Grand Island City Council says goodbye to outgoing members, hello to elected officials

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- The votes are in, they've been certified, and the City of Grand Island wasted little time to introduce the newest members of the city council.

Mayor Roger Steele brought outgoing members, Michelle Fitzke and Bethany Guzinski, to the podium. He recognized and thanked them for all of their contributions, before presenting each with an honorary plaque. The women briefly shared their sentiments with the room and their pride for serving the city.

Moments later, city clerk Jill Granere swore in the five new members to the city council; Doug Brown, Mark Stelk, Ryan O'Neill, Chuck Haase and Mike Paulick. They were all given a moment to share their aspirations for the future of Grand Island and how they hoped to improve the city.

After the formalities were complete, the city needed to vote for a new president of the council. Two people were nominated: Stelk and Jack Sheard. There was momentary confusion about Stelk being eligible since he was the outgoing council president. After some quick research, they discovered Stelk would still be qualified since the language states a "one-year term" for a president, and nothing about successive being allowed or not.

When they tabulated the vote, Sheard was announced as the new president with a 6 to 4 margin.