Of all the races in the upcoming city election, this is the most intriguing.
While there are many good candidates running, I’m leaning towards Thor Bardon, Bank Fraud Specialist. I like his back ground story, his analytical stance on governance and compassion for the average citizen.
Zach DeBoer is also a wonderful candidate. His passion for public art and re-developing our core would make him a great councilor.
Tom Hurlbert also stands out as someone who would serve the public well by guiding our city council with planning and zoning. Tom owns an architecture firm.
I don’t know much about Scott Bartlett accept that he tends to lean a little to the far right with Tea Party politics.
Curt Soehl is a former firefighter who now sells insurance. I think our past adventures with insurance salesmen (Karsky and Rolfing) should tell us we have had our fill. He is also a staunch supporter of Huether and Erpenbach polices that allow big development to run our town.
I hope to see Hurlbert and Bardon in the run-off.
There will be NO other run-offs in the council race, only mayor and central district due to some candidates not getting in enough petition signatures.
Kiley unfortunately didn’t have a challenger, so he will skirt in. I think the last time a councilor was unchallenged for 2nd term was Staggers. Trust me Cameraman Bruce and I tried very hard to find a challenger, we probably spoke to over 5 people, but many of them had different conflicts and couldn’t swing it.
I’m pushing for Brekke in At-Large ‘A’ and Weiland for At-Large ‘B’. Brekke’s challenger seems to be running the same campaign as last time, in which he lost to Stehly. Weiland’s challenger, Erickson, has had a very non-citizen friendly record over the past year, and needs to go.
His accidentcy Kiley is a disappointment. With the new council composure maybe he’ll move from chair to dunce. One good ethics complaint should make him moot. Who win an election where they are the only candidate? Putin and Kiley.