Wednesday, May 08, 2013
 
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Monday night: A whole lot of 'swearing' going on at City Hall

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[May 08, 2013]  Monday evening there was a whole lot of swearing going on at City Hall. It was the first meeting of a new fiscal year, which also just happened to be an election year, meaning there were city officials to be sworn in.

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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