Will this council be different? No women on the City Council for the first time in years.

For the first time in 18 years, the feminine touch will be missing from McCook City Council sessions. When the council reorganizes Monday night, Mayor Jerda Garey will complete her council term, as will Vice Mayor Dick Trail.

This will leave two incumbents, Jim Kenny and Phil Lyons. on the council along with two newcomers elected to four-year terms, Aaron Kircher and Bill Longnecker, and a former councilman returning to serve a two-year term, Dennis Berry.

It will be McCook's first all-male council since 1986 when Flora Lundberg began 14 years of council service, including several years as mayor.

In the years between 1986 and 2004, McCook was also served on the council by Linda Taylor, who joined the council in 1992 and served through the end of 2000, and Janna Burton, who served one term.

Like Lundberg, Taylor's time on the City Council also included service as mayor.

In earlier years, other women were members of the City Council. The list includes Sue Doak and Judy Loshbaugh, and -- one of the earliest -- Aileen Murray.

After so many years with feminine representation, it will be interesting to see how the council functions with all-male leadership. Will there be a difference?

Will council members be as willing -- or perhaps more willing -- to compromise? That's just one of the many interesting points to contemplate as the new council members take their seats.

Who Will Be Mayor?

Another matter which is always interesting to consider is who the council members will select as mayor. In McCook's form of government that is a council decision. It's simply a matter of votes. Whoever gets three of the five council members' backing will be the new mayor, replacing Garey, who served in the position in her two years on the council.

There's been some politicking going on. Council members have talked and communicated by e-mail. Letters have been sent. Now it's a waiting game, with the decision to be made Monday evening shortly after the new council is organized.

Whatever happens, it's time to get rolling. A number of important issues -- most especially water treatment and wastewater disposal -- continue to be urgent concerns for city council members.