Election 2022: Four Names on The Ballot For Sartell City Council

SARTELL (WJON News) - There are two open seats on the Sartell City Council and four names are on the ballot. Brad Gunderson, Stacy Lundeen, and Jed Meyer are running against the incumbent Tim Elness.

Despite her name on the ballot, Lundeen has told WJON she has withdrawn from the race, while Gunderson has not return requests for an interview.

TIM ELNESS:

Tim Elness is seeking his second term on the city council. He says he's learned a lot over the last four years, including understanding more about city finances.

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Elness says this years road construction projects highlighted the growing need for improving their main street corridors.

We're pretty limit in Sartell, as we found out this fall, in our north/south corridor. We've known that but it's the way the city grew 15 years ago and didn't have the connectivity it needs to now. As we push forward and improve the roads we are going to have some hurdles to overcome.

Elness says in additions to roads, the city has taken a focused approach on business development.

He says the city has done a great job in recent years providing new amenities, attracting new business and developing areas for future growth.

Toppin Merril was a good win project that expanded on the east side and has been a success story. Then we have lot of small businesses like coffee shops, dance studios, banks and it's been fun watching them come in.

Elness says there is a lot of projects on the horizon and he wants to continue to help the community grow.

JED MEYER:

Jed Meyer has lived in the Sartell since 2014 and is the President/CEO of St. Cloud Financial Credit Union.

He says while he's never aspired to get into city government, his passion for giving back to the community is what drove him to run for city council.

I love getting involved in the community and was looking at ways to give back. As I look as to what the city may face in the near future, I felt my skillset and experience would help and wanted to put my name in the ring.

Meyer says the city has done a great job investing in its amenities, drawing new businesses to town and improving the infrastructure in recent years.

He says as a leader of a financial institution, his skill set would provide some valuable experience when it comes to budget planning and eliminating debt.

When you have a balance sheet like we have and still have infrastructure needs and need to invest in the city but at the end of the day we need to pay down some of that debt. A lot of that is future tax burden that needs to be paid off at some point. So I think I can add some value there.

Meyer says the purchase of the former paper mill site provides a great opportunity and hopes he can be involved in enhancing that area of the community.