The Carroll Chamber of Commerce and Carroll Area Development Corporation (CADC) will be hosting a candidate forum this Wednesday evening, giving all city council and mayoral candidates the opportunity to answer questions from constituents. In preparation for the upcoming Nov. 2 election, City Manager, Mike Pogge-Weaver, says he has been in contact with all of the candidates.
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Pogge-Weaver adds whoever wins the seats on this year’s ballot will be jumping into the budgeting process right away, with the first council meeting of January 2022 including presentation of the budget book for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. He has taken the opportunity to seek more detailed information from the candidates.
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He adds that one of the duties of a city manager is development of that budget under the direction of the council. There are two incumbents who are not seeking re-election, one is Ward One council member, Mike Kots, and the other is Mayor, Dr. Eric Jensen. The mayor does not hold a voting position and is only called in to break a tie in specific instances. Current council member, Jerry Fleshner, is not running for reelection, but is instead running for the mayoral position against former county supervisor but newcomer to city politics, Mark Beardmore. Pogge-Weaver says the unique personalities and viewpoints of each mayor will drive what information staff is asked to bring to that table.
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Other candidates include Tom Bordenaro and Jay Norgaard for the Ward One seat, incumbent Clay Haley and Kyle Bauer for the Ward Three seat and JJ Schreck who is running for an at-large seat being vacated by Fleshner. Wednesday’s city candidate forum will held at the Gene Vincent Auditorium in the Carroll High School and will be aired live on 1380 KCIM and 95.1 FM for those in Carroll. It will also be livestreamed on the KCIM Facebook page.