VOTE! ★★★★★ ★★★General Election Tuesday, Nov. 4★★★ COUNTY

4B
CROSBY-IRONTON COURIER
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014
★★★★★
COUNTY
OFFICES
COUNTY
ATTORNEY
(vote for one)
DONALD F. RYAN
Unopposed
★★★★★
COUNTY
AUDITORTREASURER
(vote for one)
VOTE! ★★★General Election Tuesday, Nov. 4★★★
Manager in the AuditorTreasurer’s Office. My husband, Matt, is the editor of the
Brainerd Dispatch, and our
son, Sam, started kindergarten
this fall. I am the current president of the Brainerd Rotary
Club, past president and current board member of the
Brainerd Public Schools
Foundation, finance council
member of St. Mathias
Church, and former coach of
the Crosby-Ironton Rangerettes Dance Team. I have
strong ties and commitment to
Crow Wing County and I look
forward to service as your
Auditor-Treasurer.
PAUL KOERING
No response.
★★★★★
COUNTY
AUDITORTREASURER
(vote for one)
DEBRA A. (GOBLE)
ERICKSON
Rather than a policy-making decision, the auditortreasurer is a management
position that requires experienced leadership to administer the statutes, laws and policies as they pertain to the
many facets of the office
including property taxes and
transfers, elections, finance,
vital records, business licensing and other duties. This
position requires a dedicated
commitment to lead the office
and serve in the organization
with experience and knowledge; and I have that commitment to the organization and
the citizens of Crow Wing
County. I have the experience
of being the former elected
auditor and I’ve worked in
every facet of the department
as well as other areas
throughout the organization
which gives me a better
understanding and perspective of how to achieve the
necessary changes to continue to improve our services.
Continuing to improve on
our customer service delivery
is a major goal that I have for
the department. I would like
to continue to find ways we
can increase the options we
have for providing information to customers as well as
providing service options in a
variety of ways. This will
include a thorough review
and analysis of our technology systems and processes to
determine where we can
make changes to be more efficient and provide better service. I also want to collaborate
with other departments to see
where we can combine and/or
streamline procedures to
make transactions more
seamless for customers. I
think we can enhance our
business model to be more
pro-active to what our customers and citizens want to
see.
With over 20 years of
experience at Crow Wing
County, including five years
as the auditor, I have the
understanding and knowledge
of all the duties of the office
as well as strong working
relationships throughout the
organization. I am certified in
property tax calculation, a
certified elections administrator and a certified passport
agent. I am a member of the
Minnesota Association of
County Officers and serve as
the Chair of the Elections
Committee for that organization; and I am also a former
member of the Minnesota
Government Finance Officers
Association. Over the past 20
years, I’ve developed excellent partnerships with the
local units of government and
other agencies that are vital to
enhancing customer service
initiatives. I am a strong communicator and leader who
believes in developing talent
and using resources to the
fullest capacity to help
improve service and contain
costs.
I am 42 years old and am
a life-long Crow Wing
County resident having
grown up in Fort Ripley and
now my family and I live in
Brainerd. I am a graduate of
Brainerd High School and
earned a Bachelor’s degree in
Management, summa cum
laude, from the College of St.
Scholastica. I have worked
for Crow Wing County for 20
years and currently serve as
the
Taxpayer
Services
DOUG HANSON
The most important issue
in this campaign is to ensure
the residents of Crow Wing
County do not lose their right
to vote and the county
recorder position remains an
elected position. I have
worked for Crow Wing
County for over fourteen
years and I have seen this
organization make significant
strides in working together to
improve our processes, provide better customer service
and take less out of taxpayer’s
pockets. Over the last three
years, myself and several
dedicated county employees
have lead this effort and
assisted departments on
streamlining their processes
with great results. As your
elected county recorder, I will
continue to collaborate with
other departments and work
toward those same organizational goals of providing an
efficient, cost-effective great
customer experience, all
while maintaining the integrity of the county recorder’s
office and protection of your
real estate records.
When I am elected country recorder the first item on
my agenda would be to collaborate with the County
Auditor-Treasurer’s office to
create a single location where
customers can have their real
estate documents recorded
and transferred without having to visit multiple offices.
