Mayoral candidates meet with Chamber members for lunch

With the primary election for the position of Malta's new Mayor just a few weeks away, three candidates for the mayor's seat met with members of the Malta Area Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday to discuss why they are running and what they foresee in the City's future.

Kathleen Bohn-Bagley, John Demarais, and Gary Knudsen met with about a dozen Malta citizens and Chamber members including Chamber President Travis Rhoads and Executive Director Dina Meneely (Malta mayoral candidates Edward A. Haver IV, and Chris Judd were unable to attend the luncheon due to prior obligations.)

In late July, the City of Malta announced that a primary election (mail in ballot only) would be held to determine two candidates for mayor after the five candidates filed for the election. The Primary election will be held on Tuesday, September 12 ahead of the Municipal General Election to be held on November 7, 2017. Malta Mayor Shyla Jones announced that she was not going to run for re-election earlier this year after nearly eight years in the position. The Municipal Primary Election will be conducted by mail only, no polls will be open and ballots will be mailed August 23, 2017, to all City of Malta active voters. Next week's August 30 edition of the Phillips County News will include a feature story in which each of the five candidates will be given the opportunity to answer the same five questions in their own words.

At the Tuesday Chamber meeting, candidates started the lunch session with a brief history about themselves and why they are running for office.

Knudsen said he graduated from Malta High School and after graduating from college, moved back to the Malta area where he farmed for many years before becoming a house appraiser. He said his father had always wanted to run for office and inspired him to run for the position of Mayor. He said he doesn't really have any major changes in mind if he were elected, but rather he would want to meet with boards and committees to figure out what is best for the City of Malta.

Demarais said he is semi-retired after working 30-years for the City and he is running for the office of mayor following several residents in the town asking him to do so. He added that he hopes to keep the city running smoothly and keep the council aware of all the things going on in town.

Bohn-Bagley said she moved to Phillips County about seven years ago and prior to coming to Malta had mostly been involved in administrative work and in the art world. She said a few reasons she is running for mayor include community development and assessing community needs.

The question of what each candidate felt their most valuable asset was asked and the query which followed was what each of them would do during their first minutes as mayor?

Demarais said the experience and knowledge he gained while working for the City of Malta for 30-years is his most valuable asset as far as potentially being mayor. He said the first 16-years on the job were spent on the City Crew doing maintenance and the final 14 were spent in administration where he helped with budgets and running departments (including sewer, solid waste disposal, the Municipal Pool and Animal Control) while he was Public Works Director. He said the first minute as mayor would be spent saying a prayer and asking for help.

Knudsen agreed with the prayer during the first minutes and added he would smile before looking at a bunch of faces of people dedicated to the City of Malta's best interests. Knudsen said that he believes some of his most valuable assets include his experience working on his farm where he handled the budgets, adding that he has been attending recent budget meetings held by the City.

Bohn-Bagley said her biggest asset is the experiences she has had in different communities and with Malta, she was able to see her new surroundings with an outsider's perspective and asked herself what the community's needs are and how she could become an asset to the community. Bohn-Bagley said that her ability to look at the big picture and work with many different people and organizations would also help her with the job of mayor. If elected, Bohn-Bagley said that her first minute as mayor would include her daily conversation with God and talking with as many elected officials and department heads as possible and to look toward to the future.

The candidates spent the better part of 40 minutes answering questions during the Tuesday meeting.