One thing’s for sure.

Wednesday, February 21, 2001

One thing’s for sure. There are five very qualified candidates running in next Tuesday’s primary for the special election for a vacancy on the Mower County Board of Commissioners.

The five candidates come from a variety of backgrounds, but all have a strong desire to serve the residents of Austin who live in the county board’s Fifth District.

Dick Chaffee serves on the Austin City Council. Richard Lees serves on the Austin School Board. Garry Ellingson is a retired chief deputy in the county Sheriff’s Department. David Tschann is retired from the Austin Fire Department, and Donna Olson is active with the local unit of the League of Women Voters.

Gary Nemitz resigned his seat on the county board in late January for health reasons. That led to the scramble by candidates to seek the open seat.

During Monday night’s forum at KSMQ’s studios, the five candidates took on questions ranging from the county’s multipurpose building to the county’s reserves to flooding. All the answers given by the candidates were well thought out.

However, now the voters need to make a decision. Candidates expressed a concern that turnout will be low for Tuesday’s primary. Weather could play a big role in how many make it out to the polls. The primary will determine the top two vote-getters who will face off for the election on March 20.

Make a decision and then get out and vote on Tuesday. May the best candidates advance to the March 20 election.