Lakeville's mayor-elect thinks the City Council is poised to become more business-friendly and tighter with taxpayer dollars after the election of two outsiders who campaigned for more fiscal austerity.
Taking over as mayor in the new year will be Council Member Mark Bellows, who won decisively with about 58 percent of 20,200 votes cast. He has served on the council for a decade and twice that long as the city's police chaplain.
Bellows, 56, defeated two-term Mayor Holly Dahl. She presided over recent staff cutbacks to offset drooping revenues and defended quality-of-life amenities many residents appreciate. Joining the council in January will be newcomers Matt Little, an English tutor, and Colleen Ratzlaff LaBeau, 48, a realty company owner who ran a pro-business campaign along with Bellows.
Little, 25, wants more cops and street repairs, but no new taxes. He proposed $200,000 in cuts at a city budget hearing this fall, including eliminating council members' pay of about $700 each a month. The only incumbent among eight candidates running for two council seats was Kevin Miller. He placed third with 14 percent of the vote, behind Little, with 21 percent, and LaBeau, who had 25 percent.
Bellows hopes Little or Council Member Kerrin Swecker, who endorsed Bellows, will provide the swing vote needed to make changes and pare city budgets even closer to the bone. Bellows was the only council member to vote against the 2010 budget, which had a 2.1 percent increase.
"I have always operated like an outsider. There have been many 4-to-1 votes in the last couple years," said Bellows, the pastor and a licensed counselor at Hope Church, where he runs addiction recovery programs.
LaBeau said she ran as a representative of the business community, many of whom told her they felt unwelcome by staff and council members when they voiced concerns at council meetings. "We felt very unheard and that the community was very business unfriendly," she said.
LaBeau cited queries by Costco about opening a store that would sell liquor, which the city rejected a few years ago because it would compete with municipal liquor stores. LaBeau said she and others felt the city's strong staff directed the council instead of the reverse.