Having worked in the auditor’s office for over five years
and now as deputy recorder in
the county recorder’s office I
have a thorough understanding of the work processes in
both offices and I believe
through a collaborative effort
between the County Recorder
and
County
AuditorTreasurer’s office we can
continue to provide the same
great customer service in a
more cost-effective manner.
I am the most qualified
candidate for county recorder
because
as
Deputy
Recorder/Registrar of Titles
for the Crow Wing County
Recorder’s office, I am
already accountable for the
supervision of assigned program(s) including service
delivery, performance management and staff supervision
for the office. My background and understanding in
information technology and
process improvement enables
me to better leverage technology to gain work flow efficiencies and provide a better
customer experience.
I am forty years old and
work as Deputy Recorder for
the Crow Wing County
Recorder’s office. I have
worked for Crow Wing
County for over thirteen
years. I have a bachelor’s
degree from the University
Wisconsin Stevens-Point. I
have been married to my
beautiful wife, Kristin for fifteen years. We have a four
year old daughter, Emily and
an eleven year old son, Erik.
Our family lives in Nisswa.
★★★★★
I live in Crosby, currently
fighting cancer that has
appeared in my lungs. I’m
married to Robert, who owns
and operates with his brother
Craig, Xtreme Sandblasting.
We have four children who all
live outside the home; nine
grandchildren and a dog
named Sophie. I love to garden, read a good book, watch
NHRA and be with family and
friends and go to church.
COUNTY
SHERIFF
(vote for one)
TODD DAHL
Unopposed
★★★★★
MARK LIEDL
I think the most important
issue facing the county—and
all levels of government—is
to make government work
better for less cost to taxpayers. We can do a better job of
giving taxpayers a better value
for their money. As I’ve talked
to voters during this race, it’s
pretty clear that people are
tired of the “business as
usual” approach of government. Folks know there is
wasteful spending that needs
to be eliminated and they
know that government services can be better, and more efficient. That’s what I believe in
and that’s why I’m running for
county recorder. There are a
lot of opportunities to improve
government services and
eliminate wasteful spending—
to give taxpayers a better
value for their dollar. And it
can be achieved, with common sense, some experience
and a leader who’s not afraid
to change the system, to actually fight for taxpayers.
That would be my
approach. To continue as I
have as the County Land
Services Director since 2008:
improving customer (taxpayer) services, identifying more
efficient ways of doing things
and eliminating unnecessary
spending.
If I am elected, the first
item on my agenda would be
to refuse to take a salary for
the recorder position and
instead ask the County Board
to combine my recorder duties
with my current duties as
Land Service Director, saving
$500,000 in tax levy spending
over the next four years.
I have real experience
managing people and programs and more than 28 years
of actual leadership experience in private and public sectors, as well as in our community. I am a small business
owner, so I understand the
importance of excellent customer service and meeting a
payroll. I previously served as
Assistant Crow Wing County
Attorney representing the
Recorders Office. The recording function is tied very closely to the legal process, so my
experience and training as a
lawyer adds to my qualifications. As Director of Land
Services for Crow Wing
County since 2008, I have
challenged the status quo and
not accepted government
“business as usual.” We’ve
shown that yes, we can
improve service and reduce
costs. We successfully integrated what had been five separate departments into one,
reduced our budget by 45 percent, and received more than a
dozen awards for service
excellence and innovation
from a variety of state, federal
and local organizations. I am
the only candidate in this race
who is qualified to serve as
Recorder and Land Services
Director. By combining these
positions—as 14 other counties have done—we will eliminate half a million dollars in
unnecessary spending over the
next four years.
My department budget for
next year, decreases levy
spending by more than six
percent. In contrast, the
Recorders Office 2015 budget
increases tax levy spending by
more than five percent. As
your county recorder, my
2015 budget will be a decease
in spending, not the current
increase.
My home is in Breezy
Point. I am the father of five
sons. My education includes
the University of Minnesota,
and Georgetown Law School.
I am the owner/operator of
Culver’s Restaurant in Baxter.
I am Director of Land
Services, Crow Wing County.
