JENKINS — The Jenkins City Council appointed Roman Siltman to fill the council seat vacated by Charles Hoffman when he was elected mayor during the 2022 general election.
The appointment took place Monday, Feb. 13, during the regular council meeting. The council had advertised the two-year opening and welcomed applicants to the position. Council member Andrew Rudlang said he was surprised when he found out there were two applicants, as he only anticipated Siltman would throw his hat in the ring.
Siltman ran in the 2022 election, hoping to capture one of two seats on the ballot, but Jerimey Flategraff and Rudlang were reelected.
Siltman received the third most votes at 73, just 13 votes behind Rudlang with 86. Flategraff received 103 votes.
Siltman's performance in this election was the impetus for the council to appoint him to fulfill Hoffman's council term.
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The second applicant was Greg Guenin. Guenin is Hoffman's neighbor, which prompted the mayor to abstain from voting.
The three remaining council members — Flategraff, Rudlang and Kim Bachmann — listened as each candidate's name was read and then voted yes or no. The one with the most affirmative replies would win the seat.
Each candidate introduced himself and shared reasons they believed they were qualified.
Guenin received a yes vote from Flategraff. A former Brainerd Dispatch circulation manager, Guenin has been living in Jenkins for nearly six years. He pitched his experience with promotions as one of his skills, and he has used that skill for the city and local chamber of commerce.
He has served on the energy and environment grant committee over the past year and volunteered to continue to be involved with other committees, even after he was not selected.
Siltman received three yes votes, a unanimous result. Siltman is a lifelong Jenkins resident. He said he has donated time and equipment to the city regularly over the past several years, including donating time to help facilitate furthering local fiber optic connections and offering to take electronics for recycling free of charge during the 2022 citywide cleanup project.
He is on the planning and zoning committee and the information technology committee.
Siltman said he has been personally researching alternative ways to fund road work projects, including three current road projects. He has worked at coming up with changes for the city's road assessment ordinance.
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Rudlang and Bachmann said Siltman's close results in the most recent election made them believe he would be the voters' choice.
Siltman will be sworn in before the next council meeting.
The council also welcomed their new administrative assistant, Cassandra Delougherty, a 2004 Pine River-Backus High School graduate, to the staff.
Travis Grimler is a staff writer for the Pineandlakes Echo Journal weekly newspaper in Pequot Lakes/Pine River. He may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com.
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