Election 2020: Three Seek Two Openings on Rice City Council

RICE -- There are three people vying for two open positions on the Rice City Council.

Newcomers Michelle Jorgenson Keller and Adam Bourassa and incumbent Chris Scheel are all on the ballot this year.

Chris Scheel

Scheel grew up in the Rice area and continues to call the community home along side his wife and two sons. He has spent the last 8 years serving on the city council and continues to have a passion for helping people and the community he lives in. Scheel says he decided to seek re-election due to some unfinished business when it comes to road projects.

We have a lot of roads that are starting to crumble and we are at the point where we need to develop a road plan and start getting together a plan on how to fund that. Whether we fund that ourselves or work toward a bond to fix those roads.

Scheel says Rice has seen a boom in housing in recent years and they are committed to working with builders continue to grow the housing availability in the community.

Adam Bourassa

Bourassa has lived in Rice for about 9 years, along with is wife and four children. He says with the housing market taking off and the community growing, he would like to see some added amenities for families.

One of the great things would be some great parks and recreational activities as a lot of residents that live here are young families. It would also be great if the city could add more jobs to help attract more people to the community.

Bourassa has also spent the last 15 years working in municipal work throughout the state. He says Rice will has some difficult decisions when it comes to infrastructure and his experience in this field would be a valuable asset.

Michelle Jorgenson Keller declined to do an interview with WJON.

Emily Walters is also seeking re-election in a special election. She is running unopposed.

Mayor Brian Skroch is also running unopposed as he seeks re-election.