Jeske Passes Mayoral Torch to Rogers

Jeske Passes Mayoral Torch to Rogers

Major Phil Jeske served his last day as Mayor on Monday, Nov. 9 as Rue Rogers takes the reigns as the Mayor of Olney. Rue Rogers was sworn in as Mayor after the citizen comment period, alongside new council member Tom Parker.

Jeske was awarded a plaque from the council for his many years serving as Mayor, as well as serving on the council. Jeske was on the council from 1992-1996 and became mayor from 1996-2004 in his first stint. Jeske later came back as a member of the council from 2012-2014 before becoming the Mayor once more from 2014-2020.

The council thanked Mayor Phil Jeske for his many years of service before Rue Rogers was sworn in as the new Mayor of Olney. Rue Rogers has worked with Jeske for three years now, as Rogers was appointed as Mayor Pro-Temp in 2017. Jeske has been apart of the city council for almost three decades stating that “just knowing that you are doing something to help the city. My family lives here and I have a lot of friends and family members that live here and it just feels good to help the city grow and hopefully do some of the things that you feel like should steer the city in the right direction for the long term,” he said.

Jeske states that he has enjoyed helping the younger and less experienced council members get their feet off the ground and learn the ropes so they can move forward. “It is always good to see those new council members mature and get to the point where they can be high level contributors to the longevity of the city,” he added. The now former Mayor states that Rue Rogers along with the rest of the new council will doing a excellent job and has the upmost confidence that the council will continue to lead Olney forward.

“The city is blessed to have these individuals on the council and during the entire time I have been involved in city politics on the council and as the Mayor, the city employees have always been good employees that do what they can to better the city and themselves and the council has been that way to,” stated Jeske.