Although the elections for the West End townships of Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder seem far away— Tuesday, March 13—there are actually some citizens voting now by absentee ballot. For that reason, the Cook County News-Herald sat down with Lutsen candidates for clerk and supervisor this week. Unlike Tofte and Schroeder, which have one person running for each vacancy, Lutsen has choices on the ballot.
Two people filed to run as town clerk—Silviyia Duclos and Gail Thompson will be on the ballot. Two people also filed to run for township supervisor—Alta McQuatters and Ginny Storlie, so their names are on the official ballot. Announcing on February 18 that he intended to run as a write-in candidate was Larry McNeally.
Below are a few questions for the candidates on issues facing Lutsen Township.
Lutsen Supervisor Candidates
Q. Would you please provide some biographical information about yourself?
Larry McNeally: I grew up in White Bear Lake and graduated from high school there. Ten years after graduating, I went to technical college and got a degree in robotics automation. I worked in Denver at Owens-Corning and at a boat dealership. I also worked in Utah, but the Big Lake kept calling me back. My parents have had a cabin in Hovland since I was six years old. We moved back here in 2004 and I worked as a tile setter for our company, Moose Company Tile. Since the economy tanked in 2008, I’ve been doing a little of everything—cleaning, lawn care, small engine and boat repair, as well as tile. I’ve been on the Lutsen Fire Department since 2006 and served during the Ham Lake wildfire. I’m also president of the Lutsen Trailbreakers.
Alta McQuatters: I was Lutsen town clerk for 18 years and a Lutsen First Responder for 14 years. I worked at the Lutsen Post Office for 14 years. I was a 4-H leader for 17 years and I am currently an AARP tax aide—a counselor, reviewer and local coordinator. I am on the Lutsen Cemetery Committee and I am currently working on the records of the Chippewa City Cemetery. I’m married and my two girls live in Lutsen. My son Clint and his wife, Sandy, own and operate Terra Bella Floral in Grand Marais
Ginny Storlie: I have always been interested in politics at the grass-roots level. This position is looked to as a community leader who is the recipient of ideas, suggestions and interests of the past, present, and future. As a board member, I bring experience in community affairs. I have served on the Birch Grove Foundation Board, as a member of the Tofte Historical Society Fishing Museum and I am currently a member of Friends of the Library. During my 25 years of living on the shore I have started four businesses in the West End, of which three are still active: Sawtooth Outfitters, Youth Hostel at Birch Grove School and Ginny’s Greens Consulting & Landscaping. I support business owners who make a difference and contribute to making a better community. I bring a view of civic responsibility, organizational skills and will make a contribution as a team player, hard worker and creative thinker.
Q. Do you agree that the fire hall/town hall building needs to be renovated and/or expanded?
McNeally: Yes! I totally agree. We’ve reached our capacity in our current building. It is time to look to the future. We need to plan now for the next 20 or 30 years. That’s the goal.
McQuatters: That is my soft spot. When you lose four siblings in a house fire, you always think—what if there was a fire department back then. I was on the board when we built the first fire hall. We were conservative, as we should have been, but now we need to grow. We need our fire equipment ready, not boxed in or sitting outside in the cold.
Storlie: I do think it needs to be expanded. There is a need for room for the fire equipment itself. And a little more room for meetings would be good. It appears we need to tweak some of the square footage down, but that is a normal part of the planning process.
Q. At the 2009 annual meeting, citizens voted to contribute $10,000 for maintenance/improvements to the Lutsen Town Cemetery. Do you think this is a good use of taxpayer dollars?
McNeally: I think it’s a worthy cause; a nice cemetery is important. But I do question the funding. I don’t believe it’s a town issue. The township does not own the cemetery.
McQuatters: I’m on that committee. We envisioned a space for the next 100 years, so with a lot of volunteer hours and items bought with said money, we now have a beautiful entrance sign, a bronze plaque telling the history of the cemetery and many more plots.
Storlie: Since I’m on that committee, yes. It’s lain dormant for many years and was in disrepair. We’ve worked hard on it for the last couple of years and I’m proud of the work we’ve done.
Q. In 2007 the township worked with the University of Minnesota’s Center For Changing Landscapes (CCL) to create a town plan, which was ultimately adopted by Cook County as part of its Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Do you think Lutsen has been following the town plan?