Former Assistant Crow Wing
County Attorney. I have
served on the Pequot Lakes
School Board, Youth Sports
Coach, Lakes Area Interfaith
Caregivers
Board,
St.
Joseph’s/Essentia
Health
Foundation Board, Central
Lakes College Business
Advisory Board and Parish
Board of St. Alice Church.
★★★★★★★★★★
★★★★★★★★★★
YOUR VOTE COUNTS…PLEASE VOTE NOV. 4!
CITY
OFFICES
MAYOR
CITY OF CROSBY
(vote for one)
JOANNA
LATTERY
In my opinion, the most
important issue in this campaign is taxes. It is hard to
fathom 45 percent of property
owners do not pay property
taxes, as they are exempt.
Schools,
government
owned
buildings/property,
churches and the district hospital (which only pays taxes on
the portion that housed the
clinic before the hospital was
built) do not pay property
taxes. That means 55 percent
of the property owners have to
shoulder the tax support to run
the city. The continued effort
by the council to look for a
solution to this burden is
imperative.
If I am elected the first item
on my agenda would be to
continue to research ways to
cut taxes and continue the economic growth of Crosby.
Keep our ongoing efforts to
increase businesses, cut spending without losing services,
keep open communication
with the residents/businesses,
promote Crosby’s great assets
and increase our tourism. Also
continue our upgrading of
ordinances and continue making all city officials, department heads, and employees
accountable.
I feel I am the most qualified candidate because I am
Committed,
Accountable,
Respectful and Experienced. I
CARE! Over the past year and
nine months I have served the
residents/businesses with due
diligence, a lot of research on
many issues and have had to
make some really tough decisions but always put personal
feelings aside and voted for
what I determined would be in
the best interest of the city. I
am but one voice out of five
and I know when I make a
decision I have done so with
fact gathering information. I
do not make rash decisions, I
look at all solutions, I ask
many questions from those
with the knowledge of the subject at hand and I know I have
done everything in my power
to get as much information
available to me. I always look
at what affect the decision will
have in the future scheme of
things.
My husband Mike, Sr. and
I purchased our home in
Crosby 10 years ago. We have
resided in the Brainerd Lakes
area since 1984; have three
children, eight grandchildren,
two great-grandsons and a
great-granddaughter due in
November. We enjoy the outdoors, gardening, fishing and
our family. After completing
my post-secondary education
in accounting, I went on to
serve the community through
employment in the County
Court System and County
Social Services. I am 66 years
young and feel the best continued education a person can
have is through life experience. I am a Licensed Realtor
and Administrative Assistant
to
the
owners
of
LakePlace.com and currently
Mayor of Crosby. My mother, Ann Breeding, moved to
Heartwood from Texas May
2010 and is very impressed
with the facility, town and
friendliness. I am not a “yes”
women but I am a “why,
show me” women. I look at
situations like a ripple
effect…if this happens what
will the long term affects be?
I would be honored to continue to serve you.
JAMES HUNTER
We have one of the most
beautiful cities in the area, I
would like to keep it that way
for all the years to come. I
promise to consider all community ideas to make this an
even better place to live,
camp, fish, hunt, 4-wheel,
bicycle snowmobile, etc.
My approach is teamwork. Researching and listening to the options and working with all agencies to come
to the best decisions for the
community. At meetings, listen to people’s concerns.
Fairly and justly work out any
problems they might have. I
will be accountable for making good decisions. I suggest
having open regular meetings
with all the department heads,
so we can determine problem
areas and make changes. I
would like to have an office at
the city hall for all council
members to use, so we can
research things before we act
on them.
I would like to see a fiveyear plan for street maintenance, parks, infrastructure
maintenance, police protection and fire and rescue.
Looking into new business
growth with private investors
and community groups.
Consider all the options.
I know how to run a business and how to stick to a
budget. I am very well
informed of the laws of our
state. Willing to compromise
and redo it we have to ‘pick
our battles’. Let’s do what is
good for Crosby, not what is
good for us personally. If I am
elected, my office is always
open 24 hours a day, to all
that need me, good or bad,
day or night.
