Four vie for vacant board seat

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Within a span of a 30-minute public hearing Monday night, four candidates threw their name into consideration for a vacant seat on the Nobles County Board of Commissioners.

The candidates include Gerald Mulder, Gene Foth, Mike Peil and Robert Demuth Jr.

Nobles County commissioners will take action to fill the seat, or decide on a special election, during their regularly scheduled board meeting at 9 a.m. today.

Both Mulder and Peil are former Nobles County commissioners, while Foth and Demuth were long-time businessmen in Worthington.

Mulder and Foth, both in attendance, offered their names for consideration and said they would not be interested in campaigning for a four-year term that would start in January.

“I think this is the best county in Minnesota,” said Mulder. “Agribusiness is a big part of Nobles County’s workforce.”

Having served as a county commissioner in the 1980s, Mulder said under his tenure the board lowered taxes by 6 percent in four years. He said he would like the opportunity to work with commissioners and see the city fathers work more closely with the county.

“I like to spend the taxpayers’ money like I spend my own — conservatively and very wisely,” Mulder said.

Gene Foth, who currently serves as coordinator of the Manna Food Pantry in Worthington, read a letter to commissioners stating his own interest in serving on the board.

“I would propose that you appoint me to this vacant post until the November election,” Foth said. “I have no interest in running for a four-year term.”

A long-time Worthington business owner, Foth said he has a lot of expertise in supervising budgets. He also said he would hate for the county to spend additional money for a special election.

“(My appointment) would give all candidates a level playing field and not show favoritism by the county board,” he added.

Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh offer Mike Peil’s nomination to fill the remainder of the seat.

“Mike is a former county commissioner. He said he would not run for a full term, but said he would fill out the remainder of the year,” said Oberloh.

Peil was unable to attend Monday night’s meeting, citing a family obligation in a letter he submitted to County Administrator Mel Ruppert. In the letter, Peil reiterated his disinterest in campaigning for the four-year term.

In addition to Peil’s letter, Ruppert received two letters of recommendation for Demuth to fill the remainder of the term — from Worthington businessman Jason Vote and Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. manager Glenn Thuringer.

Demuth Jr., who was at the meeting, said he sought the letters of recommendation not knowing there was interest in filling out the remainder of the term.

“I will aggressively seek election at general election time,” Demuth told commissioners. As a result, he said he would “go along with” the comments made to endorse someone who is willing to fill out the remainder of the term without seeking election to the four-year post.

In addition to accepting nominations, the commissioners received several requests from the nearly one dozen attendees to move ahead with an appointment, rather than spend the estimated $10,000 on a special election to fill the remaining eight months of the seat.

“I’d just like to support making a decision to appoint, as opposed to a special election,” said Worthington Alderman Ron Wood, encouraging the board to consider candidates who vowed they would not seek election to a four-year term on the board.

Qualifications to serve as commissioner include being a resident of District IV for at least 30 days prior to taking office and being age 21 or older.

In response to a question by Bob Benson regarding the wages and qualifications of a commissioner, board members spoke of the work that goes into doing their job. Each commissioner serves on more than 20 committees, in addition to their responsibilities on the board.

Commissioners receive a base salary of $17,000 per year.

“If anyone ever took this job for the money, they’d go broke,” said Commissioner Diane Thier. “We’re the third-lowest paid in Minnesota.”

The District IV seat on the Nobles County Board has been vacant since April 1 following the announced retirement of Commissioner Norm Gallagher due to health reasons. Gallagher had served as commissioner for 10 years.

Following public testimony, Commissioner David Benson said, “We’re fortunate to have one of the best problems — we’re faced with a number of good candidates.”

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