St. Cloud Ward 1 Race Features Incumbent Masters Against New Challenger

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The four ward seats on the St. Cloud City Council are up for election this year.

In Ward 1, incumbent Dave Masters is seeking re-election. He's been on the council for 19 years. He's lived in St. Cloud his whole life. He's spent 48 years teaching, most of that at Tech High School.

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Masters says that, as a council member, he has extensive experience serving on other boards and committees, including the HRA, EDA, Joint Cities, Library, Metro Bus, and YMCA.

He says, if he's re-elected, he'd like to continue to work with St. Cloud State University, which is in his ward.

Now that St. Cloud State is going through some transition, I want to continue to support them and work with them to find ways in which we can partner to make that maybe a better institution and find solutions.  There's also the beautification of 5th Avenue coming up, and I think that will be instrumental in helping to revitalize that area.

Masters says the state bonding money to redo 5th Avenue and extend the riverwalk are projects he's looking forward to working on in his next term, if he gets re-elected.

It will come before the city council for approval.  The designs, the layout, that's all being done right now working on finalizing that before construction starts next year.  Also, the riverwalk is another one that is getting funding.  That will continue from behind the convention center to the hospital.

Masters says helping to revitalize the downtown is also a focus for him.

Masters says St. Cloud has a lot going for it because it is centrally located and is a regional hub.  He says the city's diversity brings a lot of culture to the community.  The arts and entertainment downtown are also positive amenities.

Masters is being challenged by Charlie Hobbs. We'll hear from him in our newscasts Tuesday.