by KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

Kent Steward’s one-year term as mayor ends and the gavel was passed to former vice mayor Henry Schwaller at Thursday evening’s City of Hays Commission meeting.

“I got to be honest and say it’s a relief to some extent,” Steward said. “It’s not that demanding of a job, but there are a lot more hours involved when you are the mayor.”

Steward added his term “was very pleasurable and an honor and interesting, but I’m happy to to be letting it go to someone else now.”

Commissioners gave Steward a plaque thanking him for his service to the city of Hays, and Schwaller praised Steward for his efforts, especially on budget matters.

“If you know Kent as well as I do, this is near and dear to his heart — that government does not over-reach. We do not over-tax, and he played it by the rules,” Schwaller said. “So we have no mill levy increase, we have gone to a pay-as-you-go approach — we pay for our projects with cash rather than issue debt.”

Steward requested to remain on the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development as a representative for the city — a request Schwaller agreed would be a good idea.

Commissioner Eber Phelps now will serve as new vice mayor.