Skip to main content

Five candidates seek election to two open seats on Hills City Council

Lead Summary
, ,
By
Mavis Fodness

Two seats are up for election Nov. 8 on the Hills City Council.
Incumbents Alan Leenderts and Vickie Busswitz filed for re-election to the four-year seats. They are challenged by Brian Kraayenhof, Cory Metzger and Dusty Seachris.
The Star Herald recently sent questionnaires to the candidates asking two questions:
1.) Why did you run for or seek re-election to a position on the Hills City Council?
2.) List experiences that will be helpful in fulfilling the position’s duties.
3.) What do you think are the primary challenges facing your community and how will you lead your city through these challenges?
Following are their responses, which have been edited for spelling and grammar:
 
Vickie Busswitz
Busswitz is seeking re-election to the Hills City Council. She and her husband, Cory, have lived in Hills for 17 years. The couple has two sons who attend Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary School.
1. I am seeking re-election on the city council because I am passionate about keeping our smalltown values, along with utilizing Hills’ other assets of our high quality school system, Hills Rez Park, city park and ball fields, and a sense of pride in our town.
2. I am the current president of the Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary PTO and previous secretary. I am also a member of the Luverne Area Community Foundation — Hills Grant Fund and have been on the city council since 2018.
3. I feel our current challenges are child care and housing. We need additional child care to keep young families staying in our community as well as bringing new families into Hills. There is work happening, but more will need to be done at all younger age levels. Limited housing opportunities cause us to be overlooked. Homeownership has shown to strengthen communities, foster civic pride and help to enable a stable living environment. To enhance growth here in town, we need to invest public and private funds into existing homes and land to provide quality homes for all generations.
 
Alan Leenderts
Leenderts is seeking re-election to the Hills City Council, a position he’s held for 16 years. Leenderts has lived in Hills for 45 years. He and his wife, Bonnie, have three grown children and six grandchildren.
1. I am seeking re-election to the Hills City Council to maintain our low tax base and still maintain the service the city of Hills needs to provide. I would also like to follow through with several projects the city is currently involved in: The day care facility in which we are giving three individuals the opportunity to start their own business — day care has become a need in town — and be involved in the process of maintaining our aging infrastructure.
2. I have been a small business owner for 30 years and involved in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church as trustee, vice president and soon to start my second term as president of our congregation.
3. Challenges include keeping taxes affordable with the rising cost of services — every year the cost of police protection was a big increase we are dealing with. We need to find a way to recruit business to Main Street — bring a convenience store to town.
All of these challenges are going to be made easier if we can increase our tax base, which is done by adding business and housing. It is always an ongoing discussion on how to do this. We started this year by providing an opportunity on Main Street with the day care facility.
Infrastructure is budgeted every year and will continue if I am re-elected. Hills is basically land-locked for huge expansion projects, but we will continue to investigate opportunities that come our way. If I am re-elected, I will continue to serve the city to the best of my abilities.
 
Brian Kraayenhof
Kraayenhof is challenging for one of two seats up for election on the Hills City Council. He has lived in Hills for 20-plus years. He is married to Darla (Haak), who was born and raised in Hills.
1. The reasons why I am running for city council is because there is a need to let the residents know what the city council discusses at their meetings. Since the loss of the Hills Crescent, public knowledge of what is discussed is not easily accessible. I would like to get the information out to the public as it should be.
I would also like to see if there is a way to improve not only the first impression of Hills but to clean up some of the run-down properties, look at options to improve the Rez and the city park so people will use it and enjoy them more. I would also like to attract a store to carry convenience items because during the day, after school, and after events there is no place in town for the public to go. I would listen to the public and welcome their input on matters that Hills faces.
2. I am a retired member of the Hills Fire Department, worked as a new construction plumber and is currently the maintenance supervisor at the Tuff Memorial Home for the past six years. I have also served on his church’s consistory for nine years.
3. The toughest challenges will be to improve and keep Hills a good community that people will be proud to live in.
 
Dusty Seachris
Seachris is challenging for one of two seats available on the Hills City Council. He and his wife, Missy, have an 8-year-old son, Remington, and a 4-year-old daughter, Talia. Both Seachris and Missy are graduates of Hills-Beaver Creek High School. He grew up in Beaver Creek and has lived in Hills since 2003, with a few years in Luverne in between.
1. I have decided to run for city council because I believe the people of the community are in need of more outdoor recreation opportunities for the youth and adults as well.
2. Being an avid outdoorsman, I have vast knowledge of the outdoor activities in our area and many ideas to make them more accessible and enjoyable for our community. I have a lot of support from members of the community to make plans to improve both the city park and the Rez park to allow both young kids and adults more opportunities to utilize the resources we already have.
3. Hills has many assets that attract people from around the area to come and visit. I believe we can use that and build on it as well to make it even better. Many of the families in Hills have great ideas for what can be done by our city officials, and I would be honored to be able to talk to everyone, get their ideas, and be part of making good things happen!
 
Cory Metzger
Metzger is running for one of two seats up for election on the Hills City Council. Metzger grew up on the farm three miles southwest of Hills and have lived in town for three years. He and his wife, Ashley, have a 7-year-old daughter, Chloe.
1. I am running for council because my wife and I see ourselves growing old in Hills, and I am a prideful person and take pride in our town and want to be a part of taking care of it and helping it grow. The more I observe Hills, the more I notice it is far from the town I remember as a kid, fewer businesses, houses and yards not being taken care of very well. That inspired me to try and help make some changes.
2. My former military experience and my current career have made me an open-minded person who loves hearing ideas and taking suggestions. I feel I am a people’s person who is very approachable. I also like to do my research when it comes to anything. I feel not being too proud to ask for help or even reach out to other towns for advice or suggestions is a key for any council member.
3. Some of the larger challenges facing our city I feel are how and where do we grow? How do we attract businesses and good, blue-collar families to move to Hills? How do we inspire the citizens of Hills to take more pride in their houses, yards and in the town? I have no answers on how I would go about addressing these challenges at this very moment as I would need to be on the council, get the lay of the land, see if these issues are already something they are looking into or not, and what I need to do to get the ball rolling. However, these are the things on the top of my personal list and would be my top priorities.
Hills is a great place to live. We have a great community of caring people for the most part that come together when needed. We need to keep that going and even take it further. We need people to buy into our community and to be on the fire department, other committees and groups that are for Hills not because they have to but because they want to, because they care. Like the old saying goes, “It takes a village.”
I want the best for this town and its people and would do everything I can to help. Serving on the city council just might be the best place to start.

You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.