My name is James Jesse
Hunter. I am 65 years old and
have resided around the area
for a long time. I own three
businesses in Crosby. I was
raised over in Kimberly. We
were very poor and I learned
how to work at a young age. I
came up through life at the
school of ‘hard knocks’. If
you did it the wrong way, you
paid for it and it was your
responsibility to correct it.
Nothing wrong with being
humble. I would appreciate
your vote in November, and
may God Bless.
★★★★★
COUNCIL
MEMBER
CITY OF
CROSBY
(vote for up to two)
SANDY BLOOD
Crosby City Council
The most important issue
in this campaign is a parking
lot that ‘fits’ CRMC. We need
open talks and a solution
which must and can be found!
The second thing I would
do is implement an asset
improvement campaign, like
garbage cans with garbage
can wraps that have business
advertising on them that business then takes care of (i.e.,
emptying them). I’d like the
first one to be at my favorite
mine pit with Xtreme
Sandblasting and Power
Coating advertising on it and
‘Thank you, God’! How
about some cigarette ‘butt’
cans that say “Help keep our
Earth beautiful” or “Thanks,
God,”?
I don’t think having
Health Fitness Corp. as managing entity for the Hallett
Center of Crosby is necessary
when they really don’t perform any managerial duties
except payroll. The Hallett
Center of Crosby has its own
manager. I’d like to see a
financial analysis done to see
if that would ever make financial sense. How about getting
other cities and townships to
help support the Hallett
Center so that dues could be
lowered so that more people
could use HCC for their fitness routine?
I am 53 years old and
have had many life experiences. I have plenty of time to
dedicate to this position, I’m
open-minded with common
sense and I love God try to
follow Him.
JIM GOSHEY
I feel one of the most
important issues in this year’s
campaign is the potential
growth in recreational tourism.
This area is being well promoted and the number of biking
and outdoor enthusiasts coming
to Crosby seems to be growing
every year. I think it’s important
for Crosby businesses and residents to reap the benefits of the
influx of people coming to
town. Equally important, is
some balance in growth to minimize the impact on the residents of Crosby and their
neighborhoods.
If I am elected, the first item
on my agenda would be to sit
down and listen. I have no personal agenda. I feel it is important to listen carefully to both
sides of an issue as they arise
and bring a fair and common
sense approach to any decision
making.
I feel I am the most qualified candidate because I have
no agenda. I am running for city
council as a way to give something back to the city of Crosby.
This city has been a great place
to raise a family and has provided many opportunities to my
family and myself. Having no
preconceived plans or ideas
allows me to hear both sides of
an issue and to bring a fair and
intelligent decision and a positive attitude to the table.
I am 50 years old, born and
raised in St. Paul. I married my
wife Nancy 26 and one half
years ago. We moved to Crosby
in February, 1994 where we
raised our three children, all of
whom graduated from CrosbyIronton High school. I am a
self-employed electrician having started my business, A-1
Electric of Crosby Inc. in 1999.
I’ve been a member of the
Crosby
Volunteer
Fire
Department since 1999. I enjoy
hunting, fishing, camping, 4wheeling and many other outdoor activities. My brother
Steve served as a Crosby city
council member as well as
m
a
y
o
r
.
I would like to wish all the candidates good luck on their campaign. Win or lose, these are the
people willing to give of their
time and expertise to help keep
Crosby the great city it is.
Thank you for considering me
for Crosby city council!
PAUL HEGLUND
No response
LIZ HOFMANN
No response
TOM JACOBSON
No response
VERN PANKRATZ
In my opinion the most
important issue in this campaign is to utilize a positive
approach and long range
planning.
I am the most qualified
candidate because I have over
30 years in public works
operations, both in supervision and non-supervisory
positions for both small communities and larger surburban
operations.
I retired from Public
Works operations in 2005 (30
years) and have a past history
in Public Works, water/waste
water operator. I was
Supervisor of the City of
Crosby’s from 1984-1989,
street/sanitation/traffic
department for Hopkins
Public Works from 1989 to
2005 and have attended
numerous seminars and dealt
with budgeting, personnel
management, public works
operations and street, sanitation and traffic., etc.