Voters turned out Tuesday, Nov. 8, to choose new Sidney city council members, a new school board member and a county assessor.

The ballot offered five names from which to choose three: Paul Strommen, Brad Sherman, Marva P. Ellwanger and Brandon Bondegard. Tony Jones was on the ballot. However, he removed himself from the race after the deadline to remove his name from the ballot.

Sherman and Ellwanger are currently serving on the council. Sherman was elected in 2018 and Ellwanger was appointed to complete the term vacated when Joe Arterburn resigned his position.

Of the four, voters chose Strommen, Bondegard and Sherman to fill the seats. 

Bondegard thanked voters for their support, adding that he looks forward to helping guide the city into the future.

"I would like to thank the great citizens of Sidney for electing me to the council. I look forward to serving this wonderful community and helping the city and current businesses grow," he said.

Elwanger thanked the city council and Mayor Roger Gallaway for the opportunity to serve on the council.

"I would like to say I was honored and proud to be on city council for any amount of time. I would like to thank Mayor (Roger) Gallaway for appointing me. I would also like to thank the people who supported me," Ellwanger said after the election.

Councilman Brad Sherman returns for another four-year term.  

"I am extremely excited," Sherman said. He said he enjoys working on the council and is looking forward to working with people who want to see Sidney move ahead. 

He and his family have lived in Sidney since 2007. He was first elected to the city council in 2018. He has also served on the United Way of Western Nebraska, United Way of Box Butte County Advisory Board and the Sidney chapter of TeamMates mentoring program.

Councilman-Elect Paul Strommen said he is looking forward to working on the city council. He said there are many things a councilman-elect won't know until seated including what a councilman can and cannot do, limits of authority as a council as well as what a councilman can do.

He said there are three related parts to development: business is needed to encourage housing expansion, housing is needed to continue business growth and growth results in a stronger tax base to maintain the community. He stressed he is not a supporter of big government. 

Sidney Mayor Roger Gallaway is the only name on the city council ballot for the two-year term.

Sidney City Manager David Scott said the new council members are not expected to take their oath of office until December. The council often determines if it will have two meetings in December, partly depending on how close the meeting would be to Christmas. 

"I will remember working with Bob (Olsen) and Marva (Ellwanger)," Scott said. "They've been a huge asset.

Councilmen Bob Olsen did not seek re-election. Olsen has been on the council since 2017. Olsen and his family moved to Sidney in 1996 to accept a position with Security First Bank. He has been the Security First Bank Director of Insurance since 1997, supervising between 8 and 12 insurance agencies in Nebraska and South Dakota.  From 2005 to 2016, he was also the President of the Security First Bank’s Sidney branch.

Scott added he is looking forward to working with the new council. 

He said the new council is sworn in after votes are certified. During the meeting, the seated council is retired "sine die," and the new council members are sworn in. From that point, the council members who did not earn enough votes to return to council are relieved of their duties and the new council is seated following their oath of office administered by the city attorney. 

Cheyenne voters reviewed an overall more simplified ballot with most of the county seats uncontested. The uncontested races include Mindy Wiegand (Republican) for Cheyenne County District Court Clerk, Beth Fiegenschuh (Republican) for County Clerk, Paul Schaub (Republican) for County Attorney and Adam Frerichs ( Republican) for County Sheriff. Contested races include County Assessor with Mel Keller (Republican) facing Jordan B. Hajek (by petition). Write-In county commissioner candidate Dr. James Popovich, M.D., faced District 3 Commissioner Phil Sanders. 

Winner of the assessor race is Jordan Hajek with 2,260 votes over incumbent Mel Keller's 1,017. Sanders defeated Popovich with 625 votes to 324. 

"I didn't think it was going to be that much (difference in votes between Keller and Hajek), but I'm OK with it," Keller said. "God's got a plan," she said.

She said she spent the weekend with her family after the election.

"We're excited to have new beginnings and spend more time with my family," she said.

Hajek will be sworn into office on Jan. 5, 2023.

"I would like to thank the citizens of Cheyenne County who exercised their right to vote on Nov. 8. In January, the staff and I are looking forward to serving the residents of Cheyenne County with problem solving skills and open communication," Hajek said. "Addressing the questions taxpayers have is the beginning and working together to achieve the best resolutions possible will be the team goal. Thank you again voters of Cheyenne County for this opportunity."

Voters also had three choices for three seats on the Sidney School District Board of Education: incumbents Mike Palmer and Brenda Smith, and new to the board Rusty Gulbranson. Gulbranson will take his seat on the school board in the January meeting. District Superintendent Jay Ehler said Gubranson will meet with him prior to the school board meeting for orientation and signing of the oath of office.