Official Results Confirm Broken Bow Mayor Recalled Following Special Election

Official Results Confirm Broken Bow Mayor Recalled Following Special Election
(L-R) Broken Bow council president Rod Sonnichsen and former Mayor Jonathon Berghorst shake hands following Tuesday night's meeting.

BROKEN BOW–According to Custer County Clerk Constance Gracey, the official results have been reviewed by a canvassing board which confirm the conclusion of the recall election: Broken Bow Mayor Jonathon Berghorst has been removed from office.

In Tuesday’s story, KCNI/KBBN reported that 619 voters marked YES to remove Berghorst from office and 400 voters marked NO. Those results have been confirmed as of Wednesday morning.

Following the announcement of the results on Tuesday evening, KCNI/KBBN spoke with the recall petitioner John Walters who said, “What I’m feeling is I’m glad to see it over and I’m hoping now the city can move forward.”

Former Mayor Jonathon Berghorst was part of the audience during Tuesday night’s brief city council meeting. Berghorst shook hands with all of the city council members who were present following the meeting. Following the meeting, KCNI/KBBN asked Berghorst if he wanted to make a comment but Berghorst declined at that time.

According to City Clerk Stephanie Wright, Rod Sonnichsen will be sworn in as Mayor at 2:00 p.m. this Friday, January 17, 2020 in the Municipal Auditorium. His council seat will need to be filled by someone from the east ward of Broken Bow, recommended by Sonnichsen and approved by the council.

“The outcome could have been either way. The normal for Broken Bow in a recall election–it normally fails. Normally it fails. But in this case it did not, apparently. I’ve only known for less than five minutes,” Sonnichsen said following the brief city council meeting on Tuesday night.

He continued, “We’re going to go ahead, we’re going to go forward. We do have a plan and it’s the same plan that we had before. We’ve got good council members and everybody wants the best. So I believe in Broken Bow after this–if it comes to a head and I guess apparently it did–we’re going to go forward, totally forward. The city is going to be Broken Bow again and everybody should be proud. Everybody should be proud. Everyone of us on city council are subject to this type of position so we all took the same oath and that’s to uphold for Broken Bow and the people of. We will go forward, one way or another. “

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