Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Little, a freshmen City Councilor and law student, defeated incumbent Mayor Mark Bellows and a third challenger in Councilor Laurie Rieb.
City Councilor Matt Little is Lakeville's newest mayor. The soon-to-be 28-year-old law student, and current City Councilor, defeated incumbent mayor Mark Bellows and challenger Laurie Rieb on Tuesday, Nov. 6. With all precincts reporting, Little received 12,175 votes, or 43.93 percent of the 27,715 total votes cast. Bellows had 10,803 votes, or 39.08 percent of the total. Rieb received 4,638 votes, or 16.73 percent. Little went to Facebook to unofficially claim victory, saying: "I want to thank everybody who made this possible. Looking forward to building a better city!" See our election results page. Lakeville Patch will have far more on the elections on Wednesday.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Letter writer: "As a local Republican, I was happy to receive an email from the Lakeville District Republican party that they interviewed and recommended re-electing a True Conservative for Mayor, Mark Bellows."
- GOVERNMENT
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Friday, November 2, 2012
To the editor, We all get the post cards, see advertisements, yard signs and even knocks on our door. The election season can’t end soon enough. Many already made up their minds and are ready to vote Democrat or Republican. But wait, what about our local Mayor race that doesn’t have Republican or Democrat after their name on the ballot? Now what? It’s easy to figure out what party you support and then vote for their candidates, but on local races, it’s more difficult to find the True Conservatives, if you generally favor Republicans. In Lakeville, even Liberals claim to be “fiscally” conservative. True Conservatives work for more efficient government that is good at the core services a city is expected to do, and limiting the expansion of …
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Dave Thompson: "I support Mayor Bellows because he has the right vision for those of us who make our home in Lakeville."
- OPINION
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Sunday, October 28, 2012
To the editor, I am writing this letter in support of Lakeville Mayor Mark Bellows for re-election. His public service record, impeccable credentials, and commitment to fiscal prudence make him by far the best choice. Mayor Mark Bellows has a distinguished public service record. He has served as police chaplain for 22 years. He served ten years on the City Council before being elected Mayor in 2010. He is a pastor and counselor as well. These activities all demonstrate the Mayor’s commitment to individuals in need and to public service. He is well qualified for the job, as he has demonstrated over the last two years. But of course credentials and passion are not the most important characteristics for a leader. I support Mayor Bellows …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Letter writer: "The purpose of this letter is not to disparage any candidate for city government in Lakeville, but to tell just a bit about my professional dealings with Mark Bellows."
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
To the editor, I would like to share my experience and thoughts on working with Mark Bellows in his professional life. As many of you know, Mark serves as a pastor at Hope Community Church in Lakeville. I have had the pleasure of working with him, not only as clergy at funeral services, but also through his work as chaplain for the Lakeville Police Department. The purpose of this letter is not to disparage any candidate for city government in Lakeville, but to tell just a bit about my professional dealings with Mark Bellows. We have called Mark on many occasions over the years to help officiate funerals when a family, suffering a loss, is in need of pastoral care or not affiliated with a church. Mark has shown grace and respect in the most…
Letter writer: Mark Bellows must remain our mayor.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
To the editor, Lakeville does not need a self-proclaimed career politician who considers the city as nothing but a stepping stone who will move on if a different opportunity presents itself. Mr. Bellows is a fiscal conservative with deep roots in Lakeville and 12 years of experience as a City Council member and Mayor. Under Mayor Bellow’s leadership, the city policies have become more transparent. He was instrumental in forming the Financial Advisory Committee. This committee ensures that our citizens and businesses stay informed and have a voice when it comes to the budget process and our taxes, a process that was opposed by another candidate for Mayor. Mayor Bellows also implemented several programs such as: The Developers Forum, …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Letter writer: "The most organized, mature, and professional candidate of the evening was Council Member Matt Little."
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Letter to the editor, I attended last week's Lakeville Mayoral forum. Like many of you, I’ve been reading news stories about the spirited council debates for the past two years, but hadn’t seen the differences firsthand. Council Member Laurie Rieb won additional respect from me tonight, and replacing Mayor Mark Bellows with her would be a considerable upgrade. However, the most organized, mature, and professional candidate of the evening was Council Member Matt Little. While all three candidates had standard trifold campaign brochures set out on the chairs, Little also provided a 17 page policy document on how Lakeville can continue to thrive while keeping a lid on property taxes. (This policy document is available online.) All evening …
Letter writer: "Would Bellows as the pastor direct his parishioners to decrease their contributions and then still expect his church to flourish?"
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Letter to the editor: In his letter to the editor, Mr. Bryan Bartz recently gave us a list of six questions to use in evaluating our mayoral candidates. I used the questions and came up with the following: First point: Party? My initial reaction was this should not matter as our city Mayor is not supposed to be political, and work for the good of all of us. However then the difference in the parties’ views came to mind, Democrats want to make the pie bigger and in it all our slices become bigger. Republicans just want a bigger slice. Seems to me we all will be better off to make our pie bigger. This has worked for us in the past and our city prospered. However Mark Bellows is an extremist Republican / teapartyer focused on the upper class …
Monday, October 15, 2012
Little: "Fundamentally, being a good leader for our community has always been about working with people to solve problems and build a better city.”
- OPINION
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Monday, October 15, 2012
To the editor, After last Tuesday night’s Lakeville Mayoral Candidate Forum, we can clearly see some vast differences between the candidates. There are also some wonderful similarities. For example, as the moderator pointed out with one question, each candidate has claimed to be fiscally conservative. While each candidate has a different formula for fiscal conservatism, in the end we have three people who are driven to save money and lower taxpayer burden. Most compelling, however, were the closing remarks of the candidates. Councilwoman Rieb made a clear pitch of personal pride. She is, indeed, a loyal public servant. But we are left to wonder how she will lead as mayor. Her vision seems to be that the office of mayor is simply the next …
Letter writer: "Mark Bellows is one of the most honest, loyal, and compassionate individuals I know."
- OPINION
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Monday, October 15, 2012
To the editor, My name is Mark Holden and I was a resident and peace officer with the city of Lakeville for over 18 years. During this time, I had the fortune of meeting Mark Bellows. Mark became a reserve officer and subsequently, one of the Lakeville Police Department’s official police Chaplains, which he still holds today. The Lakeville Police Department has called on Mark over 500 times to perform duties like direct traffic at accidents scenes, look for lost children, and deliver death notifications to individuals who lived in the city. As an example, I was with Mark Bellows when he told a mother and her daughter that her son was found deceased as a result of a homicide. Mark provided this family with the comfort and compassion they …
Friday, October 12, 2012
Lakeville's mayoral candidates participated in an election forum on Oct. 9.
Lakeville's mayoral candidates participated in an election forum on Oct. 9. The video of the form can be found online. Moderated by the Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce, the forum, held at City Hall, included incumbent mayor Mark Bellows, as well as challengers Matt Little and Laurie Rieb. Little and Rieb are both members of Lakeville's City Council. Lakeville Patch will follow the election through Nov. 6 election day.
AV
10:47 am on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
ABSG, in my experience, Dave Fellon, the president of Progressive, is pretty childish, so maybe you've got something there! more ›