GOUVERNEUR — The village Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Christopher A. Miller as mayor at a meeting Tuesday.

Mr. Miller, who was arrested earlier in the day on a charge of third-degree grand larceny, had resigned his political position last week. His resignation letter, read aloud by Ronald P. McDougall, who as deputy mayor became mayor when Mr. Miller stepped down, gave no explanation.

“It’s been an honor to serve my community,” Mr. Miller wrote.

Mr. McDougall assured the public that village accounts are safe.

“We’re financially secure,” he said. “We believe internally there’s been nothing fraudulently done.”

When the board learned after last fall’s election that Mr. Miller had a criminal past, it did not allow him to sign checks, requisitions or vouchers, which were handled by either Mr. McDougall or Trustee Charles W. Newvine when he was deputy mayor. The village also has routine audits, Mr. McDougall said.

“It’s not every once in a while,” he said. “It’s every year.”

The board affirmed Mr. McDougall’s recommendation that Mr. Newvine serve as his deputy mayor.

Mr. McDougall, a member of the Independence Party, filed an independent nominating petition with the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections on Tuesday to run for mayor this November.

Trustee R. Nelson Lawrence, a Conservative, also filed an independent nominating petition to run for trustee. Mr. Lawrence, who was appointed in December by then-Mayor Dorothy L. Vorce to fill a vacancy on the board, had decided earlier not to run.

“Circumstances have changed that changed my outlook,” Mr. Lawrence said. “I want to get back in and help the village.”

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