The Seward City Council last week swore into office the winners of last month’s municipal election: incoming council member Casie Warner and returning Vice Mayor John Osenga.
They were sworn in two weeks after the council certified its election results.
Warner won election with 217 votes. Osenga won reelection with 189 votes. Michael Calhoon, the other incumbent, fell just short of reelection with 184 votes and challenger John Howard secured 45 votes.
Warner and Osenga will serve three-year terms ending in October 2027. Seward City Clerk Kris Peck administered oaths of office. Osenga was also again named vice mayor via unanimous consent during the Oct. 28 meeting.
“I’m really honored to be sitting here,” Warner said. “I appreciate everybody’s support, electing me to represent our community.”
Holding the vice mayor position, Osenga said, “is an honor.”
According to the final certificate of results, included in the Oct. 14 meeting notes, 58 absentee, questioned and special needs ballots were counted by the city canvass board on Oct. 7, and four were rejected after being flagged by the Department of Elections.
Calhoon, speaking during the council’s Oct. 14 meeting, congratulated Warner and Osenga. He said his “only disappointment” was the 19% voter turnout described by the final certificate of results.
“We really have to work on getting people to get out and make them believe that their votes really do count and the council really does listen to them,” Calhoon said. “As citizens, voting is one of the very last powers that we have … we should be getting 40-50%, realistically, in a community like Seward — a great community.”
Full recordings of both meetings can be found at “City of Seward” on YouTube.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
