New mayor sworn in

By Wendy Sweeter

Five-year Tea city councilman Casey Voelker was sworn in as mayor May 2.

After hearing from 20-year mayor John Lawler that he was not going to run again a couple years ago, Voelker decided he wanted to run.

“I didn’t see anyone else stepping up to lead and I decided two years ago I was going to run. I spent the last two years training up to it, going to meetings with John, conference calls that he invited me to, really preparing for it in case I was elected to the job,” he said.

Running unopposed, Voelker decided it was the time to run; since Lawler was done, the city was going to have a new mayor one way or another.

“I decided to spend those two years training myself up to it. If we’d elected someone else then at least some of that knowledge that he had would’ve been passed on and I still would’ve been able to serve in my role on city council,” Voelker said.

Voelker appreciates the work of past councils and dedication from Lawler and longtime councilman Sid Munson on putting the city in a strong position. His goal is to continue the strategy of measured, controlled growth, making sure they are able to provide utilities to everyone, making sure that roads are maintained and making sure that quality of life things like parks are maintained or improved.

“I’m looking forward to the next phase of Tea’s growth. I grew up living just outside of town. I went to school here as a kid. It’s my hometown. It was a different Tea back then,” Voelker said. “We’re just entering a new chapter and I’m excited to be a part of that. The decisions are made by the people who step up to lead and I just want to be one of those people.”

Running unopposed for the mayoral two-year term makes Voelker feel like things are going the right way.

“Anybody who’s been paying attention will know that I tend to agree a lot with the ways things have been done in the recent past. I’m kind of taking that as a vote of confidence in more of the same,” Voelker said. “It feels like our town is pretty united and it feels like myself and the council, we have everyone behind us. We’re going to keep going on the same path and just keep trying to make good decisions and keep our eye on that steady growth.”