Two-term Beatrice Mayor to hand over the job

BEATRICE – A chief elected official for a southeast Nebraska community is wrapping up a two-term stretch as Mayor.
Beatrice Mayor Stan Wirth will hand over the reins to City Councilman Bob Morgan, next Monday night…when a newly elected mayor and city council members are sworn into office. Wirth opted not to seek a third four-year term.
"There are things left undone, that I would have liked to have seen finished....they're in progress but not complete. But, as you and I have talked before, there's always going to be something left undone. There's always going to be something, not complete. From that standpoint, I think it's just time to walk away...and let somebody else come in...fresh ideas, and I know Bob Morgan has some good ideas coming forth, and I think that's really important, just to revitalize and reenergize what's in progress today and what can happen in the future."
Wirth appeared on his final “Ask the Mayor” program on KWBE radio Thursday morning…concluding a series of roughly 300 weekly radio shows over eight years…talking about city government and community issues. Wirth says a favorite thing about being mayor, is collaboration.
"Collaboration with all of the departments...I think working closely with city administration...and with all of the volunteer boards. I attended a lot of the boards where we have numerous committees, numerous volunteers on those committees...just to keep myself informed and being able to know some of the underlying factors in their decision making process. I think that is extremely important to stay absolutely on top of everything that is going on."
On the flip side, Wirth says a least favorite part of the job is countering information that can sometimes be spread without carrying any factual basis.
"Negative comments without any factual basis. Somebody hears something and they say, this is what they said over here...and it's gotta be true. Well, it's not true. In most instances, it is baseless.....based on facts."
Wirth says while the population of Beatrice has held steady or increased slightly over the years, it is a vibrant community. He said he’s had the pleasure of working with "an energetic, forward-thinking” city council.