Published: October 29, 2009 09:42 am      

Welton election draws newcomers

WELTON — Three newcomers are on the ballot for Welton offices in next Tuesday’s balloting. They are Casey Hootman and Jon Marlowe, running for mayor, and Leann Larsen, seeking a seat on the city council.

Here are their election statements:

Casey Hootman: “I have lived in Welton a bit over four years now. I have been employed as a computer tech/network administrator for more than six years.

“I’d like to be mayor of Welton because I am of the mind that serving and representing the community is an honor. I don’t think Welton needs any major changes. In those regards I think I’m the best candidate.

“The main issue I’d like to address if elected is restoring strained relationships between various organizations, businesses and individuals that deal with the city or help keep the town running. I’d also like to focus on keeping infrastructure up and refilling our reserve funds, while working to keep costs and taxes down.

“The only way I can think of accomplishing that is by watching expenditures, but all that is up to the council. The weather and economy have been interesting lately, and I don’t think that city finances need to be.

“The past two years have been unnecessarily drama-filled in my opinion, but we made it. A school was demolished, but across the street a fire station was built. We had some tense moments during the water project, and a rather unexpected city audit. But now we have a great water system that took years of work by a lot of people finally came to a close.

“Is Welton better than it used to be? I don’t know the answer to that, but I’m sure as shootin’ that my water pressure is.

“I am a member of the Welton Volunteer Fire Department.”

Janet Huffman: “I have been mayor for one two-year term. I have lived in Welton for more than 33 years. I am a retired teacher for the Central Community School District.

“I would like to continue providing open communications to the community and continue with projects that need to be done, such as updating the sewer lagoon, which is mandated by the DNR.

“I was instrumental in getting a $25,000 gaming grant for the water project and a $1,000 grant to upgrade the park. I would attempt to find funds to update the sewer lagoon without increasing the sewer rate and I would seek more grant money to renovate the old school art building into a community center.”

Jon Marlowe: “I have lived in Welton for 10 years. I live with my 7-year-old son, Carter. I work in Welton at Midwest Machine for Julian Stahl. I run a water jet cutter.

“I am running for mayor because I have lived here for 10 years and thought I should be helping out in the community more. I am fair and honest and easily approachable.

“I would keep looking for grants to help lower the cost of the water bills.

“The last two years have been stressful for the town with the water project. Let’s make it a fun place to live again.

“I am not on the fire department.”

Leann Larsen is a newcomer seeking election to the five-member city council. Veteran members Glen Boswell and Billy Koranda are seeking re-election and Ken Mickey, also a long-time member, told the Clinton Herald he forgot to turn in his nomination papers but would accept write-in votes. Incumbents Ed Novak and Sandy Walker are not seeking reelection.

Here is Larsen’s statement:

“I am a 32-year resident of Welton. I am running to get away from ‘yes’ people who just seem to go along with the flow. They don’t really investigate what they’re doing before they jump on the bandwagon.

“Since we are long-time residents, we tend to know what the city needs. The ditches and the creek all need to be cleaned out. Every five years since we’ve lived here the water just backs right up and causes a lot of problems, not just for us but everybody else.

“Since we are in a flood plain, we ought to take every opportunity to clean that up. We need to find out where to find the funding, or which part of the state, county or city is doing the work.

“There are a lot of things that need to be done around here to make the city livable. I’m very positive these things can be done with a little cooperation on everybody’s part. But sometimes it just takes some new blood to give a little push. Hopefully I can make a difference.

“We had this city water system put in. We had a very hard time accepting it. A lot of people didn’t want it, but the DNR said we had to put it in. It started out at a very low cost, and then it went up to over $130 a month. This is more like a retirement town. They can’t afford these kinds of prices, but if you don’t pay two months in a row, they’ll shut your water off.

“I don’t think there was a lot of looking around for grant money, and what they did look for it wasn’t soon enough to get their name in the pot. They knew the deadlines were coming up and they let it go by.

“The engineers dragged their feet. They were the ones that decided how things were going to go, without any input whatsoever.

“My jobs have always been second and third shift, so I never had time to be involved. But I am laid off right now, so I have the time to dedicate to this. If I get a day job, or a job where I can take off the one Tuesday of the month, I’m looking forward to running for this and seeing what I can do to help out.”

Polls at the fire station will be open from noon until 8 p.m. A person who is eligible to vote but not yet registered, may register on election day by appearing in person at the polling place and completing a voter registration application, making a written oath and providing proof of identification and residence.