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closeWednesday, Aug. 05, 2009
OTHELLO MAYOR: 3 running to be Othello mayor
By Ingrid Stegemoeller, Herald staff writer
OTHELLO -- Three longtime Othello residents are vying to be the city's next mayor.
Each has been on the city council for several years and is passionate about the town and its community.
The position carries a four-year term and pays $500 per month.
The primary election is Aug. 18.
Eleanor Brodahl
Age: 54
Family: Married with a 34-year-old daughter.
Occupation: Financial services provider.
Why she's running: "I love this community," she said. "Because of the economic times that are going on right now ... we need to be fiscally conservative."
Brodahl, who's been on the city council for 14 years, also is an advocate of transparent politics and is looking forward to representing all segments of the community, she said.
"I also want the Latinos to become involved in the government process," she said. "If I could get elected, they would look and say ... we need to try. We need to step up."
Tim Wilson
Age: 54
Family: Married with a 33-year-old daughter, a 31-year-old son, a 29-year-old son and a 27-year-old daughter.
Occupation: Parts manager for Evergreen Implement
Why he's running: Continuing maintenance on city sewers, streets and water, attracting more tourism and supporting the police force are the three main issues he plans to focus on if elected mayor, said Wilson, who's in his eighth year on the council.
"We've been doing a lot of infrastructure maintenance. I believe we should continue doing that," he said. "I also believe we need to beautify Main Street with lamps, trees and benches."
Wilson also would like to see a person hired to coordinate tourism efforts and try to bring more sports tournaments to town.
"I believe we really need to support our police department," he said, adding he'd like to see a "strong stance" taken on the community's gang and drug issues.
More coordination with the school board -- likely requiring one entity to switch its meeting time since the groups meet the same day -- and continuing the city's conservative budget strategies also are important, Wilson said.
Kenneth R. Johnson
Age: 47
Family: Married with a 25-year-old son, a 24-year-old daughter, a 22-year old son and a 15-year-old daughter.
Occupation: Manager for Johnson's Glass & Doors.
Why he's running: Economic development is on top of Johnson's agenda, he said.
"The past couple of years we have had a very good working council," said Johnson, who is in his eighth year on the council. "We've all just pulled together in the last few years to get economic development going. I want to see that continue."
One goal is to expand natural gas service in the city to make it more industry-friendly, he said, so when the economy turns around Othello will be well-positioned for growth.
"I want to be ready and have our doors open," he said.
* Ingrid Stegemoeller: 509-582-1537; istegemoeller@tricityherald.com.
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