City Council Seats Determined by Mail-In Ballot

As of November 7th the positions on the City Council for two Alderman have been determined.

The position for Ward 1 was sought after by three candidates, incumbent William (Bill) Hicks, Warren Abrahamson and Jerry Roberts. Monday, November 20, at 2:30 p.m., there will be a canvassing of the votes. Hicks was declared the winner with the most votes, unofficially last Tuesday night.

Laura Pankratz was declared the Alderman for Ward 2 recently, by a resolution of acclamation in September, with the vacancy left by James Sintler, who decided not to run again.

Hicks said, "I am happy with the election results, I appreciate the people who voted for me; I will try to represent them all."

Asked if there were any changes he might see over the next year, or any items to focus on, he replied, "There are a lot of things we have to go over in the next year, but right now I can't think of anything pressing...but I am sure there will be something coming up."

"I would like to see us dissolve the wards and go to a City-wide election. Every time we vote, we represent everybody, so I think we should give them the opportunity to vote for whoever they want."

Hicks added, "We evaluate the structure of the City government every ten years; they get an outside committee that looks at what they think should happen."

"I just hope we do the right thing on every issue."

This is Laura Pankratz's first entry into City politics. She and her husband, Bill, are kept busy with their business, "Bill's Classic Auto Body," and she is the owner/manager of "Little Mutt Grooming Hut."

As a newcomer to the Council, she said, "I care about our community, and I think it is valuable to have people involved; in whatever capacity you can. If you can help with the food bank, do it. If you help donate time someplace, do it, I think it is important."

"Plus, I think it is important to know there's a lot of infrastructure things I see we are working on that I need to learn more about, which I don't know a lot about. Plus, we already have a lot of stuff built that we have to keep maintained."

As to tourism and travel, she said it is important. "I think it is big. I see it coming. We see a little bit more and more...we were out hunting this weekend and all we saw were Washington plates, there's a lot of hunting a lot going on here. I don't think it should be our only source, I think the farming and ranching, we really need that...they are the core of our community."

Responding to an inquiry about the issue of the lack of available individuals in the workforce, Pankratz replied, "I have been doing it. I have been helping my husband put grill guards in, windshields in, putting fenders on, tailgates on for the last four years...since our employees left and did other things– one opened their own business, one went to Burlington Northern. We are all struggling. And it's not one business – everyone is. I understand. But I am scared for our community because we don't have those people out there."

"But I am also scared for our community because I see the prices on homes out there. Minimum wage people cannot afford to live in a community where it takes one whole paycheck, between taxes, insurance...and have a family, it pretty well takes two people working to make it work. We need hands on people...give me some hands on people!"

Both Hicks and Pankratz will take the Oath of Office on December 26th, and take office on the first of January.