The Jamestown Sun endorses Dwaine Heinrich for mayor and Ramone Gumke for City Council.
Although all the candidates for the two open seats merit consideration by voters, we believe Heinrich and Gumke can best serve the community in the council positions.
Heinrich brings his education, council experience and 30 years as a Jamestown business owner to the position of mayor. As well as continued economic development, Heinrich's interest is in community development. It's not just focused on new development but on redevelopment within other areas of the existing community. Revitalizing the downtown, which residents have long supported, has been a priority for him. It includes spearheading the drive to get a quiet zone for Jamestown as well as renovating his property and living downtown. Heinrich sees consensus building as his primary ability and wants to use that ability to encourage the talents and knowledge of community members in growing Jamestown.
Gumke may be a newcomer to the local political scene, but his answers on various issues show the depth of his research and willingness to learn. That bodes well for dealing with the myriad and complicated features of city government. He also brings his law enforcement background to the job with the intention of using it to help the fire and police departments at the city committee level. In all, Gumke shows an interest in learning the workings of city government that will get him up to speed quickly as a council member.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Jamestown Civic Center. We recommend voters choose Heinrich for mayor and Gumke for City Council.
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(Editorials are the opinion of Jamestown Sun management and the newspaper's editorial board)
