With St. Cloud Mayor Nathan Blackwell serving his charter-based maximum of two terms, the city will elect a new mayor this year. Three candidates believe they have what it takes to be the type of mayor their growing city needs.
Tony Busby, Chris Robertson and Adam Wagner will face off in the Aug. 20 primary election. If none of the three earn 50% plus one vote of the tally, the top two vote-getters will move on to a Nov. 5 runoff during the general election.
Busby, an Armed Forces veteran and insurance company owner who has run for St. Cloud City Council in the past, makes his first run for mayor. He said his main goal would be to improve the economic development in the city.
“I wanted to be able to help our economic development by bringing in new business, while supporting business that’s already here,” said Busby. “In order to do that, we have to make the city business friendly, which it’s very hard to open a business in this town currently.
“By bringing in new businesses, which creates jobs, it creates that additional income going into the city to help with infrastructure and public safety needs because in order to have a healthy tax base 75 percent of your taxes should come from your commercial sector,” he said. “In order to accomplish that, you need to be between 25 and 35 percent commercial geographically and St Cloud is hovering around 10 percent.”
Busby said if he becomes mayor, his goal is to raise St. Cloud commercial geographically to 20% his first four years and then 30% by his second four years.
Robertson said his experience in the economic development of the city will aid him in his run. He said one of the issues he’s facing off against is our city’s growing population.
“My fight to help save this city has never stopped as this isn’t my first time running (he ran against Blackwell in 2020),” said Robertson. “I believe that our city has not addressed the needs of the people. As our population has grown, so do our cities and issues. I’d like to be a voice for the citizens.
This will be Wagner’s first time running. The 10th Street Deli owner and member of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board said although he has no political background he still wants to learn as much as he can to help the city.
“I have a great relationship with the city staff, and they’ve all approached me last year and thought I’d be an excellent candidate for it,” said Wagner. “I never really been in politics before, so I said, ‘You know what, I can run it like a business,’ and I think that’s how it should be. I think I can make a positive difference.”
He said he can help answer for city’s 67,000 residents by making good decisions for the long term.
“Currently, I’m a manager over the VFW, and I see a lot of mental health within veterans,” said Wagner. “I’m interested in looking to get some grants and bring different programs here.”