On Friday afternoon during a canvassing meeting, the Northfield City Council accepted the results of the primary election held on Tuesday
The At-Large Seat currently held by Clarice Grabau is being vacated as she pursues the state Senate Seat in the newly drawn District 58. Those who had filed for the council seat were Davin Sokup, Thelma Estrada and former City Councilor David DeLong. As the city ballot only allows for two candidates in November, one name had to be omitted through the primary vote.
City Clerk Lynette Peterson presented the voting numbers from Tuesday. She said 2,825 votes were cast on Tuesday, 2395 in person, and 430 via absentee ballot. This represented a 22.6% turnout, which was down from the primary election in 2020 when the city saw a 29.7% turnout.
Peterson said there were 12,480 registered voters in the City of Northfield as of Tuesday morning, and 123 people registered to vote at their polling place during the voting period.
Sokup received the most votes with 1,103. Estrada finished in second place with 799 votes. DeLong finished in third place with 734 votes.
This sets up a very interesting race between Sokup and Estrada.
According to the Northfield News, Estrada has lived in Northfield for six years. She was born in Mexico and grew up in South Texas. She currently works at Minnesota Orthodontics where she assists with translating English and Spanish. She is also studying at Inver Grove Community College to become a Paralegal.
Sokup was born in Northfield and grew up in Faribault. He is a member of the city’s planning commission and works as a Legislative Assistant for Minnesota Senator Lindsey Port. Should he win election, it is believed he would become the first trans member of the City Council.
Election day is Tuesday, November 8.
‘Interim’removed from Bartho’s Chamber title
The Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce announced on Tuesday that Jane Bartho has been named the new Chamber
President.
Bartho has been acting as Interim President since this past spring. Her hiring, as of Tuesday, was effective immediately.
“I am honored to be hired and trusted to serve in the capacity as the Chamber President,” said Bartho. “Northfield is a unique and caring community, and I will do my best to be the voice of our Chamber members, helping businesses network, grow and succeed. Stop into our office any time for a conversation, I like to learn more about our business community.”
Prior to her work at the Chamber, Bartho worked at St. Dominic School for 12 years and prior to that, she ran a home-based business for 8 years.
Penny Carr, the Chamber Board Chair said, “Jane is a great fit. Her experience over the last four-and-a-half years with the Chamber has been the seed to help grow our membership and relationships within the Northfield Area Business community. With Jane in this role, we feel further growth is possible. The upbeat positivity at the Chamber is a direct connection with Jane. With Jane’s leadership, our goals and vision will continue on a successful path.”
Bartho is a graduate of St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN, with a BS in Social Work. She’s worked in both long-term care and hospital settings as well as healthcare sales. She and her husband, Dan, have 3 children.
Bartho replaces departed Chamber President Lisa Peterson who resigned from the position in April.
Hjelmgren was prepared to be new FiftyNorth Executive Director
FiftyNorth has successfully hired a new executive director. Kerry Hjelmgren will take over from Lynne Pederson this
September.
Hjelmgren graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 and has considered Northfield her home ever since. She has eleven years of experience working for Northfield Hospital + Clinics in healthcare education and hospice. From 2017 to 2019 she built an Advanced Care Planning program for Allina Health that served Faribault and Owatonna. She then shifted to advanced care planning at the state level as Executive Director of Honoring Choices Minnesota from 2019 to 2021. Most recently Hjelmgren has been the Business Development Administrator for the non-profit Light the Legacy which aims to help people plan ahead for their personal healthcare needs.
Hjelmgren said, to her it feels like her personal experiences in Northfield and her career have been preparing her to lead FiftyNorth.
“I’ve had sort of this golden thread throughout my career of helping older adults enhance their quality of life and I can’t think of a better place to continue doing that than here in my home community for my home community than at FiftyNorth.”
For FiftyNorth Board President Pat Jorstad, it was Hjelmgren’s enthusiasm and experience that made her stand out as a candidate, but it was her personal interactions with FiftyNorth members that sealed the deal.
Jorstad said, “a lot of it was when members met her on her interview day, they fell in love with her.”
Hjelmgren actually has a lot of personal experience with FiftyNorth and has been involved as a community member for about 12 years. Her mother is a member and she herself has even taught a class at the center.
Hjelmgren has a vision for expanding membership and services. She hopes to improve diversity of membership and help both the youngest members, who maybe don’t consider themselves seniors, and the oldest members, who may have mobility issues, be more engaged.
Kerry Hjelmgren’s first day as Executive Director of FiftyNorth will be September 15th.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with FiftyNorth Board Chair Pat Jorstad and incoming Executive Director Kerry Hjelmgren can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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