Various boards searching for candidates

With a new mayor and four council terms beginning, the Creston City Council went back to the basics Tuesday, appointing council members to a number of positions and preparing to fill various city boards.

The position of mayor pro-tem, previously held by Richard Madison, is now held by Jocelyn Blazek. Blazek is the senior-most officer on the council.

According to Iowa law, the mayor pro-tem is vice president of the council. When the mayor is absent, the mayor pro-tem shall perform the mayor’s duties, with all official actions of the mayor pro-tem acting as legal and binding as if the mayor had done so.

Toby Henry was appointed to be the council representative to the Chamber of Commerce Board, while Jason Cook was appointed as representative to the Water Works Board.

A new council finance committee was formed, made up of Josh Thompson, Blazek and Kiki Scarberry. Thompson and Blazek are reappointments, while this is Scarberry’s first time on the committee. The finance committee takes a deeper look into various city finances, making recommendations to the full council for a vote.

While the agenda originally had the appointments of John Kawa to the Creston Park and Recreation Board and John Gravlin to the Creston Airport Commission, Blazek requested a postponement of the appointments to allow for more advertising of the roles.

“We talked about trying to encourage more people to be involved in the community, and yet when terms come open, I don’t feel like we have been very transparent in posting those so that people can know that they’re available,” Blazek said. “It’s been kind of par for the course for most of these boards and commissions that if there’s an individual whose term is expiring, as long as that individual wants to continue serving, they don’t necessarily go out and open it up for anyone else who might be interested. I’d like to see this open back up and post it on the Facebook page and website for at least two weeks and see if we can get any more applications.”

The postponement of both appointments to the next council meeting, Tuesday, Jan. 20, was approved. The parks and rec appointment postponement was approved 5-2, with only Cook and Jen Worisek voting against it, while the airport appointment postponement was approved 6-1, Worisek the only one voting against it.

There are positions on five city boards available: Creston Parks and Recreation, Board of Adjustment, Historical Preservation Commission, Airport Board and Planning and Zoning.

Those interested in joining and of the boards can apply at the city website.