, including a new city hall and a Ceredo-Kenova Middle School and helping open a shopping plaza that brought in numerous businesses to the town.

Otis Adkins defeated Pastor Scott Byard by a vote of 262 to 132.

Voters also elected several city council members. The winners include Jim Billups, Bob Leslie, Joe Ratcliff, Steve Diamond and Dennis Adkins.

Town Recorder Stanly Fink was uncontested.