Inspirational Motivational of the Day: 18-year-old Jeremy Minnier is just your average high school senior except for the part where he’s the mayor of an entire town.

Minnier, the newly elected mayor of Aredale, Iowa, recently defeated 76-year-old incumbent Virgil Homer by a vote of 24 to 8.

If the vote tally seems rather small, that’s because Aredale only has 74 residents. But, as diminutive as the population figure might be, it still has some pretty big problems, and it’s now up to Minnier to fix them.

“One of the main things right now is our septic systems in our homes as they’re not up to state codes,” said Minnier, who plans to spruce up Main Street with some new signs and do a little landscaping in front of City Hall.

“Being the mayor doesn’t mean that you just sit back and tell other people what to do,” he says. “You gotta be there helping. I’m gonna be sweeping the streets out there with a broom and shovel just like they are.”

Aredale residents say they’re hopeful about the future with Mayor Minnier at the helm. “Some fresh blood may see things differently,” says town councilor Deb DeBerg.

Even his high school principal is behind Minnier all the way. “I’m hoping he inspires a lot of our kids to step up when they see something that they think they might be able to do,” said Principal Steve Madson.

Minnier himself isn’t too worried about balancing his dual identities: “It’s not a job when you wake up every morning and just love what you do.”

[msnbc / thanks aw!]

This is all well and good until he wants to build Icetown.