Councilmembers take oath of office

Three incumbent City Councilmembers took the oath of office for new terms after a victory in the May 6 election that some said was a validation of the Council’s current priorities to clean up the City and attract housing and new funding for infrastructure repairs.

City Attorney Bill Myers led Councilmembers Harrison Wellman, Brad Simmons and Chuck Stennett in the oath of office and congratulated them at the May 22 City Council meeting.

“Just glad to have won and I thank all the voters and I’m just going to do what we said we’d do,” Mr. Stennett said after his election victory.

Mr. Simmons, who got the most votes in the four-person field, said he was looking forward to overseeing new housing starts, the new mission for the Olney Economic Development Corporation, the construction of the new water treatment plant, and the fate of the long-abandoned Olney Savings and Loan building, which the City took possession of earlier this month.

“These are probably some of the largest changes that have happened in Olney in the last decade-plus - easy,” Mr. Simmons said. “It shows there is some faith and trust and that what we are doing is the right direction. That’s the way I see it.”

Voters also overwhelmingly approved Proposition A, a ballot measure brought forward by the Olney Industrial Development Corporation, to allow the economic corporation to use local sales tax to develop a wider range of city amenities such as swimming pools, retail stores, and entertainment venues.

Mayor Rue Rogers said the ballot sweep for the establishment shows that voters have confidence in the Council.

“We have communicated our long-term strategy and things we are working to address,” Mayor Rogers said. “I think people see that vision and see that we are working to achieve it and people appreciate that and