Mayor (seat 1) Borders/Fertic

Mayor Rebecca Borders is running for her second term against former councilman and deputy mayor Jarom Fertic.

Borders is looking to continue work on programs that will promote the city as a destination to both tourists and businesses.

She’s working with the Department of Transportation and the St. Cloud Greater Chamber of Commerce to post signage informing travellers when they enter the city and steering them toward downtown.

Additionally, Borders wants to continue to promote St. Cloud in Lake Nona and to employees in Medical City to visit the city and choose to live there.

But we believe gambling that promoting the downtown and establishing a link to Medical City is going to pay off is not solid leadership.

Fertic is calling for “common-sense growth” with a focus on industries the area is already known for such as agriculture.

He’d like to see a technical school built in St. Cloud that offers degrees in agriculture, technology and medicine. That’s a bold idea.

Plus, when Fertic, a former city councilman, was on the dais, he often questioned city staff recommendations on certain items during meetings. Borders often just tows the line. That was last seen in September, when she initially refused to align with the majority of the council to remove funds from the city’s saving account to hire three firefighters after the St. Cloud Fire Rescue chief and the St. Cloud Professional Fire Union contended the fire department was understaffed by nine firefighters.

The News-Gazette endorses Jarom Fertic for St. Cloud mayor.

Seat 2: Reinhart/Caswell

One of the seat 2 candidates – Jeff Reinhart, a contracting consultant, bar owner and daycare investor, and Ron Caswell, a recently retired St. Cloud police officer – will replace long-time Councilman Tom Griffin, who dropped out of the race to focus more on his private business.

Both Reinhart and Caswell are running on platforms of smaller government while promoting business growth.

But we believe Caswell, who came from city government, knows better the inner workings of the city and where to cut the fat.

Caswell said the city throws up too many roadblocks in the face of new businesses and wants to see chain restaurants and big box stores as anchors to small businesses to keep residents employed and spending money in the city. We believe that’s a solid business plan.

Reinhart, who owns the downtown business Soldier City Saloon, wants to cut regulations on small businesses and eliminate impact fees. But we believe he doesn’t have a plan where the city would find the revenue to replace impact fees. And we fear he’s running more for to represent the business community than for the entire community itself.

The News-Gazette endorses Ron Caswell for seat 2.

Seat 3: Holmes/Polachek/Jones

The candidates vying for seat 3 are incumbent Russell Holmes, local business owner and former councilman Jay Polachek and recently retired St. Cloud building maintenance supervisor Cecil “Pete” Jones.

Holmes is proud of ideas he had such as the city trucking its own garbage and implementing the recycling program, both of which is providing revenue for the St. Cloud, and wants to continue working toward starting programs that keeps the city’s taxes low.

That leadership speaks volumes and is worthy of re-election

Polachek ran for mayor against Borders two years ago and lost. Unfortunately, we believe the voters have already spoken when he lost the election to Borders.

Jones said he is running as the “watchdog over the budget” because he knows the inner workings of the city after 20 years of employment.

That’s admirable, but we don’t think it’s a strong enough argument to unseat Holmes.

The News-Gazette endorses Russell Holmes for St. Cloud City Council seat 3.

The general election is Nov. 6.