Council meeting doesn't include Matthes taking oath of office

There was some confusion before the final City Council meeting of 2011 over when the oath of office would be administered to Mayor-elect Tim Matthes and the four candidates who won council seats in the November election.

Matthes had requested to take the oath of office at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, but when told that would not be part of the meeting, he asked City Clerk Patty Kirkpatrick to administer the oath to him, which she did in her City Hall office Monday afternoon.

But a do-over will be necessary because state law requires that newly elected public officials take the oath within 10 days of when their term in office begins — which is Jan. 1 — unless it is done at the last City Council meeting before they take office, which would have been Tuesday night's meeting.

The swearing-in for Matthes has been tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 27 at 10 a.m. in council chambers at City Hall, Kirkpatrick said Tuesday.

She said the oath of office for the City Council's three re-elected incumbents — Jerry Childs, John Clauson and Jim Colebank  — and new member Cindy Lucarelli will be scheduled for sometime between Dec. 22 and Dec. 31. The council members said they would like to arrange a time to do it together if their schedules allow.

The four had planned to take the oath of office before a holiday lights tour around the city the evening of Dec. 20, which normally would be the date of a council work session on the third Tuesday of the month. But since it is not a regular council meeting, nor within 10 days of the new term's Jan. 1 starting date, the ceremony had to be rescheduled, Kirkpatrick said.

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