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.