December 11, 2023
Mark Danner Smith will be sworn in as Mayor this morning at 11:30 am at City Hall. The event is open to the public and will be followed with a formal event at the City Council meeting at 7:30 pm on December 19, 2023.
The Code of Iowa, Chapter 39, outlines that the tenure of an appointed city official ends with the certification of the next general election. As a result, the following appointed positions of Mayor and two council members’ appointments did end on November 8, 2023.
The City of West Liberty’s Administrative staff evaluated and made an inquiry with the Muscatine County Auditor to seek clarification of the appointed positions terms. The Muscatine County Auditor and City of West Liberty, under legal guidance from City Attorney has been able to clarify appointed positions terms did end on November 08, 2023.
On behalf of the City of West Liberty, the newly elected Mayor, Mark Smith’s official certification should have been for November 8, 2023, for a two-year term. Mayor Ethan Anderson’s tenure of his October 2023 mayoral appointment ended on November 8, 2023, per the Iowa Code. This would also include Council Members, Josh Shiltz and Ashley Smith’s council appointments ending November 08, 2023.
Josh Shiltz and Tim Parizek have also won the election for City Council Members on November 7, 2023, and are certified for their four-year term November 8, 2023.
Please know for any actions taken by the Mayor and City Council since the November 8, 2023 election certification, a review is underway to assure actions are compliant with Iowa law.
Mayor Smith wishes to extend his appreciation to Mayor Anderson who accepted an appointment to serve as Mayor and who has diligently managed West Liberty’s government. The two of them will work together over the next weeks to transition information and projects under the Mayoral duties with the City of West Liberty.