Christy Jo Fogarty thinks there is nothing special about herself. But there are a whole lot of Farmington voters who think there is.
Elected in November to fill one of two open seats on the Farmington City Council, Fogarty comes into her new role with absolutely no ulterior motives, except to be more involved in the community.
She is a soccer mom, a coach, a runner and a wife. She watched city council meetings because she was interested. She discovered there was no one like herself on the council. She ran. She was elected.
So now what will she do?
"I look forward to seeing Farmington expand and grow," Fogarty said.
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Fogarty loves the downtown area and all of its charm. If there is a special kind of gift she is looking for, she knows she can find some really neat items downtown.
But, realistically, she shops outside of Farmington, and she does not like that at all. In planning the city's future, Fogarty would like to change that. She would like to see more "big box" stores, such as Target or Wal-Mart, come to town, as well as a pharmacy and some clothing stores.
"We're in an excellent place for it. Many of us are young people, and ... it's a shame we can't meet the needs of people with young families," she said. "I would love to see us being appealing to big business."
As a soccer mom and coach, naturally, the lack of athletic fields in the community has come to Fogarty's attention. She would like to see the parks program expand in the future, too. She said many of the parents she talks to have expressed similar hopes.
In fact, it was those everyday conversations with other parents that helped her get elected. With no prior connection to Farmington, other than being a resident for the past few years, Fogarty has been an active community member, and visited with others. In doing so, she gained the respect of many who, in turn, supported her council run.
"You never know where you are at in the mix. I spent time door-knocking, and I ended up with some support in areas I didn't know I had. No one knew who I was when I put my name in, so I just started talking to people," she said.
On Farmington
Christy Jo her husband, Steve and their children, Ashley, 7, Jack, 5 and Thomas, 3, have called Farmington home for a few years already.
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Christy Jo was born in California, then lived in Colorado before moving to Minnesota when she was 12. Steve was born and raised in LeSeuer.
He wanted small town; she wanted suburb. The found Farmington and made it their home.
"He can see cornfields off our deck, and I can go shopping," she said. "Being a cop, he looked at the crime statistics for the city, and the schools are pretty good here. Farmington is a good match for us."
In preparing for her new position on the council, Fogarty has met with Farmington city administrator Ed Shukle and all of the department heads, just to be brought up to speed on what some of the issues are the city faces. She's also getting some background reading done, and faithfully attending meetings so she is ready for her new post when she is sworn in Jan. 6.
