January 5, 2023 |
After two new members were sworn into Rawlins City Council Tuesday, the now short-handed, six-member board elected Terry Weickum to serve two more years as mayor. Steve Sanger of Ward 3 was elected vice mayor.
Weickum will serve a two-year term as mayor until January 2025. The vote was 4-2 with council members voting by secret, hand-written ballots. Councilman Sanger made the motion to nominate Weickum.
An earlier vote on a motion by Councilman Darril Garner to nominate Jacqueline Wells as mayor failed on a 2-4 vote.
Wells nominated Garner to serve as vice-mayor. The motion failed on a tied, 3-3 vote. A majority vote is required to win a post.
Councilman Chris Weisenburg then nominated Sanger to serve a two-year term as vice-mayor. The motion passed 4-2.
The new council begins with an empty seat. The top-vote getter from Ward 3, Tonya Lewman, did not take the oath of office after acknowledging that she had accepted a corporate check, a violation of Wyoming campaign finance law.
Lewman told Bigfoot that she mistakenly thought she had accepted a personal check from the business owner rather than a corporate one.
She listed the corporate check on a campaign finance report, which was how the contribution came to light.
City Attorney Gwendolyn Wade said during a public hearing on the matter that filling the empty council seat is now a legal matter for the Wyoming Secretary of State to decide. The process is outside the scope of city council’s rules and is a state matter, Wade said.
Two council members said farewell at the meeting. Debari Martinez stepped down after serving on the council for 40 years. Martinez said he wanted to make three points as he left office.
Pictured above: File photo of Rawlins City Hall. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Mayor Weickum said that the 40 years Martinez served on city council is record in Wyoming State history. Linda Smith, who served eight years, also offered a brief remark.
Councilman Aaron Durst exited after one term in office. He did not run for re-election. Durst was absent from the dais after council took a recess prior to the swearing-of the new members and the farewell remarks from Martinez and Smith. Durst, like Smith, was present during the first half of the council meeting when critical votes were taken.
Judge Susan Stipe swore in the new members. Before offering the oath, Judge Stipe talked about the hard work of serving on council.
Following the seating of the new members, Mayor Weickum welcomed them to the new council.
The council then went into executive session. When the members returned, they elected officers—mayor and vice mayor—and council representatives to various boards. The next meeting is set for January 17, 2023.
