"Where Olmsted County News Comes First"

29

How will you keep your kids busy this summer vacation?

 Swimming lessons

 Park & Rec activities

 Summer camp

 Daycare


View Results

Comment(1)

Four of seven Rochester city council members and six of seven county commissioner seats will be up for grabs this November. In all but one case, those races will be contested.

Jan Throndson, a newly retired employee in at the Federal Medical Center, will challenge council president Dennis Hanson. The council president is an at large seat and arguably the most powerful elected position in Rochester.

Throndson serves on the Citizens for Public Safety board and is active in organizations honoring veterans. He ran for the Ward 5 city council seat in 2010, but did not make it through the primary.

Getting more interested parties into the decision-making process is an area of focus for Throndson.

“Nothing against Denny at all, but I think he involves just a few groups,” said Throndson. “Rochester is growing. I have some new ideas and I think that we need to involve more of the neighborhood groups.”

He also feels that council members should take more of a leadership role.

“If you are the elected official, you need to make a lot of the decisions,” said Throndson. “The council needs to lead instead of following and rubber-stamping for the staff.”

Council member Michael Wojcik, finishing up his first term on the council, will be opposed in Ward 2 by Mike Pruett, founder and CEO of the MLT Group.

Pruett is interested in building a working relationship between the city and the county and feels that his background working with the county as a vendor gives him experience in this. Pruett is also interested in development regulations, and feels his past career as a tradesman gives him frontline experience.

“I looked at my goals that I set in ’08 and I’ve accomplished all of them. I’m happy to run on that record,” said Wojcik.

Also finishing up his first term, Mark Bilderback will be opposed by business owner Gary Melin in Ward 4.

In ward six, incumbant Sandra Means will be challenged by Greg Opdahl, who has been active in the Rochester Tea Party Patriots. Opdahl would focus on removing ordinances that he sees as onerous to business, such as the city’s tree ordinance. He also seeks to bring more fiscal conservatism to the council.

“I’ve seen that the council isn’t really watching the taxpayer’s back,” he said.

County Board of Commissioners Races

Due to significant shifting during this year’s county board of commissioner’s redistricting, all seats except for district four (Matt Flynn) will be up for grabs during this fall’s election.

All but one county commissioner (Ken Brown, District 2) will face opposition in their bid for re-election. District 7 commissioner Judy Ohly, is not seeking re-election, turning her focus instead on challenging current state senate majority leader Dave Senjem in the district 29 state senate race.

Commissioner Stephanie Podulke, who won an uncontested special election last August to complete the term vacated by the passing of her late husband, Mike, will face Northrop neighborhood resident Tim Schmidt in the general election. Schmidt, a local auto mechanic, has long had an interest in local government and currently serves on the Rochester heritage preservation committee and the joint airport zoning board. Schmidt is a proponent of instituting a drug court in Olmsted County and would like to see the county and city of Rochester improve communication and collaboration. Podulke represents the first commissioner district located in Rochester’s most densely populated core and is especially interested in advancing human services within the county.

Paul Wilson will face two challengers with somewhat similar backgrounds in his bid for re-election to the District 3 commissioner seat, which represents eastern Rochester. Gregg Wright, a counselor and past faculty president at RCTC feels strongly that government should be done on a personal level. Wright feels he has built skills in helping people throughout his career, and is seeking office to do this on a larger scale. Also vying for the District 3 seat is Loren Skudlarek, program director at Minnesota Correctional Facility – Faribault, is a licensed psychologist who earned a PhD in education from the University of Texas – Austin. He looks to promote education and veterans issues. Both Wright and Skudlarek cited Wilson’s 18-year tenure on the board as a motivating factor.

“I have a notion that you need to be of service,” said Skudlarek. “I don’t believe we should have professional politicians. If I get elected, it’s one term and then it’s someone else’s turn to serve.”

First elected in 1994, Wilson has held various state and local leadership positions, including a term as president of the Association of Minnesota Counties.

“I think you need new blood, but you also need stability and I think I bring that,” he said. Wilson cites holding county taxes flat and retaining the county’s AAA bond rating as recent successes.

District 5 commissioner Jim Bier, who currently represents residents in the northwestern portion of the county, including northwest Rochester, will be opposed by Gil Sirek of Byron.

Dave Perkins, will face tough competition in his bid to continue to represent district 6. Former state senator Shiela Kiscaden has filed as a candidate for the seat, as well as businessman Jim Baker. District six includes southwest Rochester as well as surrounding rural area.

Three individuals have filed their candidacy in District 7, the only seat with no incumbent in the race. Lou Ohly, the husband of current commissioner and state senate candidate Judy Ohly, has filed to run. In addition, Lenny Laures, an active member of township governance has filed his candidacy. Laures is the current chairman of the Cascade township board and is also chair of the Olmsted township officers and the transportation subcommittee of the Minnesota Association of Townships. Laures is also a member of the Rochester-Olmsted Council of Governments.

Entrepreneur Bradley Howe has also filed for the District 7 seat, which represents rural northern and eastern portions of the county as well as part of northeast Rochester.

Primary elections will take place in districts three, six, and seven on August 14th.