Thanks for a thankless job

By Chuck Kajer

New Prague is losing two dedicated city council members in Duane Jirik and Jim Kratochvil. With a combined 20 years of experience serving on the council, their expertise and contributions will be missed by the city as it faces the challenges that are sure to face the city in 2009 and beyond.

With Kratochvil's background in construction and Jirik's background in law enforcement, each brought his own perspective to the council and both contributed in many ways.

Both offered a common-sense approach to running the city and were careful to protect New Prague's image, helping to keep it true to its heritage.

Come January, two new people - Mark Bartusek and Kristen Guerette, will inherit these two seats on the council. Both will be newcomers to city government, but they both bring their own unique perspectives to the council and will contribute in their own ways, much the same that council holdovers Kay Wilcox and Jennifer Flicek and Mayor Bink Bender do.

Council members put in a countless hours and in exchange are compensated a small amount that can't begin to cover the time they put in to helping set policies for the city. It's often a thankless job, with people disagreeing with whatever decision you might make on any given topic. Instead of thanks, they often get criticized because they voted one way on a particular issue and another way on another issue.

So The Times takes this opportunity to thank Kratochvil and Jirik, along with Wilcox, Flicek, Bender, Bartusek and Guerette, for their willingness to serve their neighbors on our council.