ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

During a work session Thursday, the Liberal City Commission officially picked a replacement for the seat left vacant by Matt Landry with former Seward County Commissioner Nathan McCaffrey.

McCaffrey said it was a somewhat easy decision for him to put his name forth for the spot.

“I made the decision to put my name in the weekend before the application was due – I’d spent some time talking to people in the community and getting their thoughts, and then I went ahead and picked up the application and handed it in and went through that process,” McCaffrey said. “I’d gotten a lot of feedback from friends and others in the community before I took the plunge. I think it’s a great opportunity to be on the Liberal City Commission, and one of the questions I got asked during the interview process was ‘Why didn’t you run for a position during the last election cycle?’ At that time, it was a small pool of candidates, and I thought the commission was going in a good direction, so I didn’t feel the need to challenge any of the incumbents and potentially disrupt the flow of work going on. However, with Matt Landry vacating his seat due to moving out of town, I now think the opportunity is there for me to step in, fill his shoes and help keep the city’s progress going. I already get along great with the other commissioners, and I’m looking forward to filling the rest of his term.”

McCaffrey added his experience with the Seward County Commission should help him in working with the city.

“I feel like one of the factors that made me stand out was my experience on a board like that. All of the applicants were great, and every one of them has been heavily involved in town through volunteering and being members of other civic groups, but I think I’m the only applicant who had that experience of serving on a governing board and as an elected official,” McCaffrey said. “That’s going to come in very handy, especially since the city will be beginning its budget process before too long, and I’ve been through that work multiple times before at the county level. I’m sure there will be some differences, but having that background will help me transition into everything easier. It feels good, and it’s a bit of a relief too since we’ve all been waiting to see who would get picked. I’m very excited and still processing it all, but I’m very honored the commissioners chose me, and I’m very honored to be the top pick out of such a great group of applicants, because there were absolutely no bad choices. I’m really looking forward to officially getting sworn in and getting my work officially started.”

McCaffrey said he is ready and willing to learn more about City of Liberal operations.

“I’ll be interested in learning what the big differences are between working at the county level and working at the city level. The elected officials at each level is obviously different – the county has the administrator, treasurer, etc. that have their own independence, but with the city, the commissioners are elected and everyone ultimately works for the city,” McCaffrey said. “It’ll be a learning experience for sure, but I think it’ll end up being pretty easy to get my head around. With the upcoming budget process, one of my goals will be to help make sure that process goes as smoothly as possible, which is important no matter what level of government you work in. I’ve really liked seeing what’s developing downtown so far, so I want to make sure those projects continue moving forward. I know at the last meeting, there was a Steering Committee put together for the Master Redevelopment Plan, and I’ll be interested to see what suggestions they make and what they come up with. I’m going to be very supportive of those efforts, that’s what will hold a lot of my interest here at the beginning.”

Overall, McCaffrey said, he is excited to get to work.

“I’m very excited to have been chosen for the commission, and I’m definitely willing and ready to learn,” McCaffrey said. “I’ll definitely do my best to represent Liberal as well as I possibly can and do everything necessary to help Liberal keep moving forward during the time I’m on the commission.”