BOISE, Idaho — The cities of Boise and Meridian welcomed new mayors and city council members during swearing-in ceremonies Tuesday evening.
New Boise Mayor Lauren McLean started off Tuesday's City Council meeting in her old role - as City Council president, with outgoing Mayor Dave Bieter presiding over the bulk of the meeting.
Towards the end of the meeting, Bieter addressed those crowded into the City Council chambers.
"When you are fortunate enough to be able to serve in a job that you love as much as I've loved this job, you don't accept thanks for that, you give thanks for that," he said, before thanking his family and staff members.
"But most of all," Bieter continued, with emotion in his voice. "To the citizens of Boise for allowing me the honor and privilege of being the mayor of my hometown... for 16 years, is more blessings than I could ever imagine."
After a standing ovation, Bieter and City Council member Scott Ludwig, who did not seek re-election, then stepped down from the dais.
McLean was then sworn in as mayor, followed by new City Council members Patrick Bageant and Jimmy Hallyburton. Elaine Clegg, who won re-election to a fifth term, was also sworn in.
After taking the oath of office, McLean, who is Boise's first-ever elected female mayor, said that it will require a team effort to address the city's growing pains.
"This is a critical moment in our city’s history," she said in a prepared statement released prior to the meeting. "We’ll continue to grow. We’ll continue to find challenges in that growth, to bemoan the changes, as we seek to protect the essence of this place that we all love.
"You’ve recognized, as I have, that we are at a crossroads," she added. "But make no mistake. We can succeed in preserving what we love, while continuing to grow and welcoming new people to our community. But no one woman can do this alone. This work and these solutions need each of you, our City Council, community leaders and residents block by block joining us to move forward."
The first order of business for the new mayor and City Council was to elect a new council president, an honor that went to Clegg. Council member Holli Woodings was elected pro tem.
Meridian handled its handover somewhat differently, with the swearing-in ceremony occurring at the beginning of the meeting.
Outgoing Mayor Tammy de Weerd opened the City Council meeting with a roll call and announcements. Her final act as mayor was to swear in new City Council members Liz Strader, Brad Hoaglun and Jessica Perreault.
Filled with emotion, de Weerd reflected on her 16 years as mayor, and expressed hope for the future.
"Family is what our community is about," she said. "It was a purposeful vision that we set 16 years ago to focus on family, to focus on youth, to focus on re-engaging our faith community, and to focus on bringing family-wage jobs so that our community was full-service and we could live, work and raise our family right here in Meridian.
"We did it by working together," she added. "My heartfelt thanks to our community. It's been certainly an honor to serve the city of Meridian and be able to be on a journey as we have seen our city grow up. And I'm excited for the future, I'm excited for our newly-elected have shown such great passion for our community and such grit and determination that is gonna be needed as we enter this next chapter, this new decade, in Meridian."
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De Weerd then administered the oath of office to new Mayor Robert Simison.
After taking the mayor's seat in council chambers, Simison, who previously served as de Weerd's chief of staff for more than a decade, said he learned from "a dream team" how to run a city.
"This was about a community that wanted to continue the direction we've been on," he said.
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