Malta Mayor Shyla Jones reflects on eight years in office

Shyla Jones is the 26th person to hold the title of mayor in the City of Malta's 108-year history and with the new year rapidly approaching, her time in office is nearly up which is leaving her with some mixed emotions.

"I have thought about that last day a lot lately," Shyla said. "It's going to be tough, but it is also going to be a relief. It will be a big change from the last eight years because I have lived and breathed being mayor so it is going to be hard to walk away, but at this time, it is what I need to do."

In over a century, only one person has served as the City of Malta's Mayor longer than Shyla and that was Duke E. Seel who served for a decade from 1971-to-1981. Of those 25 predecessors as mayor, only one other mayor on the city's history was female as Shirley Legg broke that gender barrier as she served in office from 1982-to-1985, a fact that was not lost on Shyla.

"I went and talked with her and got her advice before I decided to run for mayor the first time," Shyla said. "Shirley has always been very helpful and it was great to get her perspective on the job."

Shyla is a 1990 graduate of Malta High School and the daughter of Jess and Diane Jones who both passed away before their daughter became mayor (2005 and 2001, respectively.) Shyla is Jess and Diane's youngest child and her brothers, Wade and Jason, also continue to call Malta 'home.'

Aside from being mayor, Shyla's fulltime, day job is at the local NRCS office in Malta where she has been employed for the last eight years. She said that if it wasn't for poor health, she would have run for mayor again this past election, but said in 2014 she was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.

"That is what really made things sink in and I decided not to seek a third term," Shyla said of the 2014 diagnosis. "It really showed me that my body is breaking down and that I have to make some health changes. Part of that is getting rid of stress, being able to exercise, eating better, and getting enough sleep. It is really hard to get enough sleep with a fulltime job and being mayor at the same time, which is sometimes a fulltime job in itself. I need to have less stress in my life and being mayor is stressful."

Shyla said she knew that the office of mayor was going to be a huge time-consumer, but said the time commitment was hard to totally comprehend until it was actually happening. With two council meetings per month and 12 months per year, Shyla has attended nearly 200 meetings and that doesn't include the countless meetings away from City Hall and training out of town. The two latest time constraints for the mayor and many of the folks working for the City of Malta - the new water lines going in across large sections of town and a new cell being opened at the City's landfill - were more than most people imagined before they started.

"I am not complaining and I knew ahead of time I would be spending a lot of time on the bigger projects," she said. "Being mayor is technically a part-time job, but a lot of the time it requires fulltime hours. But I knew what I signed up for and some of these bigger projects had been neglected in the past. I would do it all over again."

When Shyla became mayor in 2010, she had the luxury of being surrounded by people with many years of experience under their belts, both as City employees and as public servants. Those people included former City Clerk Carolyn Schmoeckel who logged 26 years as an employee of the City Malta (the last 14 as City Clerk,) William Crowder who was on the Malta City Council for nearly 30 years. Bob Kapp who worked for the City for 30 years (many as the head of the City Landfill) and Garry Adams, another longtime council member as well as Malta Mayor from 1986 to 1990.

"I leaned on all of these people a lot and I don't know that I would have made it this far as mayor without Carolyn," Shyla said. "I don't know if I would have made it as a brand new mayor without all her experience. She always made sure that I was prepped for meetings and always made sure I had all the background and history of things that happened way before I sat in this seat."

Shyla said that the employees who currently work in the Malta City Office -Lorie Bond, DeeDee Hanson, and Glenda Knudsen - along with Public Works Director Jim Truelove are crucial to the City of Malta operating correctly and added that Mayor-elect John Demarais is lucky to have them.

"They are a wonderful staff," she said.

There are many things Shyla said she is proud to see accomplished while she was in office (including seeing the Parks and Rec Department reestablished in Malta with the assistance of Laura Pankratz) but one of the things on that list was something she didn't do, i.e. join the 'good old boys' club. She said one thing she prided herself on was returning every call, good or bad, when one of the city's citizens had a question, comment, or concern.

"The call might not have been the same day and it was almost always two or three hours later, but they always got called back," she said. "I always did what I felt was best for the City and its people. Sometimes that involved making decisions that made people angry, but, as mayor, you can't just do what the good old boys club or a certain group wants because you have to think about what is best for the entire community."

In the back of her mind, Shyla said that she likes to imagine that she could run for office again in the future, but reminds herself that her health is her top priority. The diseases she is afflicted with are manageable, but not curable, so a return to anything taxing like public office could put her health at risk. She admitted that she thinks about a return, nevertheless.

"I am not saying no, but that doesn't mean yes either," she said.

Though she will not commit to a return to public service, she said that having those mayoral thoughts won't simply stop just because she no longer claims the title and added that a lack of title won't stop her from paying attention.

"I will be listening to agendas and reading what happens at the meetings and I am not saying I won't attend a council meeting or two," she laughed. "My heart and soul was being mayor and it is going to be hard to walk away. It was a pleasure to represent and work with and for the people of Malta."