 This year, the swearing-in process was a little longer than usual as
every alderman, the mayor, city treasurer and city clerk had all
been re-elected to office. In addition, two police officers for the
city were promoted, and the city department heads were also up for
renewal of their one-year positions.The evening began with Judge
Thomas Funk administering the oath of office to Mayor Keith Snyder,
City Clerk Susan Gehlbach and City Treasurer Chuck Conzo. He then
moved on to the aldermen, beginning with Melody Anderson of Ward 1,
and working his way through to Jeff Hoinacki of Ward 4.
Snyder took the oath of office with his youngest daughter, Haley,
at his side. Gehlbach was joined by her husband, Jim, and son and
daughter, Tyler and Kara. Conzo was accompanied by his wife, Judy.
Kathy Horn's fiancé, Will Peters, stood with her as she was sworn
in. Wilmert was joined by his wife, Cari, and son Cameron. Harry
Tibbs stood up with his wife, Jonie. A former city alderman, Art
Neitzel, witnessed the swearing-in of wife Marty, and Jeff Hoinacki
was accompanied by his wife, Katie.
After the swearing-in of all these, the next order of business
was to determine which of the aldermen would serve two-year terms
and which would serve four years. In the city of Lincoln, half of
the seats for alderman, one from each ward, are up for election
every two years. This process was established so there would always
be at least half of the aldermen seated who had experience in city
government.
With the changing of the number of wards in the city this year,
all eight seats for aldermen were available at the same time. Snyder
commented on this Monday night, saying it was somewhat of a historic
moment for the city.
In order to determine who would serve for two years and who would
serve four years, Snyder said Gehlbach and Conzo had come up with a
plan.
Eight small envelopes, two for each ward, were sealed and placed
in front of the mayor. One envelope contained a card that said two
years and the other a card that said four years. The aldermen,
starting with Ward 1, would draw one of the two envelopes. To
determine who would draw first, the rule was that the alderman with
the highest number of votes in the respective ward would have the
option to draw or pass. Once the envelope was drawn out and opened,
the aldermen revealed what term they had drawn and signed their name
to the card before returning it to Gehlbach for the official record.
In all four instances the alderman with the highest number of
votes chose to draw first.
Melody Anderson drew the four-year term, and Bruce Carmitchel
drew the two-year term in Ward 1.
David Wilmert drew first and pulled the two-year term for Ward 2.
Kathy Horn then pulled the four-year term.
Jonie Tibbs drew first in Ward 3 and pulled the four-year term.
Tom O'Donohue drew the two-year term.
In Ward 4 it was Marty Neitzel who drew first, pulling the
two-year term, while Jeff Hoinacki pulled out the envelope with the
four-year term.
The next order of business was the swearing-in of two police
officers to new positions.
Police Chief Ken Greenslate began by introducing Cpl. David
Oltmanns. Oltmanns joined the force in 1994. He was promoted to
corporal in 2005. He serves as the intern program coordinator and is
a juvenile officer. Greenslate said he has also volunteered for
numerous community police activities. Oltmanns was promoted to the
position of sergeant and was sworn in by city attorney Blinn Bates.
Officer Jason Lucas was then promoted to the position of
corporal. Lucas has been with the city police since 2001. Prior to
that, he served with the Logan County Sheriff's Department. He is
the pistol and rifle instructor and maintains and certifies all the
department's portable breath-testing equipment. Lucas was also sworn
in by Bates.
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Later in the evening, Snyder offered his recommendations for city
department heads. John Lebegue was approved unanimously as the
city's building and safety officer. Greenslate was approved as chief
of police, and Mark Miller was approved as the fire chief. All were
approved by unanimous vote.
Greenslate also asked for approval of his recommendation of
Michael Geriets as his assistant chief. His request was approved by
unanimous vote
Bates also administered the oath of office to all the department
heads as well as Geriets.
In other business the city approved by unanimous vote a contract
with Woods & Bates Attorneys at Law for the position of city
attorney, and a contract with Prairie Engineers for the position of
city engineer.
The contract with GovTemps USA for the position of city
administrator filled by Sue McLaughlin was extended for another six
months, and the city approved an agreement with Logan County Animal
Control for their professional services.
Snyder also presented his list of committee and commission
assignments for the year.
Those appointments are as follows:
Plan Commission
-
To be members of
the Plan Commission with terms expiring May 1, 2014: Cliff
Marble, Todd Mourning and Bob Wood
-
With terms expiring
May 1, 2015: Vic Martinek, Leo Logan and Bruce Huskins
-
With terms expiring May 1, 2016: David
Klug, Ron Keller, John Guzzardo and Robert Coombs
Zoning Board of Appeals
-
To be members of
the Zoning Board of Appeals with terms expiring May 1, 2016:
Gene Mehan and Ben Grunder
-
With a term
expiring May 1, 2017: LaVerne Tesh
-
With a term
expiring May 1, 2018: Donnie Parker
Fire and Police Commission
-
To be a member of
the Fire and Police Commission with a term expiring May 1, 2015:
Marilyn Montgomery
-
With a term expiring May 1, 2016: Joe
Haning
Civil Service Commission
-
To be a member of
the Civil Service Commission with a term expiring May 1, 2015:
Keith Leesman
-
With a term expiring May 1, 2016: Ruth
Sloot
Historic Preservation Commission
-
To be members of
the Historic Preservation Commission with terms expiring May 1,
2014: Brian Messner and Mike Fak
-
With terms expiring
May 1, 2015: Julie Gerardeau and Ben Rikart
-
With terms expiring May 1, 2016: April
Doolin, Bill Vinyard and Ron Keller
Liquor Commission
- To be members of the city Liquor Commission with unspecified
terms: Mayor Keith Snyder, Dan Wheat and Les Plotner
This year there will be no individual committees within the city
council. All matters will be dealt with as a committee of the whole,
and therefore there were no city committee assignments.
At the end of the evening there was only one position in the city
that was not settled. When designating department heads for the
coming year, the position of street and alley superintendent was not
mentioned.
[By NILA SMITH]
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