St. Cloud Mayor-Elect, Jake Anderson Ready to Serve

Jake Anderson was elected Mayor of St. Cloud Tuesday night.  He joined me on WJON today and says when he learned he was elected, he did a fist pump and admits he was a bit surprised.  This was not Anderson's first run at Mayor of St. Cloud.  He ran while in college in 2001 and lost.  That is similar to current Mayor, Dave Kleis, who ran while in college in 1989 and lost.

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Anderson explains all the hard work he's put in over the years has paid off.  He says he did a lot of door knocking over the past 4-5 months and believes he spent 5 times less money than his opponent, Mike Conway.  Anderson believes face to face interpersonal interaction is key to making connections with residents.  He is likely the tallest St. Cloud Mayor in the city's history, at 6 foot 8.  Mayor Kleis indicates the height of previous mayors isn't available in the city's documents.

Anderson's full time job is working in Information Technology with Stearns County.  He says he's not sure how this new job as Mayor will impact his current job so he plans on playing it by ear for the first 3 months.  Anderson says if he needs to modify his work schedule with Stearns County, he'll do that.  He says "I'm going into this with an open mind and will make the necessary adjustments".  Anderson says he has a pretty good idea of what he's getting himself into "which is both excited and terrifying."

Anderson plans on continuing the twice monthly radio town hall appearances on WJON Fridays from 8:10-8:50 a.m.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Jake Anderson, it is available below.