A peaceful transition of power occurred Tuesday, Dec. 19, in the West Liberty Community Center during the West Liberty City Council meeting.
Mark Smith was sworn into his two-year term as mayor. He replaced Ethan Anderson, who took over the role back in October 2022, after it was vacated by Katie McCullough.
“Thank you to Mayor Anderson; he has been wonderfully cooperative and helpful as we go through this transition,” Mayor Smith said at the end of the meeting.
One of Smith’s first duties as mayor was to swear in Joshua Schiltz and Tim Parizek to four-year terms on the West Liberty City Council.
This means the 2024 West Liberty City Council will consist of Cara McFerren, Dana Dominguez, Omar Martinez and Joshua Schiltz, with newcomer Tim Parizek.
“West Liberty, it has been my honor to serve you as mayor,” former mayor Ethan Anderson told the Index. “Knowing the time was short, I gave it all I had for a year.”
“Working alongside the dedicated city council, hardworking city staff and community partners, we were able to accomplish many important things, and it was a privilege to be involved and play my part,” he said.
It’s been a tumultuous few years for city council. Several seats and the mayoral position were appointed due to them being vacated. However, as of 2024, all positions will be duly elected.
As the final piece, Councilmember Cara McFerren will officially be sworn in for another term on the council after the beginning of the year.
But the ceremonies didn’t end there. Soon after Joshua Houser was nominated by the mayor and approved by the council to be the next police chief of West Liberty.
“We interviewed a number of candidates for this position; we had excellent candidates,” said Mayor Smith. “We’re very happy that Joshua has decided to come back to the City of West Liberty and assume these duties.”
The council interviewed three finalists the week of Monday, Dec. 11, ultimately giving consensus to Officer Houser. He will officially begin on Jan. 10, 2024.
Officer Houser served in West Liberty from 2017 to 2021 and remained on the part-time roster after leaving his full-time position for an opportunity elsewhere.
West Liberty found itself on the hunt for a new chief after Eric Werling resigned in November 2023 to become chief in Anamosa. Officer Don Strong is currently serving as interim chief.
Next, Mayor Smith extended a congratulations to Maria Guadalupe Majica Campos for obtaining United States citizenship.
“I think it’s very impressive when people study and put in the effort to become citizens of the United States,” he said. “Since we are the first minority-majority community in the State of Iowa, this is particularly important to me.”
Mayor Smith traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, on Dec. 8 to witness the citizenship ceremony for Majica Campos. “It is a moving experience,” he said.
He hopes to acknowledge more immigrants attaining U.S. citizenship at future council meetings as a way to welcome them to West Liberty.
After swearing in everyone, nominating a chief and several photo ops, it was time for business as usual for the West Liberty City Council.
The first new item of business was to approve a $25,000 matching grant for capital improvements on the empty portion of a building shared by JR’s Car & Truck Repair.
The project will remodel the empty half of the commercial building in West Liberty’s industrial Park in order to accommodate a new retail business.
Construction will include replacing the track door, installing an ADA compliant entry way, and repairing the interior flooring, ceiling and roof.
“Once that update is done, they have a brand-new business to move into it, but will be unable to do so without this grant’s assistance,” said WeLead Director Ken Brooks.
The matching grant program was organized in 2020 by the City and WeLead. It’s meant to aid local business development by matching up to $25,000 of the total cost of a project.
It’s meant for expansion, remodels and updates, City Manager Lee Geertz told the council.
Finally, road construction continues for both the Maxson Avenue/Rainbow Drive project leading out to Dutton Park and the Knotty Circle Drive project.
“The trail is essentially done as far as the concrete,” City Engineer for Veenstra & Kimm Leo Foley told the council about the Maxson Avenue project.
Light poles will be installed in the next couple of weeks; however, they will not get a controller until spring, meaning the lights will not work until then.
As for Knotty Circle Drive…
“It’s had some difficulties along the way,” said Foley. “We’ve ran into bad soil, we’ve run into water services getting hit, the electrical line got hit. It all has been repaired.”
That being said, Knotty Circle reconstruction should come to an end soon, something which homeowners in the area will be grateful for.