The start of the new year brings new leadership to the Great Bend City Council as it welcomed a new mayor for the first time in six years along with three new council members at its inaugural 2026 meeting on Monday, Jan. 5.
“Welcome, new mayor and city council members,” said City Administrator Logan Burns. “Thank you for your call to public service. I’m excited for 2026 and what we’re going to be able to do this year.”
Alan Moeder was sworn in as the 38th Mayor of Great Bend and will serve a two-year term following Cody Schmidt’s six-year tenure. Moeder represented Ward One as a councilmember for the last six years before winning the mayoral election in November. A lifelong resident of Great Bend, Moeder is a self-made businessman, owning Moeder Plumbing, Heating, and Air for 43 years.
Also taking their oaths and seats on the panel were council members Shelly Peacock, Jay Luerman and Shelly Arnberger. Rickee Maddox remains on the council, having been reelected in November.
Peacock, another Great Bend native, will represent Ward One. Peacock has been on the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, as well as a small business owner in town. Most recently, she opened a romance-centric bookstore, “The Velvet Bookmark,” with Chamber President Megan Barfield at 1409 Main Street.
Representing Ward Two is Jay Luerman, who has lived in Great Bend since 2016. He is the vice president, regional manager and commercial and ag loan officer at the Bank of the Plains. An active member of the community, Luerman has been a part of eight local organizations and groups boards.
Shelly Arnberger, another long-term Great Bend resident, takes her seat in the third ward. Arnberger has worked as a tax preparer for 25 years and has owned her own office for the last eight. Along with her husband, she has also owned a fire protection company for 21 years. Arnberger has been involved in various organizations and is the current chair for the Smoky Hills Television Board.
Remaining council members include Gary Parr (Ward One), Kevyn Soupiset (Ward Two), Davis Jiminez (Ward Three) and Tina Mingenback (Ward Four).
Outgoing Mayor Schmidt and council members Jolene Biggs and Cory Urban were also recognized for their years of service at Monday’s meeting. Biggs came on board in 2017 and Urban has been on the council since 2018.
“With the recognition of outgoing councilmembers, I want to extend a sincere thank you to Cory Urban, Cody Schmidt and Jolene Biggs for your years of public service,” said Burns. “It’s been a pleasure to serve with you, with you three for sure. I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done for me and the city.”
Moeder spoke briefly before the close of his first meeting as mayor.
“I just want to say a short comment, welcoming incoming councilmembers. I look forward to working with you and I just want to remind everybody that we have respect for each other and that you let the other person finish speaking and not interrupt them. There’s plenty of time for everybody to talk. Now I need a motion to adjourn.”
Work session on meeting procedures
The meeting was followed by a work session led by Attorney Allen Glendenning. The topic was “Meeting Procedures.” His first slide was “Effective meetings: The art of disagreeing agreeably.”
“The ultimate goal is to resolve the disagreement,” Glendenning said.
Councilman Gary Parr asked, “What about letting people speak?”
“This has come up fairly recently,” Glendenning said. “The important thing to remember is the meetings of the City Council are not town halls. The public really doesn’t have a right to speak at all under statutes or how our system is set up. There are exceptions to that,” he added, such as public hearings.
The Kansas League of Municipalities created a model policy that boards can adopt for meetings and he suggested the council consider creating one. The League’s recommendation for how public comments are handled “tracks what the city is doing,” he said.
His talk also included a review of the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
City Council meetings are held on the first and third Monday of each month beginning at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1209 Williams, and are open to the public. During a work session following the close of Monday’s agenda meeting, members said they are agreeable to considering an earlier starting time, with the consensus leaning toward 5:30 p.m. Changing meeting times will require future action from the council.
This story incorporates a news release from Addison Crites, public relations director for the City of Great Bend.
