Where do the candidates stand: Dennison Mayor and City Council

There are four candidates running for seats on the Dennison City Council in 2024.

The candidates are vying to join the council include Jeffrey Flaten running unopposed to retain his mayoral seat, along with Vickie Kadrlik, Nichole Schloesser and Caleb Voight running for two council seats.

Voters will elect the candidates on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

The Northfield News asked the candidates where they stand on some important local topics and issues. Their responses are recorded here. Kadrlik did not respond before the publishing of this article.

How are you connected with and/or involved in the local community/communities you’d be covering, and/or what local government experience do you have?

Jeffrey Flaten

Age: 58

Occupation: Retired

Education: B.S from Winona State University

I have lived in the city of Dennison since 2011. I was first elected mayor in the fall of 2014.

Nichole Schloesser

Age: 50

Occupation: Teacher

Education: Masters Degree in Education, Minor in Coaching

I've been a Dennison resident for over 14 years. I've owned a business, volunteered at the local Dennison church, carved pumpkins with the kids, and baked/decorated cookies with those same kids at Christmas time. I also organized the youth in an effort to rake elderly adults' yards and arranged for teenagers to help with debris cleanup after storms. I’ve served on the council for over seven years. I have volunteered to read water meters and was involved in a citywide sump pump inspection. Once a year, we do citywide cleanup, and I help by unloading garbage from people’s vehicles.

Caleb Voight

Age: 23

Occupation: Architectural Drafter/Construction

Education: Associates degree in Architectural Technology (2022)

I built my own house in 2022 and have been a part of the community since then. I have been going to all the city council meetings in 2024 and volunteered at the Dennison Days. I have not served any local government positions, but I want to start my career in government by serving on the city council.

Why are you running, and what are the most significant issues and/or topics you want to address?

Flaten: I believe I'm the most qualified candidate for this position because of my experience in leading the city council for almost 10 years now. Through hard work and dedication, I helped secure funding to replace our aging lift station and force main. We still have more work to do. In the next year, the plan is to fix and maintain our city streets. Without doing this maintenance, we run the risk of spending even more money in the future by delaying this work. I hope by continuing to invest in our city roads and infrastructure, we will see future growth within the city.

Scholesser: I am running for city council as I am very committed to my community, how we grow, maintain the city improvements, and care for the people. Many people that have questions or concerns will already contact me, and I will do my best to address, answer questions or put on the agenda for the meeting. The biggest issue for the city is the improvements for the city sewer/water.

Voight: I want to run for city council because the city has some really important decisions to make this coming year and beyond. We need to address how we can expand our city more, but some issues with that is our sewer ponds are running at 95-100% capacity. The council has been working with an engineering firm on how to go about doing this and getting funding for it. Working with the firm and doing this with as little debt as possible will go a long way for this city and possibilities that were not available before can become an investment for the city.

What is your view of the current level of taxing by the city? What changes would you make?

Flaten: The Dennison City Council has been careful and frugal in how we have spent taxpayer dollars in the past. The goal is to keep the general levy increases in check. Because the City has just paid off bonds for the storm sewer/street paving project from over 20 years ago, we have the ability to hold down tax increases. In order to be competitive when it comes to taxes compared to our neighboring cities, we must continue to grow and expand our tax base. By continuing to strive to keep our taxes as low as possible, we can compete and slowly grow our small town.

Schloesser: We try to keep our taxing as low and as affordable as we can for the community, while maintaining updates and keeping the community safe. We meet once a year for a lengthy budget meeting. We take each line item into consideration.

Voight: As a single guy who owns a house, I am all for keeping the taxes as low as possible to keep as much income inside the household. I believe the taxes are very fair, and I also believe that helping the city stay out of debt is very important. Finding the balance in this is where I want to gain more knowledge and learn as I serve on the council.

What projects are most important to address in town?

Flaten: The city is at a crossroads when it comes to the future growth and the financial impact that will have on the taxpayers. In the last year, the city council has brought on a new engineering company to help us figure our infrastructure needs. Depending on how much grant money is available from the federal and state governments, the decisions we make will shape the town for the next 50 to 100 years. That being said, we will likely expand our sewer pond system and fix our old sewer lines which are allowing ground water to infiltrate the sanitary sewer system.

Schloesser: I think the most important project in town is the water/sewer system. There are a lot of components to these systems that are outdated and need to be revamped in order to be up to code. We have been working on grants to help pay for the updating. Secondly, our ponds are at maximum capacity so if the city wants to grow we will need to expand the ponds. The next issue to address is that the streets and the safety of our citizens and students getting on the school busses. We need to ensure on the main road coming into Dennison that kids can cross safely and drivers abide by the speed limit signs. Lastly, keeping the community clean.

Voight: The most important project to address in Dennison is how to expand the sewer ponds, but with that project we also need to replace several sewer drain lines that are old clay pipes that are showing failure throughout the city. Another project worth addressing is adding a more effective crosswalk on County 9. As we add more families and small kids to Dennison, making a safe environment, especially on a county road, is very important.