Toledo Mayor Brian Sokol swears in new council member Cathy Cook at the beginning of the regular council session on Monday, night, Jan. 13. Cook takes Sokol’s spot to fill out his council term as he was elected Nov. 5 and took office as mayor on Jan. 1. Chronicle/John Speer

Cathy Cook was appointed to fill the vacant position on the Toledo City Council on a 4-0 vote of the council members Monday night, Jan. 13. Cook fills the two-year unexpired term of Brian Sokol who was elected mayor in the Nov. 5, 2019, city election. Toledo council members are elected at-large.

Voting in favor were members Darvin Graham Joe Boll, Duane Pansegrau and Jeremy Cremeans.

Former Toledo Mayor Dave Svoboda was the only other applicant for the opening.

Eligible Toledo voters do have until January 27 to file a petition asking for a special election to fill the post.

City Attorney

There were three applicants for the city attorney job with former City Attorney Mike Marquess chosen on a 5-0 council vote. He replaces Christian Stickrod of the Bolivar Law Firm, Marshalltown, who had replaced Marquess in November, 2018, when Marquess resigned.

Marquess opened a law practice in Toledo in June of last year, having previously being associated with a Marshalltown firm. The July, 2018, tornado in Marshalltown destroyed the office of Marquess and his partners and he decided to relocate here.

In addition to an application for reappointment from Stickrod, Brandon Ruopp, with the Moore, McKibben, Goodman and Lorenz law firm with offices in Toledo and Marshalltown, applied for the post.

The current pay for the Toledo city attorney was listed at $125 hourly by Stickrod in his application.

Mayor Appointments

Appointments made by Mayor Sokol and approved by the council on 5-0 votes included:

Joe Boll, mayor pro tem; Nathan Shepard, police chief; The State Bank of Toledo, official depository; authorized city check signers City Clerk Kim McAdoo, Assistant Clerk Jill Apfel Council member Boll; and Sokol; The Toledo Chronicle, official newspaper.

City Council Committees- Policy and Administration- Darvin Graham and Cathy Cook; Community Protection- Joe Boll and Jeremy Cremeans; Streets and Cemetery- Cremeans and Duane Pansegrau; Water, Sewer and Airport- Boll and Pansegrau; Housing Rehabilitation- Pansegrau and Cook; Culture and Development- Graham and Cook.

Boards and commissions: Toledo Economic Development- Mayor Sokol and Pansegrau; Tama County Economic Development- Graham and Sokol; Tama Co. Emergency Management- Sokol and Boll; 911 Board- Boll and EMS Director Greg Johnson; and Solid Waste commission- Les Richter.

In other council business:

resolutions were approved on 5-0 votes setting a public hearing to hear comments on the maximum property tax dollars for the fiscal year 2021 budget; naming organization and depository with The State Bank of Toledo as recommended by the auditor; and transferring of fundstotaling $98,944 from local option money to debt service for payment of the Aquatic Center bond.

approval of sales license reversal for: Mike’s Pizza, beer permit with wine coolers; Dollar General Store- beer permit; and Wilkerson Hardware- native wine permit.

heard a report from Police Chief Shepard reporting on a vehicle theft and residential break-in. He said there was not a rash of this activity but cautioned residents should lock vehicle and homes.

Superintendent of Public Works Kendall Jordan outlined a plan to share a used city sewer jetter with the Tama County Landfill. He said the cities of Tama and Toledo have jointly replace the old unit and the landfill has agreed to buy a new 400 ft. hose for the old equipment and store it with all three entities entitled to use it.