Michael D. Davis.

If you’ve ventured around Toledo for any sort of time or frankly just haven’t been spending your days under a rock, then you’ll have heard of, or at least seen, our Mayor Brian Sokol. A six foot man usually cruising around town in his massive black pickup, Sokol has been the Mayor of Toledo for three years now.

Usually, you will see that pickup parked up by the State Bank of Toledo, where Brian works as a financial advisor. Guiding locals on what to do and where to put their greenbacks was not, as unlikely as it may seem, the Mayor’s first choice for a career path.

When he was just a lad walking the halls of South Tama, Brian thought about one day becoming a funeral director. The dream of one day spiffing up local corpses and chaperoning families through their toughest times were curtailed by the simple fact that, at the time, no school in Iowa offered the program. The idea of banking only came to the Mayor after, in high school, he had the opportunity to interview local banker Bill Skow.

Brian has been a resident of Toledo since way back, with the Sokols having moved to town around the mid-90s from the family farm. It’s the same farm that Brian works on today, raising cattle and bailing hay. Another Toledo lifer is Mr. Mayor’s wife, Cassie, a school teacher at South Tama Elementary. The couple is currently raising two little Toledo residents named Keidyn and Austin.

After Brian’s interest in finances was sparked, he headed off to the University of Northern Iowa to study. Once he graduated, Mr. Mayor’s only thought was of returning to his hometown of Toledo. The people are the main reason — how everyone knows each other, or if you don’t, you know a cousin or a sister or an uncle that was once married to the sister of the cousin of your neighbor’s brother-in-law.

“It’s a great community to live and raise a family,” Sokol said.

Brian was on the Toledo City Council for 10 years before being elected our local Burgermeister. Having worked on a multitude of projects as a member of the council and as Mayor, the biggest ventures have been the new public works building, water plant, and currently the Woodlawn housing development. For Brian, the most enjoyable part of being Mayor is getting involved and making an impact on the community in which he lives. The toughest part of the job is not being able to make everyone happy.

And if you thought being Mayor was enough, you’d be wrong. Brian is also the President of the Tama Toledo Chamber of Commerce and the Tama County Economic Development Executive Board Chair. Whether it’s Burgermeister, Mr. Mayor, El Presidente, or just Brian Sokol, this local man is one you can’t miss seeing around town.