Wanted: Mayor and city council

[MinnesotaSoxFan]

By Chris Hubbuch Winona Daily News

 

 

The race is on, but no one's running.     

 

When Caledonia, MN voters go to the polls this November there will be no names next to the three local offices. Instead, they will have to write in their candidate of choice.

 

After 11 years as Caledonia's mayor — and four on the city council — Robert Burns, is ready to retire. Long days of construction work that run into long nights of city council meetings have become too tiring, Burns said.

 

In January, he announced his plan to step down at the end of his term. Council members John Klug and Mark Schiltz also decided not to run for re-election.

 

But when the Sept. 7 deadline passed, no one had signed up to run for the seat, nor for the two city council seats.

 

City clerk Robert Nelson was the first to notice the problem.

 

"It's an odd thing," Nelson said. "To the best of my recall, we've always had at least sufficient candidates. This time we got zero for three."

 

"To have one seat open is not unusual," said Shaun Denham of the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. "But three in one place is really rare." 

 

After Nelson brought the problem to the council's attention, the Caledonia Chamber of Commerce placed an ad in the local paper alerting people to the openings and urging them to run as write-in candidates.

 

Two have stepped forward for the city council seats: Bob Standish, a former Caledonia school board member, and Gary Klug, the younger brother of retiring councilman John Klug.

 

John Klug said he decided to step down after six years to devote time to his business and family. He also wanted to give someone else an opportunity to serve on the council.

 

Klug attributes the lack of candidates to a happy constituency.

 

"Things have been running pretty smoothly," he said, adding that the council should have done a better job of advertising the openings.

 

When no one filed, Klug said he talked to his brother about running.

 

"A lot of people are willing to talk the talk, but they're not willing to walk the walk," said Standish. "I've lived here 40 years, and if no one was willing to step up, I guess I should."

 

Now, Standish said, they just need to find a mayor.

 

Although the mayor's term expires at the end of the year, said Nelson, "the fine print says ‘or until a successor is in place.'"

 

The council could appoint a new mayor, but first they would need a willing volunteer.

 

So far no one has publicly declared an intention to run for mayor, but Burns said he had recently spoken to one person who was considering it.

 

"I said go for it—absolutely," Burns said. "I told him to get his ad in the paper next week."