McNeally: No. It was actually hard to find a copy of the town plan, but I’ve reviewed it. It’s dependent on private property owners to implement. I think it has good potential, but it will take an effort to bring it to reality. We do need to look forward. Highway 61 is coming and we need to be ready, to figure out how we are going to incorporate the bike path and businesses along the highway. A lot of hard work went into the plan and we need to revisit it.
McQuatters: I think so. We need to keep our small town feeling. When I worked in "downtown" Lutsen, visitors would stop and ask “Where’s Lutsen?” When I told them they were in Lutsen. They would be pleased and they would say, “Don’t change a thing.”
Storlie: I think it would be a good idea to review the plan. I think everything was put on hold to see what MN/DOT was going to do with Highway 61. I know in working with MN/DOT as part of the Citizens Concerned for Highway 61 that MN/DOT wants to hear from communities. I think if we could get the biking trail finished to the ski hill, that would be good progress.
Q. What do you think is the biggest issue facing Lutsen right now?
McNeally: Tourism. We need to figure a way to bring in more people. We need to figure how to get them to come here, have a good time—to spend freely and want to come again. Let’s get ‘em to come back year after year and feel good about leaving their money here.
McQuatters: Definitely the fire hall.
Storlie: On the table right now, I would say the accomplishment of the fire hall renovation. That’s the main thing on the agenda.
Get out the Vote!
Lutsen Township
Annual Election of Town Officers
Tuesday, March 13, 2012.
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Lutsen Town Hall | 116 Caribou Trail | Lutsen, MN
Lutsen Clerk Candidates
Q. Would you please provide some biographical information about yourself?
Silviyia Duclos: I am from Bulgaria and most of my family still lives there. I make a point to go back there at least once a year and bring my husband and daughter with me, as family is very important to me and I am trying to raise my daughter bilingual. I have been married for six years. Our daughter is five years old. She is attending kindergarten at Sawtooth Mountain Elementary. My husband is a volunteer fire fighter and a first responder in Lutsen. I am a graduate of Economics University in Varna, Bulgaria. I currently work as a licensed real estate agent and marketing assistant at Timber Wolff Realty and as a dining room server at Lutsen Resort. I have worked as guest service representative at Lutsen Mountains Corporation. My goal is to become a CPA and I am preparing for the test.
I became a US citizen in April 2011.
Friends suggested I apply for the clerk position when Amity Goettl resigned in August 2011. I was appointed as a clerk in September 2011. I work closely with Amity Goettl (currently deputy clerk). She has been great in training me and helping me with resolving issues.
Gail Thompson: I am the daughter of Charles and Lucille Nelson of Lutsen. I was born and raised here. I attended Cook County schools and graduated in 1977. I attended St. Paul TVI and earned a degree in accounting in 1979. I lived most of my life in Red Wing, Minnesota.
My husband and three children chose to move back to Lutsen in October 2008. I currently work at Lutsen Resort in the housekeeping department.
What role do you think the clerk plays in the township?
Duclos: The clerk is an important piece of the township structure, as it connects the community, government agencies and the township board. I think that is the main role, other then standard organizational and clerk duties.
On a personal level, being the clerk is my way of contributing to the community. Being involved in projects improving the life in the community is very rewarding to me.
Thompson: I think the clerk’s role is very important. They have to keep accurate records and minutes—it’s important to record who says yea and who says nay. The clerk pays township bills and reconciles statements with the treasurer. There’s some secretarial work. I know it’s a lot of work. I went to school for accounting—I’ve always loved ledgers and pencils—but I can’t sit still for very long. So a part-time position like the clerk is great.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the township right now?
Duclos: The new fire hall building is the main challenge the board is facing right now. We are all learning in the process and dealing with timelines at the same time. Things are moving along and hopefully the outcome will be a brand new building with enough space for the fire department and bigger town hall meeting and event space.
Thompson: From what I can see, it’s definitely the fire hall and making sure that everyone comes to terms with it, that everyone has a chance to give input. A lot of dollars are involved and there will be a lot of planning—for now and even for future expansions. The board needs to make sure it does what is best for the entire town.
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