La Cygne mayor, department heads recount progress in 2025
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By Roger Sims
LA CYGNE – The first meeting of the La Cygne City Council was one to recount the council’s accomplishments in 2025. It also served as a farewell to three council members whose terms ended.
The terms of Keith Stoker, Thomas Capp, and David Brenneman ended with the meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Stoker and Capp were on hand to receive a symbolic key to the city, however, Brenneman was not in attendance.
Mayor Debra Wilson, who in the past touted the city’s accomplishments single-handedly, this year asked department heads to give their own reports in addtion to hers.
The accomplishments she listed for her office included:
• Requesting department heads prepare written reports for council meetings.
• Requesting department heads submit purchase orders for major purchases.
• Requiring a verbal review of all ordinances and resolutions in council meetings.
• Laminated guide sheets for council members outlining reasons for going into executive session.
• Making better use of standing two-councilmember committees to accomplish tasks outside of the meetings.
• Dissolving the volunteer park board for the La Cygne Community Park and moving responsibilities for park upkeep to the city with Lincoln Township remaining the taxing entity.
• And on a more personal note, adding the annual Weiner Dog Races to Blast in the Park activities.
She also cited the council’s approval of the of the property at 602 N. Fifth St., where one new home is nearly complete and two more new homes are planned, approving a proclamation citing the contributions of the late Keith Smith who was a former mayor, and accepting the property at 402 S. Broadway for similar development.
Her goals for 2026 include installing hardware to live-stream council meetings and holding town hall meetings to promote an upcoming vote that would switch a portion of the city’s 1% sales tax from the swimming pool to street repair and replacement.
City Clerk Jodi Wade recounted the changes at City Hall under her watch included:
• New computer equipment and software for managing city accounts and water and gas customer billing.
• Research on the procedure to shift the 1% sales tax for the city’s swimming pool to use to repair and replace city streets.
• Completion of the city’s comprehensive plan, and beginning to look at city codes.
• Work with the natural gas compact to keep gas bills low.
Police Chief Zachary Mathies said accomplishments in the police department included:
• Hiring and keeping two full-time police officers.
• Hiring four part-time officers.
• Installation of license plate readers on the main entrances and exits to the city. He said those devices will help investigations when a crime is committed within the city.
• The recent purchase of “radar signs” that let drivers know if they are exceeding the speed limit. The signs also keep track of drivers’ speeds to assess traffic patterns. They are also moveable to allow them to be placed at different locations.
Public Works supervisor and city Fire Chief Dan Nasalroad listed accomplishments including:
• Completion of phase two of the water plant upgrade, which includes new submersible pumps for pumping water out of the Marais des Cygnes River.
• Substantial completion of the sewer system upgrade.
• Changes in the La Cygne Community Park.
• Completion of the new fire station without any increase in taxes.
• The purchase of a truck that was outfitted to fight grass fires.
The council also addressed some items for its biannual reorganization including:
• Passing a resolution that would allow the city to pay some bills early without prior council approval.
• Passing a resolution that waived Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, a step almost all governing bodies consider standard.
• Designating the Linn County News and the Linn County Journal as official city newspapers.