New mayor, city council members to take offices

The winners in last November’s municipal election in Weiser will be sworn in on Monday, Jan. 13, at city hall at 7 p.m.
 Mayor-elect Randy Hibberd will begin a four-year term in office, replacing mayor Diana Thomas, who declined to seek re-election after two terms.
 Hibberd currently serves on the city council and will give up that seat when he is sworn in as mayor.
 By law, the mayor comes up with a name to fill out the rest of his term until the next city election in two years. The city council must vote to ratify the mayor’s appointment.
 In past practices, the mayor-elect has discussed or notified city council members in advance who he or she plans to appoint to the vacant seat.

Hibberd said he has talked to city council members individually about the individual he plans to appoint to serve out the rest of his two years on the city council.
 “I’ll announce it at the city council meeting,” he said.
 Hibberd said the outgoing mayor and city staff have been helpful as he prepares to take office.  
 He has no major agenda planned for the city, but does want to prepare for growth and look at some other areas of improvements, such as tackling crumbling sidewalks in the older part of town.
 The job of mayor is administrative in function, while the six-member city council is charged with legislative affairs, such as approving spending and budgets.
 The day-to-day city operations are usually left to the city clerk and management at city hall.
 A retired banker who has lived for many years in Weiser, Hibberd said it will be a challenge he looks forward to and he plans to put in plenty of time on the job.
 “It’s kind of a culmination of using a lot of the experience I gained working in the private sector and also the public sector serving as chairman of the hospital board,” he said.
 Three city council members will be sworn in for another term and all are incumbents who currently serve on the council.
 They include Layna Hafer, Cliff Barberis and Larry Hogg. All three sought re-election and were the top three vote-getters last November.
 The swearing in of city officials will be repeated in Midvale and Cambridge, the other two incorporated cities in Washington County that also had municipal elections.
 Two seats on the Midvale city council and the mayor’s position were up for election last November. The three incumbents filed for re-election and there were no challengers. Mayor Brian Graham will serve another term, along with council members Katie Bane and Phyllis Widner.
 In Cambridge, there were two seats on the city council up for election last November. The two incumbents serving in those elected offices opted not to run again.
 Three candidates jumped into the race for the two open seats. The winners were Levi Harrison and Delray Platt.