BROKEN BOW— Rod Sonnichsen will now serve as Broken Bow Mayor after officially being sworn in on Friday, January 17 at the Broken Bow Municipal Building. Mayor Sonnichsen had previously been serving as the East Ward council representative and also had been council president, before the recall of former Mayor Jonathon Berghorst.
“Whenever you accept that position of [council] president, you always have to have in the back of your mind that no matter what you have to be prepared. I never thought this [recall] would happen as president, but I was always ready. So, it’s just a position and the duties that come with it,” said Mayor Sonnichsen.
Following the swearing-in by City Clerk Stephanie Wright, Mayor Sonnichsen spoke to those in attendance by first thanking the family of the former mayor and their continued support of Berghorst during his time in office.
“Family means everything and so does mine,” said Mayor Sonnichsen.
The Mayor continued to talk to the public about his plans for Broken Bow and noted that while his immediate priorities are to fill the vacant positions, he plans on making no changes in the city.
The Mayor said, “Everything is in place. Everything is in place that we need to go forward from here. So, I look at making no changes, everything is there.”
Growth and transparency were also two subjects that the newly sworn-in Mayor talked to the public about. Mayor Sonnichsen noted that Broken Bow belonged to the residents and it was his goal to be as transparent as possible as the city continues to grow.
“There is a lot of pride here and it is underlying, so show it off and by gosh, let’s grow. Let’s grow together,” said Mayor Sonnichsen
When talking specifically about transparency, the Mayor referenced the current union contract negotiations that are underway in the city. At previous meetings, the negotiations had been held in closed session, but some of the most recent meetings have been opened to the public.
“I’m going to ask the council to go forward with that,” said the Mayor. “It is the people that it affects and I believe they need to know.”
