Candidates: Boost Spirit Lake’s Image

Spirit Lake’s reputation for drugs, scary bikers and political shenanigans sticks to the city like gum to a shoe, say candidates for city office here.

“Every time I say I’m from Spirit Lake, people’s jaws drop,” says Ellis “Ed” Hanna, a first-time contender for council.

The 51-year-old retired mechanic wants more public input and fewer drugs in town.

He and the others say they’re going to fix the city’s tarnished image if it kills them.

“It’s our town,” said Eugene Clary, a 61-year-old retired ironworker running for mayor. “If you don’t stand up and govern yourself, there’s some fool out there who’d love to step in and govern you.”

Hanna and Clary are among the candidates vying for public office in Spirit Lake on Nov. 7.

Along with Clary, there are two other people running for mayor:

Bob Knapp, a 58-year-old businessman. Knapp said he’d like complacent townspeople to become more involved in their government. Like several other candidates, he’d like to see the city’s many dirt roads paved.

“The citizens of this city should not be covered with dust every time a vehicle goes through their neighborhood,” Knapp said. “We’re 50 years behind the times.”

Robert R. Root, 69, a retired gas station owner and president of the local senior citizens group. Root, a councilman in the 1970s, said the city needs to rely less on the mayor and more on the entire council.

“It’s a very spooky, bad business to have that kind of arrangement,” he said. He said he’s also worried about drugs in town and vowed to keep a lid on sprawling growth.

The city has two council seats open. Besides Hanna, other candidates are:

Incumbent Jeff Brown, 33, a boat mechanic. “I believe we’re at a turning point, and I want to make sure that if the city has to grow, that it grows properly,” Brown said.

As a recent transplant to the city, he said, he doesn’t have any “good old boy” conflicts of interest.

“I don’t have anything to gain from the decisions I make,” he said.

Martha Fairchild, 32, a full-time mother of four. She said she wants better parks, to allow horses in town, and to give people more say at City Hall. “If people want to talk, let them talk,” she said.

She also said she’s a critical thinker. “You can’t buffalo me into making a decision that I don’t think is right.”

Donald Stout, 63, a retired cement worker and former Spirit Lake police officer. Like many of the candidates, Stout said he was tired of city officials pushing their own agendas, such as former Mayor Paul Korman, whose wife lobbied the council for a developer. Stout wants more public input.

“I’d like to give the city back to the people,” he said.

Sandy Faubion, 39, owner of the Hog ‘n’ Jog restaurant. “I want to see that we have honest government and that the decisions that are made are for everyone, not to enrich one person,” she said. She found the recent controversies distasteful, and decided to step in to try and clean things up.

“My heart is here. I love this little town,” Faubion said. “I can research and think through a decision for the best of the community.”

Candidate Mike Easley could not be reached for comment.

, DataTimes