St. Cloud City Council Candidates: Ric Studer

ST. CLOUD -- We have been hearing this week from the three candidates running for St. Cloud City Council in Ward 2. Today it is Ric Studer.

He was born and raised in St. Cloud and returned home after being gone for several years. He had an unsuccessful bid for St. Cloud School Board two years ago.

He says he's running for city council because he feels it needs fresh voices. His top issue is the lack of affordable housing in town.

So I'm really looking to work with developers for some sort of incentives to build low income and entry-level housing so that people can bring themselves up out of poverty.  So many people complain that people are in poverty and that they suck off the government.  They need an opportunity to move up.

Studer says he'd also like to see more development in Ward 2, including along East St. Germain Street and Highway 10.

He says he's running on a "care" agenda.

Child care, health care, elder care, caring about each other and our community.  I think that the politics of division don't work any longer and we need to move away from them.

Studer says there are a lot of good things happening in St. Cloud, including all of the beautiful parks in Ward 2 alone -- which is the east side of town. But, he says he would like to see a pedestrian bridge installed over Kilian Boulevard near Clemens Gardens.

Studer is facing incumbent Steve Laraway and Liz Baklaich in the August 14th primary election, with the top two advancing to the general election in November.