The City of Kearney has had the same mayor for the last 18 years in Stan Clouse, who was recently elected to the Nebraska state legislature.

Tuesday night, members of the city council were charged with electing the next leader of Kearney.

"It's time to turn (leadership) over to (City Manager) Brenda (Jensen) and the new staff, and I feel very comfortable with where the future of Kearney is going," said former mayor, Stan Clouse, during his goodbye speech in front of the council.

Clouse served for nearly two decades in his role as the president, seeing the community flourish.

"You see how Kearney has grown and the kinds of things that we do, you know there has to be strong leadership, " said council member, Tami Moore. "We're very grateful to Stan for everything he's done and all the sacrifices he's made."

"Stan was incredibly humble, very gracious, enjoyed engaging people," fellow council member Jonathan Nikkila said.

While his tenure was considered strong by his allies, Clouse had a new political venture in store after earning a four-year term in Lincoln. Choosing from highly qualified candidates like Nikkila, More and Randy Buschkoetter, who had served on the council for 26 years, was no easy task for the council.

"That was a very intense discussion because there was more than one person who was interested in the mayoral seat," Moore said. "As a team, you have to work it out. It was really important that the transition happen tonight and that it not drag on."

Newly elected council member Alex Straatmann is being sworn in at the next council meeting, so with only four votes available, there was potential to see a draw.

"I nominate Jonathan Nikkila for the president of the council," said another new member of the council, Kurt Schmidt. Nikkila would get a unanimous 4-0 decision.

"As someone that grew up in Kearney, born and raised, this is a real honor to be able to serve my community in this way," said Nikkila. "The one thing I know about the mayor role in Kearney is that you're just one of five."

Even with his team-first mentality, Nikkila is the highest ranking member of the council, and he may bring a new style of guidance to the city.

"He's very transparent," said Moore. "I think everybody knows that at the end of our meeting, he puts down a really detailed note that he puts into Facebook. So he's really good about letting everybody know what's going on."

"We have five council members who all have amazing individual characteristics," said Nikkila. "Randy and Tami in particular, and their many years of experience in the community and on council. It's been a real honor to serve with them."