Minnesota and North Dakota Voter's Guide

Forum Communications Co., in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and of North Dakota, is providing this voter guide to help keep you informed ahead of the 2024 election.

  • Learn where candidates running for office in your community stand on the issues.
  • Build your ballot before voting. Print or email the information to use as a reference when you actually vote.

We do not save your information; it will be lost when you leave this page. Only candidates that appear on your ballot will be listed. Additional information may be available for your area so be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page for other voters’ guides.

Start Over

Voter Guide

St. Cloud City Mayor

The mayor is usually the head of the city and may represent the city in front of other government bodies. They also can preside at council meetings and appoint city workers. A mayor usually has a role in proposing a city budget which influences services provided to residents and can veto ordinances proposed by the city council.Voting in local elections is important - learn more here: Why Vote for Mayor

Click a candidate icon to find more information about the candidate. To compare two candidates, click the "compare" button. To start over, click a candidate icon.

  • Candidate picture

    Jake Anderson
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Mike Conway
    (NP)

Biographical Information

Why are you the best candidate for this position? (750 characters)

If elected, what will your top three priorities be and why? (500 characters)

If elected, what strategies will you use to ensure transparency, accountability and ethical conduct in city government under your leadership? (500 characters)

How will you engage with residents to solicit feedback, involve them in decision-making processes, and ensure their voices are heard? (500 characters)

How will you approach public safety and community policing to ensure the well-being of all residents? (500 characters)

{_btnLabelFor(compare1, _isInSelection(compare1))}
{_btnLabelFor(compare2, _isInSelection(compare2))}
Campaign Website http://https://www.jakeforstcloud.com
Contact Phone 320-420-4449
Facebook (Full URL) http://facebook.com/jakeforstcloud
Campaign Email jakeforstcloud@gmail.com
Before I entered the race, I wasn’t planning on running for mayor. I was approached by various members of the community who asked me to run because of my moderate views & positions. For the last year and a half, I’ve served on the City Council and before that served on the planning commission for 11 years. While serving on both the city council and the planning commission, I’ve sought to understand the issue before us, the support and opposition to the issue, and what the middle ground looks like (if it exists). In making decisions, I seek to remove emotion from it & base decisions on information & data presented. It’s also important for our next mayor to stay focused on local issues while avoiding divisive state and federal issues.
My top 3 priorities are Public Safety, Maintaining Infrastructure, & Quality of Life. Public safety is a core pillar of city government. Infrastructure means making sure our roads and sewers aren’t failing. Quality of life is much broader. It means beautifying our city by maintaining public spaces – like parks, boulevards, & roundabouts – to an acceptable level. It means working to enhance & support our arts and entertainment scene. It also means developing civic pride in the city we call home.
Being transparent, accountable and ethical is a core foundation for any local government. It would be my job to ensure that everyone is following through with those foundations & doing their jobs to support that conduct. I will continue, if not expand, the mayor’s newsletter & focus on all sorts of things that may go unnoticed if not otherwise published. Above all, I will make sure the folks employed by the city are ethical – including me.
Residents want to be heard by the government and treated as equals – especially when it also involves private interests or developers. Just as important, though, is the role of mayor in fostering & developing relationships with all sorts of people who live, work, & own businesses here. The city has done community surveys on a roughly 2-year cycle & I think that should continue. I also believe in providing anyone in the city access to the mayor’s office for questions, concerns, and feedback.
St. Cloud PD is one of the most respected departments in the state because of its implementation of things like the Community Action Team & the COP House as well as the quality of the department’s personnel. By enacting the community policing agreement, it sets standards for how the police engage all residents. PD is here to protect and serve. At the end of the day, anyone impacted by crime (be it personal or property) needs to be able to get the appropriate police response and feel respected.
Campaign Website http://mike4stcloud.com
Contact Phone 3204933659
Facebook (Full URL) http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559562186145
Campaign Email mike4mayor.stcloud@gmail.com
I am a fiscally conservative person. I am not afraid to make difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions to help the city and the citizens. The first rule as mayor is to remember. It's not my money. I will be a good steward of the resources entrusted to the city. There are three governing principles for running the city.

Must do - Support public safety, maintain critical infrastructure, build and repair roads, and enhance public spaces.

Should do – Partner with businesses, developers, and organizations through private/public initiatives. Increase opportunities for all.

Should Never do – Step outside the mandates of the city charter. There are state and county government resources designed to provide for needs outside the charter.

My top focus as Mayor will be the prioritize those areas the citizens have continually outlined in their responses to the city survey. • Crime and Public Safety – Maintaining excellent quality Police and Fire Departments. • Supporting infrastructure – Continue updating roads, water and sewer systems, and public parks. • Grow development in St Cloud – work with businesses, developers, and organizations through private/public partnerships.
I will continue the current city practices of supplying all public information on the city website. I will continue to make council meetings available for live viewing online and the public access channels. All city budgets are available for the public to review on the city website. I will work closely with the City Administrator and City Attorney to review current policies and update those policies as needed.
I will set up “Open Office hour” before council meetings. These will be open to the public to meet with me and the city staff. Residents can ask questions and discuss specific concerns in a more relaxed setting. Having quarterly “Open Office Hour” at different sites across the city, potentially sponsored by community organizations, is another goal.
I will continue to support the Community Policing Agreement that was created in 2005 and revised in 2018. The Agreement outlines important procedures regarding Fair and Impartial Policing and the Complaint Process. The Agreement a reminder to all that its success depends upon not only the St. Cloud Police Department but also the community at large. The agreement is printed in Spanish, Somali, and English. This Agreement has allowed St Cloud to be a leader in community policing.
Powered by League of Women Voters Education Fund

The League of Women Voters of Minnesota and North Dakota crafted the questions sent to the candidates in the Spring of 2024. They reached out to candidates based on contact information in their public candidate filings. Candidates with email addresses were invited and reminded with emails. Candidates with only mailing addresses were sent a letter. Candidates with phone numbers received a phone call as well.

Candidate responses are published as they responded and have not been edited, except when responses were longer than the given character limit. In those cases, the responses are truncated.

VOTE411 is brought to you by the League of Women Voters Education Fund and League of Women Voters of Minnesota Education Fund. The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose any political party or candidate for office.