SAUK RAPIDS (WJON News) -- There are four people running for two open seats this year on the Sauk Rapids City Council.

The two incumbents in the race are Ellen Thronson and Jason Ellering. The two newcomers are Kyle Boron and Clinton Holmgren.

Ellen Thronson, Photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
Ellen Thronson, Photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
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Ellen Thronson has lived in the city for about 30 years and is finishing up her second term on the city council.

She says her biggest accomplishment so far has been the completion of The Clearing park project. She says she's also looking forward to the re-imagined Mayhew Creek Park project.

As for growth in the city, Thronson says they'll need to be creative to help bring new businesses to the downtown.

There are not a lot of spaces down there, so we're going to have to start being creative with some projects down there to see what we can bring in for maybe some smaller businesses, or even some new retail.

Thronson says adding new businesses to the Industrial Park is also a focus for her.

Jason Ellering, Photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
Jason Ellering, Photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
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Jason Ellering is finishing his sixth year on the Sauk Rapids City Council.

He says his big goal on the council is to keep the infrastructure intact and up to date. He says he's very excited to get going on the Mayhew Creek Park project but says he knows it will take time to develop.

As for business growth in the community, he's in favor of incentives from the city like the recently approved TIF district for J-Berd Companies to expand.

They want to expand and we want to help them expand because when they came here four years ago they had 300 some jobs, and now they are up to about 800 employees.

Ellering says he'd also like to see the city create some incubator-type buildings that could potentially attract some new small businesses to town.

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Clinton Holmgren, photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
Clinton Holmgren, photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
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Clinton Holmgren was raised in Sauk Rapids and says he decided to run for city council because he cares about the area and wants it to continue to be a great place for families to live.

He says he'd like to see some business development near the high school.

Up there by Casey's I feel there are some spots there for development opportunities if we can get somebody to come in there whether that's coffee shops or a restaurant or even a smaller grocery store.

Holmgren says he likes the way The Clearing park project turned out and he would have voted in favor of it. As for the plans to develop Mayhew Creek Park, Holmgren says continued development is vital for a community.

Kyle Boron, photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
Kyle Boron, photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice
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Kyle Boron has lived in Sauk Rapids for about 13 years now.

He says he's running because he'd like to see improvements citywide, but doesn't have one specific thing in particular.

He would like to bring in some larger events to the community.

In St. Cloud they have the Miracle League, I would love to see Sauk Rapids get involved in bringing outside events into the city.  I'm part of the ALS Walk in St. Cloud, I'd like to see that come over here.

Boron says he has mixed feelings about the city's recently approved incentive program to try and spark some new housing developments.

He says he'd also like to look at lowering the city's property taxes if he gets elected to the city council, but he hasn't had a chance yet to look at the city's budget.

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