Turnover leaves Fremont City Council thin on experience

At Friday morning’s meeting of the Fremont City Council Resources Committee, a long-time city council member’s memory came in handy.

The committee agenda included a request from the Fremont Ice Association for $16,000 in keno funds to be used for new locker rooms at Sidner Ice Arena.

Since all council members get the agenda and background materials, city administrator Bob Hartwig said that council member Bob Warner questioned the item.

Warner, who sits on the city council development and improvements committee, said new lockers for the YMCA’s ice arena may not qualify for keno funds.

Any recommendation from the resources committee would have to be approved by the full council.

Members of the committee tabled the item to allow city attorney Dean Skokan to look further into the matter.

Warner is the longest-standing member of the city council, first seated in 1988. He did not seek re-election this year, and is one of two current city council members who will not be among the new council when it is seated in December.

Scott Schaller, who took office in 2000, will not return after losing a bid to challenge Mayor “Skip” Edwards.

When the new council is seated in December, only two of the eight council members will have more than two years experience. Mary Marsh took office in 1996, and Gary Bolton took office in 2000.

Jon Gilfry, John Anderson, Scott Getzschman and Charlie Janssen were all seated two years ago, but Janssen is expected to resign in January when he takes a seat in the Nebraska Unicameral, leaving that seat open for someone new.

Former city administrator Jack Sutton said this situation is unprecedented in recent history.

“I can’t recall a time with a situation like this,” Sutton said. “In my 36 years as city administrator, we didn’t have that kind of turnover. We’ve always had three or four who had one term or two terms. I can’t recall ever being that thin on experience. It takes a while for these folks to get a real grasp on what’s going on. It’s a matter of really getting everybody on the same page. They also have different personalities that you’re dealing with.

“It’s strange to see that much turnover. I haven’t seen that much. It will take an adjustment. They will have to replace Charlie, too. They might want to look for someone who has some government experience, who has worked with the public.”

But Sutton said the public can’t just look at the experience level of the council. Edwards has been mayor for 20 years, and he served on the council for 12 years before being elected mayor.

That experience will help counter some of the newness on the council, he said, but Edwards’ leadership will be crucial.

“He can’t let things get out of hand,” Sutton said. “Too often, when people get on the council they don’t realize the scope of the job, and it takes them a while to learn that.”

Hartwig said even when Warner goes off the council, the city will still be able to draw on the experiences of Edwards and Marsh.

“I still think we’ll have a very strong group from the history perspective,” Hartwig said. “The other thing that we have though is people on the council who have been in the community for a while. There’s still some good community history.

“I’m sure we’ll find a way to compensate for that loss of experience. Staff may pick up some of the slack. The city attorney may take a more proactive look at agenda items. There’s a number of ways to do it. The city administrator works with all of the council.”

Edwards said he expects there to be a learning curve when the newest members -- Jennifer Bixby and Sean Gitt -- are seated in December.

“They have a lot to learn,” Edwards said. “But they will also bring in some new ideas. There’s nothing wrong with that. From my stand point, I’ll do my best to work with whoever’s there in the council. I think we’ll get along just fine. I think we’ll have a pretty smooth transition.”