 and some new and familiar faces will make up the Bemidji City Council next year. Josh Peterson caught up with some of them to get their outlook on the coming year. 2019 will be the year for many changes in the city of Bemidji and one of those big changes will be the makeup of the city council. Last night residents re-elected Mayor Rita Albright to her fourth term in office. I'm feeling great this morning I'm excited that the voters in Bemidji sent me back to be mayor for another two years and I appreciate their support. With a new makeup to the Bemidji City Council Mayor Albright is ready to hit the ground running and tackle some key issues facing the city. I know that there are not only the infrastructure needs that we've talked about during the campaign but other things in our community that we're going to be working on together. Three new faces on the city council will join Mayor Albright in the council chambers with Emily Rivera representing Ward 4, Michael Beard in Ward 2, and Jim Thompson filling the seat of councilor at large. After a long season of campaigning they are ready to get to work. I really want to be looking forward several generations way down the road and how is Bemidji going to continue to grow? I think the one thing the city has to focus on is the infrastructure with the growth. Growth is good and bad and I'm a big pro growth person. Both Rivera and Beard are looking forward to tackling the key issues and providing a voice for the people in their wards. That's what I'm looking forward to the most is kind of asking those questions and getting some of the answers to some of the things that I've heard people ask and to be able to bring those those issues to the forefront. City council is supposed to be a representation of your city and I think this new council is a great representation of Bemidji. But after a long and sometimes difficult season of campaigning Mayor Albright says it's time for the city to come together. There's always that time when we have to work together, get to know one another and understand you know what's the next best thing for the city of Bemidji. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.