St. Cloud’s Longest Serving Mayor Kleis Will Not Seek Re-election

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- St. Cloud's longest-serving mayor is calling it a career.

Dave Kleis has announced he will not be seeking re-election this fall ending a nearly 20-year run as the city's top official. Sixty-year-old Kleis was first elected back in November of 2005. He was re-elected to four-year terms in 2008, 2012, 2016, and most recently to his fifth term in 2020.

During his time in office, Kleis has become known for his weekly Town Hall meetings and for transforming the job from a part-time position into a full-time job.

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St. Cloud is one of four cities in Minnesota with a strong mayor system.  The other three are Duluth, Minneapolis, and St. Paul.

He says he's announcing his decision now to give potential candidates time to consider running.

I'm announcing now because I know a lot of people are considering doing that, in fact, I've talked to at least four or five individuals that are going to be running for mayor and I really think that's a great opportunity for them and I think its a great opportunity for the voters to make that decision as to who should lead this city.

Before becoming mayor, Kleis spent 10 years in the State Legislature, he was a State Senator representing St. Cloud from 1995 to 2005.

The candidate filing period for local elections with a primary is from May 21st through June 4th for anyone who wants to run to become St. Cloud's next mayor.  If three or more people file, there will have to be a primary election in August to narrow the field down to two for the general election in November.

Former St. Joseph City Council member Anne Buckvold has already announced her intention to file once the filing period opens.

Kleis will be St. Cloud's mayor until early January 2025, when the new mayor is sworn in.

According to the city charter, the position of mayor has a salary of $50,000 and has full benefits.  It also comes with an automobile allowance of $420 a month.

The city's three At-Large city council positions will also be up for election this fall.  However, during his Friday morning news conference, Kleis also proposed eliminating the three at-large seats and switching to all wards, so under his proposal, there would be seven wards instead of the current four wards and three at-large positions. Changing the wards cannot happen until after the next census.

He also wants the city elections to go back to odd-numbered years, opposite of the statewide and presidential year elections, so the focus can be on the local races. The Charter Commission in the City Council can change election years.

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