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.
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Voter Guide

Rice County Commissioner District 4

County commissioners are the county s key policymakers. They oversee the administration of the county, set county budget, and participate in county long-range planning. County services that they oversee include a wide variety of social service and welfare programs, as well as certain public health programs. Learn more about the day in the life of a county commissioner in this video from the Association of Minnesota Counties.

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

    Mark Hlady
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Steve Underdahl
    (NP)

Biographical Information

What is your process for budgeting and making tough decisions about where to invest resources?

What are your thoughts on allowing data centers in Rice County? Would you support allowing them?

How will you engage on a regular basis with your constituents?

How well does Rice County administer elections, in your opinion?

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Campaign Website http://www.hladyfordistrict4.com
telephone 5076679704
Campaign Email hladyfordistrict4@gmail.com
Making budget decisions is an ongoing process. Identifying long term goals, gathering information and analyzing data is first. Looking at alternative solutions that may save money or spread-out costs is required. Once decisions are made, review should be mandatory. We are currently living with higher-than-normal inflationary costs and tough decisions may need to be made in the future when it comes to levies. I believe compromises can be made to ensure sustainability and long-term growth.
I am not in favor of allowing data centers in Rice County. While I understand the importance of them I believe the negatives outweigh any positives. Data centers consume vast amounts of electricity and water. This usage will push up costs for our local citizens. Another area to consider is pollution, which includes both particulate matter and ongoing noise issues. This pollution can negatively impact quality of life of citizens in Faribault and Rice County.
www.hladyfordistrict4.com Contact me anytime.
Having worked for Rice County for over 30 years I am familiar with the election process and employees in Rice County. I believe the current Election personnel do an excellent job of administering the elections in our community.
telephone 5073328222
Campaign Email STEVE@PROCONCS.COM
I have been through several budgeting cycles at county & city level. I believe strongly that the budget should follow the policies, need & goals of the county board who represent our citizens. Government has the same issue as our households in that our needs & wants usually to exceed our ability to pay. It's a careful balancing act providing the public safety, roads, health & social needs of our citizens while understanding the financial impact to property taxes.
Data centers typically locate within corporate boundaries of cities as they have the infrastructure necessary for development. Rice County does not have any jurisdictional control over development within the cities of Faribault, Northfield, Lonsdale. Rural Rice County does not have the infrastructure needed to support data center development. Even though data center development is unlikely to happen in rural Rice County I gather my own information should I need it for future discussion.
My phone & email. Attending community gatherings.
Rice County follows state & federal requirements to keep elections fair & transparent. County staff, prescient workers & election judges are trained before each election cycle. Equipment used in elections is tested during a public accuracy test prior to each election. Elections have changed dramatically over the years from a single day of voting to multiple days & mail-in ballots. Administering elections has become more complex & under more scrutiny. Rice County elections staff are very capable
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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.

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