Three words that define you?

Passionate, Attentive & Adaptable

Why are you running for the City Council, and what related experience do you bring to the table that makes you uniquely qualified?

I am running for city council because I am passionate about continuing to work with city residents, businesses, staff and community volunteers that call Sauk Centre home. I was a volunteer firefighter on the Sauk Centre Fire Department for 22 years. During that time, I’ve also had the opportunity to work with past and current council members while serving on the city council from 2004 to 2014. For eight of those years, it was a privilege to also serve as mayor. In 2014, I was blessed to be elected to the Sauk Centre School Board. This provided me the opportunity to learn from talented students, teachers, support staff and administration on the challenges surrounding school finance & operations. I believe my passion to serve, willingness to work towards bettering our community, and broad base of experience demonstrates my unique qualifications to be an effective community partner & council member.

Do you think it is important to have a competitive business climate and how can we improve our competitiveness to make sure private sector businesses can start and grow in our community?

I absolutely believe it’s important to have a competitive business climate in our community. This is not something that just happens, though. Creating and/or improving the competitiveness of business in Sauk Centre is all about communication, adaptability and cooperation amongst all sectors of the city. This would include City Hall, Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Community Foundation, Historical Society, Sinclair Lewis Foundation, Sauk Centre School District, our hospitals, nursing homes and care centers. Our parks and recreational facilities are important in attracting businesses to re-locate here. Sauk Centre enjoys a good reputation for safety and security, making our community an appealing and enjoyable place to start a business or raise a family. If we start with the basics and build trust, respect and compassion with all stakeholders working side by side we will continue to make Sauk Centre an attractive place to start and grow a business. 

Name the two or three most critical issues you believe the City of Sauk Centre faces and how would you address those issues?

Our main challenges include revitalizing our downtown, striving for new development and enticing those who drive through town to linger. This involves working with developers and business owners, assisting them in forming partnerships with the city, residents and investors. Our central location and major highways mean opportunity. In 2022, about 24,000 vehicles passed by on I-94, and 9,500 drove through town on Hwy 71 per day. We need to focus our efforts on ways to get the traffic to stop, shop, enjoy a meal, visit our historical places and stay for the night. This is done by community engagement, business involvement, local events and a welcoming environment. Yes, this can be challenging as we compete with cities across the state. Yet few communities have attractions like Sauk Lake, our unique art culture and community advocates like the Community Foundation. The city must be open to addressing these challenges and celebrating community accomplishments.

How would you engage the business community as you weigh your decisions?

As I learned from my previous city government experience, it takes passion, knowledge, time and energy to assist our business partners. It can be daunting to navigate the bureaucracy of government rules and regulations to build and grow a business. To engage the business community, I will be attentive to the dreams and desires of those investing in our community and assist them in finding solutions to meet the needs of their growing business. I believe the city needs to be adaptable to the needs of our existing businesses while encouraging new business to move to Sauk Centre. I will combine my passion and experience with attentiveness and adaptability to assist any business by assuring they have a voice at the table and an open line of communication. I want to thank the Chamber of Commerce for posing these important questions, and I ask for all of your support on November 5th.  Thank you!

*All candidates were contacted at email addresses and phone numbers listed in public filing records. Questionnaires had word/time limits and are published EXACTLY as submitted. No info is displayed if a candidate didn’t respond. If you would like a copy of the PDF forms that were submitted by the candidate, please submit that request to saukcentrechamber@gmail.com. Thank you.

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