Meet the candidates: Melrose City Council

Melrose City Council

Incumbent Tony Klasen and Mark Niehoff are running for two city council seats.  

Tony Klasen 

Age: 49 

Occupation: Small business owner, coach and most importantly, Dad 

Why are you running for this position? Since there was only one other person that filed for two open seats, I decided to run again. As for my interest in the council, it’s a way to participate in government and influence spending and regulations that affect all of us here at home. 

Share your organizational or business experiences. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in business, own a small business and have been on the council for 16 years, so I’m very familiar with how local government operates. 

What issue affecting your city do you find most pertinent and pressing? Why? Housing has been an issue for years, but with the recent developments, this will likely ease that issue for the foreseeable future. Regulations on building are very stringent and cause additional expense for the builders, along with inflation and uncertainty of the supply chain being hard to deal with. Today, taxpayer subsidies seem to be the only way to get any development done, which I dislike in most cases. The tricky part is to figure out what the return on investment is when you agree to subsidize any development with other people’s money and decide whether or not it’s a wise decision.  

Are there other issues you would like to address? The upcoming election is much more important than anything council-related.  

Mark Niehoff

Age: 46

Occupation: Data center operations supervisor

Why are you running for this position? I am running for city council to be part of the community. I feel it is important to give back to a community that I have been part of my whole life. I thought about joining the fire department but felt the city council may be a better fit for me at this point in my life. There weren’t a lot of people running, so I registered. I figured there would be a few more candidates running, but only two did. I would welcome the opportunity to serve my community and grow a better understanding of it.

Share your organizational or business experiences. I started at Arvig as a summer help employee while I was going through technical college. After I graduated, I was offered a job as a construction technician at Melrose Telephone Company. I did that for three years and was promoted to a central office technician in 2003, and around 2012, I was promoted to central office systems engineer. Last month, I accepted the position of data center operations supervisor and have 11 employees that report to me.

What issue affecting your city do you find most pertinent and pressing? Why? Melrose is well-run and is doing a lot of things correctly. There has been a significant amount of new building over the last decade, which is helping our community grow. One thing that is concerning is keeping and maintaining businesses on Main Street. With e-commerce and large franchises, it makes it tougher for them to complete. 

Are there other issues you want to address? I know the city council has addressed this in the past, but I would like to see a yard-waste dump site. The challenge has been finding a spot that’s not in our wellhead protection area and a property that the city owns. I would like to at least keep the conversation open, and over time, hopefully, be able to find an area for residents to drop off their yard waste.