Three candidates go after two City Council spots

HARTINGTON — Those voting in the Hartington City Council race have three types of candidates to choose from: an incumbent, a newcomer and a write-in.

The top two vote-getters Nov. 8 will be seated on the council.

*** Cody Christensen Cody Christensen is the incumbent in the city council race and is currently finishing out his third term.

“That makes me the senior member, the one that’s supposed to know the most,” he said with a smile.

He said his 13 years on the council have been enjoyable and that’s one of the reasons he filed for re-election.

“It’s been interesting to learn the ins and outs of how government actually works,” Christensen said. “It’s been a good experience for me. I would say, about 98 percent enjoyable.”

Christensen, who co-owns the family business Christensen Well in Hartington, said a good council member has common sense and business savvy — traits that he possesses.

“Being in business, it really prepares you to be on the city council. The same type of decisions every day at the city council you’ll find at a place of business,” he said. “We are a small town and we need to stretch the dollars we have, just the same as you would at a business.”

Christensen said he doesn’t come into the council with a specific agenda.

“I like to address things as they come up and take it week by week, making the best decision as possible when presented to us,” he said.

He’s been married to Lori for 28 years and they have five children.

*** Clark Johnson Clark Johnson said if elected he will represent everyone’s views — not just those from a certain section of town.

“I don’t know if the whole town gets represented,” he said. “But I feel I want to represent everyone in town and try to represent them equally.”

He is the new candidate in the race for the city council and said he placed his name on the ballot to become more involved now that he’s retired.

“I just feel like I have time now to work on this,” he said.

Johnson worked at Jerry’s Service in Hartington his entire career and makes a home with his wife, Linda. Their kids are now grown.

“Hartington’s been our town most of our life,” he said, living in the area since 1984.

If elected, he would like to see the road to the sports complex paved.

“We invite people to town and then we make them take a gravel road into the complex,” he said. “I would like to study on that some more and like to see that happen.”

*** Colin Kathol The city council write-in candidate, Colin Kathol, is no stranger to public service. He served on the Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools Board of Education for 16 years and also the Regional Technical Education Center in Yankton, S.D., for 10 years.

“Since getting off the school board, I have been approached more times by some of the people in the community to run for city council, but wanted to take a break from serving on a board,” Kathol said. “I never gave it a lot of thought until I was asked again a few months ago. I guess they caught me in a weak moment and I said I would throw my name in the hat.”

Kathol said he has always appreciated the job of the city council members.

“I’ve always felt that we need to be a progressive town and agreed with the building of the sports complex, updating the parks, installing sidewalks and building the fire hall. Do I wish my taxes were lower? You bet,” he said. “Do I like it when I turn on my faucet that good clean drinking water comes out and that our sewer system works and my garbage gets hauled away? Absolutely. Would I rather live in a different town around here? Heck no. Hartington gets a lot of comments from outsiders on how nice the town looks and how many things it has to offer. I believe our city councils of the past and present deserve a lot of credit for this.” Kathol was born and raised in Bow Valley where his father owned a blacksmith shop.

“You might say this was our very own Tech School (BVU). It was in that shop where I learned my trade and the value of a hard-earned dollar,” he said.

He graduated from Cedar Catholic High School in 1979. He has been married to Monica for 28 years and they have five children.

Kathol has worked at Prince Manufacturing Corp. for 39 years, the last 10 years managing the Yankton, S.D., facility.

He said his management experience should carry weight with voters.

“I believe that my years of experience of managing people, listening to them, caring for them, putting myself in their shoes and trying to help make their lives better, but still having to make decisions for the good of the company so we all continue to get paychecks, puts me in a good position to help serve the people of Hartington and continue to move in a direction we can all be proud of,” Kathol said.