Three candidates are seeking election to two open seats on the Hills City Council in the Nov. 5 general elections.
Both seats are four-year terms.
Current council member Ross Metzger is not seeking re-election.
Council member Alan Leenderts, who is filling the unexpired term of Stacen Burgers, is also not seeking election to the council.
Filing for the council positions are Joseph Streeter, Dusty Seachris and David Buchholz.
The Star Herald asked the three candidates to respond to three questions, each limited to 250 words.
The questions included:
1.) Why are you seeking election to the Hills City Council?
2.) What experiences and/or leadership skills will you bring to the council that best fulfills the position?
3.) What challenges and/or issues do you see in your community and what actions will you propose to overcome these challenges?
Joseph Streeter
Joseph Streeter grew up in Hills and has lived in the community since age 7.
He’s married to Jessica, an in-home child care provider, and the couple has a 2-year-old son, Crew.
Streeter serves on the Hills Area Fire Department, is president of the Helping Build Communities Stronger committee, and “helps out the town with anything that needs to be done.” He works full time at Old Dominion Freight Line and also farms.
1.) I, Joseph Streeter, am seeking election to the Hills City Council because we need a change in our town to better the community.
2.) The type of leadership skills that the council needs that I can bring are new ideas to help better our town. Be an active listener and provide feedback to the people. From my experiences, I like to problem solve and figure out solutions for the problems.
3.) The biggest challenge in the community is that we don't have good communication with the people of Hills. We need to actively listen to their concerns and ideas and bring it up at the council meetings, and then relay the minutes to the people.
Dusty Seachris
My name is Dusty Seachris. I have lived in Hills for about 25 years with the exception of a couple years in Luverne. I attended H-BC and graduated in 2003.
I live here with my wife, Missy, and two kids, Remington (age 10) and Talia (6).
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. We as a community and city have made a lot of progress in the last two years, and I’m excited to help further make more progress.
2. Being an outdoorsman myself, I have much knowledge of the outdoor activities in our area and many ideas to make them more accessible and enjoyable for our community. Having a family with children in the community definitely helps you realize what things we can or should do better or different to help them have a safe, fun experience all around.
I have volunteered many hours helping our youth sports teams not only learn to play the sport, but also lean toward helping them become better people in general.
I've coached youth baseball, wrestling, and soon to be this fall, basketball. I've enjoyed every minute of helping our kids become better players, friends and community members. I am currently serving as chair of the deacon board at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Helping the community where I can has definitely been an enjoyment, and I plan to continue to do so as long as I’m able.
3. Hills has many assets and areas that make the town a great destination for families local and from afar. I believe we can expand on those areas, such as the city park, The Rez and hopefully figure out some new areas to work on as far as bringing in more businesses and other community opportunities.
David Buchholz
David Buchholz has lived in Hills for eight years, six of those married to his wife, Rebecca.
The couple has a very energetic son, Logan, along with a dog, Nikko, and a cat, Juneau.
1.) I’d like to be more involved with my community. I’ve always been interested in city government and this would be a great way to learn more about Hills.
2.) I have over 20 years in the customer service industry and have experience in handling difficult situations as well as understanding and working with a variety of people.
Training individuals, creating training material and assisting in leading meetings will help with fulfilling the duties of being a council member.
3.) I would like to learn more about the challenges that Hills is facing to help come up with viable solutions and continue to make it a great community to live in.
