Motley City Council candidates share goals
Motley City Council and mayoral candidates were asked to submit a photo and reply to two questions: 1. Summarize your personal background and qualifications. 2. What will your top priority be if elected?
More can be learned from the candidates at the candidate forum on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the middle school school cafeteria.
Three people are running for two seats on the council. Hutchison and Yoder are both running for mayor
Nate Douglas
1. Nate Douglas, Motley
Anna Wayt (fiancée)
B.A.S.: International Studies, French Language (1997) University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Currently: CLC student
I’ve lived in Motley five years.
First time running for public office.
2. The biggest challenge facing the city is a council that doesn’t work together and fails to prioritize its ongoing problems such as roads and other infrastructures. At this point, I’m not concerned about raising taxes. This should be used as a last resort and something talked about in a public city hall meeting and decided as a group and maybe modeled similar to other progressive towns like Motley. We need to fix our roads. Especially out towards the rural areas of Motley. This is a large issue that really needs to be addressed on behalf of many people I have talked to in Motley. As far as the maintenance and snow plowing policies, they need to be reviewed by city council and changes should be discussed and voted on.
Robert Follis
1. Robert L. Follis, Motley
Spouse: Georgia Follis.
Five children; one, Robert, at home
University of MO Columbia B.S. Education. Many hours in several schools.
Retired, former police officer, 20 years Army National Guard and part-time teacher
Lived in the city for six years.
Belong to American Legion 124 and its Honor Guard.
Work for Second Harvest Food Bank, Brainerd.
Ran for Mayor of Motley in 2014.
Can be reached at 218-352-6026
2. The council must first find out by whatever means what the people of Motley want them to do and then do it. This could be accomplished by surveys, meetings or telephone and online. Then they must strive to accomplish the most important things first. We must seek out new businesses to draw new people to the town. Then we have to provide new housing and services from the city which will both improve the tax base. We need to realize that the best thing we have in our favor is our location and use that to our advantage.
If we are to accomplish the above, we will have to seek funding from outside sources, and that will require those of us on the council to do what we are paid to do for the city. Sewer and water services will have to be expanded with the development. The street and plowing programs will have to be done by the people we pay to do them. It is up to the council to assist them by providing the support and finances for them to do the job.
We have an excellent police chief, and we must support him, and give him the tools to do his job. This also applies to the fire department.
Amy Hutchison
1. My name is Amy (Wille) Hutchison. I’ve been a member of the Motley City Council since 2013, and a member of Planning and Zoning Commission since 2012. I have an AAS Degree in Accounting, and soon (December ’16) AAS Degree in Business Management. I’ve worked at Manion Lumber & Truss as the Office Manager for the past 16 years. I do everything from; day-to-day accounting, payroll, human resources, preparing financial documents, audits and much more. I understand financial limitations both in business and personal life and I always take that into consideration when making decisions.
2. Community Matters.That’s my approach for this election. If you ask anyone why they live in Motley most will say it’s the small town close knit feel. It was that small town feel and reasonable home prices that brought me to Motley fifteen years ago. I plan to remove the black cloud that hangs over Motley by focusing on community. We have countless FREE community activities that are under-utilized within the city. Thanks to the Lion’s Club we have an ice skating rink and warming house that we can highlight by having late night skating parties and a sledding hill to do the same. Motley has Converse Park that can hold community activities, games, movie nights and countless other options. I want to take advantage of holidays like Halloween and make a haunted forest or park, activities that will get Motley noticed in a positive manner. I don’t plan to leave out our older residents either, I recently lost my grandmother and I miss her dearly, I miss baking cookies with her, teaching me how to can and make jam. We need to focus on that connection with our roots using positive mentors within our community.
Steve Johnson
1. I’m Steve Johnson. I’ve been happily married to Paula for 27 years. We have five children and five grandchildren. After high school I attended Dunwoody Institute (architectural drafting and building construction) and Central Lakes College (marine and small engine repair). Before retiring I owned five bakeries and employed 32 people. I’ve resided in Motley for 16 years. Soon after arriving in Motley I began attending City Council meetings. I was interested in Motley - its people, goals, businesses, etc. After a few years of regular attendance as a spectator, I was fortunate to become a council member. I’m very dedicated to making Motley a great place to live.
2. Top priority:
The last two years has been stressful for me and, I’m sure, the people of Motley. Hiring and firing attorneys, ousting the city clerk and (last year) the entire police department quitting or leaving the area have been troubling. I’ve made adaptations over my lifetime but change for changes sake isn’t good. I truly care about our city. Strong personalities on the council have been detrimental to the council and its funcitoning. If elected I will work diligently to develop a more cooperative and harmonious council.
The City of Motley has a great police chief, Ron Smith, but he can’t do everything himself. I believe the council needs to address that problem by placing an ad for a full or part time police officer - whichever the residents, the chief and council deem fit. The safety of our residents is a priority issue for me.
Another priority of mine is to attract new businesses. We are in a great location with our highways. The Dollar General Store, a good opportunity, should attract other businesses. We have some great stores in Motley but people need more employment opportunities.
Al Yoder
1. My name is Al Yoder and I am running for Mayor of Motley. I live in Motley with my wife and children. I graduated from Central Lakes College and Hibbing Community College earning a degree in law enforcement. I’ve been working in law enforcement for over 13 years. I’m currently on the Motley City Council and I’m a member of the Planning and Zoning committee for the City of Motley. I served two years on the Motley Fair Board, six years on the Motley Fire Department and two years on the Hands of Hope Board of Directors.
2. Some of my top priorities are the safety of our businesses and our citizens. With the new General Dollar store being built, it will be very dangerous for children and citizens to walk to the store due to a lack of sidewalks in that area. Citizens will have to walk on Highway 10 next to heavy traffic. I want to look at extending the sidewalk from Eldredge St. east to Harrison St. east.
I would also like to assist and encourage our police department to keep drugs out of our city and getting them training and tools to keep our city drug free. I would like to take a good look at our industrial park and see if we can either make it more inviting for businesses or look at rezoning it so we can make better use of this property. I think it’s very important to get a second well drilled for a backup in case the old one quits working. This would ensure that our businesses and residents have plenty of water.
