LOUP CITY, Neb.—Alicia Toczek knew when she ran for mayor of Loup City that if elected, she would be the city’s first woman mayor, but she didn’t use that fact in her campaign.
“I had enough other experience and background, I didn’t need anything else,” she said, laughing. Toczek was elected in 2006. She ran on the slogan, “Faith, Hope, Love.”
“I came up with it one day when I was coming out of church,” she said. “I said I had faith in education and experience, hope that it would allow me to be the best I could be and I love Loup City.”
Toczek said she got the idea to run for mayor from her bridge group. “I always had an interest in politics and decided perhaps I should put my hat out there for local government.”
Not everyone in her family was on board right away. “My family figured there would be a lot of hassles and headaches and phone calls. There really hasn’t. I always tell people I’m at the city offices during the day. I try to get out and about and keep an open-door policy.”
Toczek was born and grew up in Loup City. After attending Kearney State College and working in Nebraska, Colorado and in the Peace Corps, she moved back to Loup City, where she bought and managed the drive-in movie theater for 15 years.
Now she calls herself a “professional volunteer” and said she devotes about 120 hours to her job as mayor every month.
Toczek presides over an all-male four-member city council. Since being sworn in, she helped organize emergency response during January’s ice storm and a successful election for a citywide half-cent sales tax.
With the council, she started a citywide cleanup day called Keep Loup City Beautiful. She said she also began a policy of reciting the pledge of allegiance before each meeting as well as a moment of silence in recognition of members of the armed forces.
Toczek said being the only woman presiding over an all-male council has not been a problem. “I can wield a gavel with the best of them,” she said. “With all my background, I think I can hold my own.”
“I’m not the first mayor of Loup City, I’m the first woman mayor. Other mayors have laid the foundation, and I’ll build on them and maybe put a woman’s view on some things,” she said. “I think I have a no-nonsense approach tempered by a willingness to listen to all sides and then do what’s best for all sides. I don’t compare myself to male or female.”
Toczek called Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency “long overdue.”
“Half of our population is female. We are an open society, and too long have we overlooked the talents of women. We need to use all our people for the U.S. to continue to grow.”
Two City Council seats will be up for re-election in 2008, and Toczek said she encourages women to run for the offices. “Woman can bring a viewpoint that perhaps would allow for more openness and not have such a harsh view. They can take the edge off,” she said.
“They have to balance family, Scouts and one-act plays and everything else. It is a sacrifice to commit four years to the City Council, but I would encourage other women to get involved.”
Toczek said she considers involvement in local government a civic duty. “It’s part of the privilege of living in the U.S. I think too many people are disgusted about what’s going on. But we have to try to make it better.”
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Information from: Kearney Hub,
