ST. CLOUD - Five people are running for the three at-large seats on the St. Cloud City Council. The three incumbents: Carol Lewis, Jeff Goerger, and George Hontos. And, two newcomers: Abdi Daisaine and Ken Grinsell.

St. Cloud City Council Candidate Carol Lewis
St. Cloud City Council Candidate Carol Lewis
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Carol Lewis
Lewis was first elected to the city council four years ago. She says helping to empower neighborhoods has been an accomplishment over the past four years.

New ordinances and things like that to ensure that there's not trash. Houses have to be registered if they are abandoned, that kind of thing. Because, we want to make sure our city is tip top.

Meanwhile, Lewis says while she's been out door knocking a lot of residents have said they don't feel safe. And that's a priority issue for her.

One of the things I've been asking for is an increase in police officers of about five to 10 new officers, so that the police presence in the community is a lot more noticeable.

Lewis was first elected to the St. Cloud City Council in 2012.

St. Cloud City Council Candidate Jeff Goerger
St. Cloud City Council Candidate Jeff Goerger
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Jeff Goerger
Goerger says, if he's re-elected, using the half-cent sales tax dollars on city improvements is a top priority for him.

Places like the Whitney Center and the new Freidrich Park, which I think is going to be a huge asset to the city.

Meanwhile, Goerger was first elected to the city council in 2005. He agrees with Lewis that they've made progress in our neighborhoods.

I've been a part of a neighborhood best practices for three separate times. I chaired the last round. I know we've still got some work to do in our neighborhoods.

Goerger was first elected to the St. Cloud City Council in 2005.

St. Cloud City Council Candidate George Hontos
St. Cloud City Council Candidate George Hontos
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George Hontos
Hontos says, if he's re-elected, neighborhood enforcement will continue to be his top priority.

Focus on enforcement, which is something the administration is responsible for. And we on the council can kind of watch and monitor and hopefully apply some pressure so that we enforce the ordinances in a time and effective manner.

Meanwhile, Hontos says St. Cloud's changing demographics is a big issue.

That's really a big issue.  It's a social issue to sometimes it's hard to figure out where city government comes into play, and where it doesn't. But obviously it affects everybody, our school district, our quality of life, just us as people.

Hontos was first elected to the St. Cloud City Council in 2001.

St. Cloud City Council Candidate Abdi Daisaine
St. Cloud City Council Candidate Abdi Daisaine
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Abdi Daisaine
Daisaine says affordable housing is a challenge in the city.

That affects our seniors to lose their apartments because they can't afford their rent anymore. So I think that is a struggle.

Daisaine says he wants to focus on homelessness and poverty in the city.

But as you know we have a high poverty rate in St. Cloud, and homelessness. That's also one of my inspirations to run for city council.

Daisaine is a graduated of St. Cloud State University

WJON News left messages for candidate Ken Grinsell, but we did not hear back from him.

 

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