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Joey Recker was sworn in as mayor of Plains at 10 am Friday at City Hall. After the ceremony, he talked about his response to being elected. “I’m just proud for the opportunity, and I thank everyone in town for the support. I’m gonna work hard. I’m gonna listen and try to do what’s best for our small town.”

Recker previously served on the Plains city council. When asked if he had any changes in mind, he replied: “Not at this time. I’m still drinking from the fire hose. I’ve got some experience, but I do have a lot to learn. I will say that my first priority right now is to work on our water and sewage system. It was built in the 60s . . . it’s out of date, it needs some upgrading and that really needs to happen sooner than later, and we’ve been talking about it for quite a while, and so that’s going to kind of be a behind the scenes thing. Nobody’s [going to] see a big change, but it is a big change that’s got to happen.”

When asked if he had anything else to share with readers, he replied: “Just thanks for the support. Like I said, I was never the biggest, strongest and fastest, but I will be the hardest and longest working.” He mentioned that citizens can contact him by phone or email, and that he believed it was also important to make himself available in person. “I think it’s important for everybody to know on Friday from 8:30 to noon, I will be here in the office available for anybody that needs to talk to me face to face.”

He also talked about his military experience as the command sergeant major of an infantry brigade. He listed combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and in the continent of Africa. Recker listed leadership as a practical skill he had gained, along with several others.

“We had to set up governments. We had to set up sewage systems, wastewater, trash pickup, all those type of things. We had to help set those up in a lot of war-torn countries. So a lot of those skills will transfer. I think if we can do it there, it ought to be a little easier here.”