The Waterloo City Council has a new alderman, and he’s proud to be representing his ward.

Matt Buettner, 36, ran unopposed for the Ward I alderman seat formerly held by Russ Thomas, who decided to seek another term in office.

Buettner’s term on the council runs through April 30, 2025.

He is a first cousin to Ward III Alderman Kyle Buettner.

Matt Buettner is a 2003 graduate of Gibault Catholic High School and earned an associate’s degree from Southwestern Illinois College in 2005. He is employed at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis.

Matt’s wife Kate works at Waterloo Rural King and is “well-known to the patrons there,” he said. Their daughter Anna, 6, just graduated from kindergarten at Zahnow Elementary, and their son Henry is 4. 

Matt is the son of Ken and Janice Buettner of rural Waterloo.

“The position of alderman always appealed to me and was something I wanted to do someday,” Matt said. “However, I was very happy with aldermen Thomas and (Steve) Notheisen in my ward. When I heard Russ was not seeking re-election, I took a lot of time to think about whether it was the right move at this point and ultimately the opportunity was too great to pass up.” 

Matt praised Thomas as “fantastic and incredibly supportive” in the transition of council seats.

He added that the other members of the council have been helpful in getting him up to speed.

“All of the aldermen have been great and gone out of their way to offer their time and experience for whenever I have a question,” Matt said. “I’m very excited to get to work with all of them going forward.”

The city’s newest alderman said his first month in office went well.

“I worked to acclimate myself to city matters for the past several months since I submitted my packet to run last December, and have been attending meetings so that I had some context and familiarity with the precedings when I started,” he assessed. “I think what is really amazing is the amount of work put in behind the scenes by so many people to ensure the city is ran well. 

“I’m honored to be part of that group now.”