Dallke tosses his hat in the write-in ring
Staff writer
Beaten in this year’s primary election for District 3 commission seat, longtime county commissioner Randy Dallke has filed as a write-in candidate in the November general election.
Dallke has been on county commission for 20 years. Opponent Clarke Dirks nudged Dallke off the ballot on a 184-152 vote.
“People that saw the results of the primary encouraged me to run,” Dallke said. “We do not need, in the 3rd District, leadership that is one direction only.”
The primary election had a 16% voter turnout, Dallke said.
“We usually get about 30 or 35% vote in the general election,” he said.
Dallke said he wants to see someone in the seat who will listen to both sides of issues.
He also wants to see further development of projects the commission has begun.
“We appointed a county administrator,” Dallke said. “Other commissioners said this will save us money. So far it has been a fairly good thing, but we need to keep on track because it is our leader, and the leader needs to keep us in a good direction.”
He wants to see the administrator’s goals accomplished in the first couple of years.
“You just can’t accomplish everything overnight,” Dallke said.
Dallke thinks institutional memory is important.
“Another reason why I would like to be there and run, I have noticed that some commissioners have an idea and they want to pursue that,” Dallke said. “I’ve noticed when we’ve tried that or something like it, and want to make sure we don’t go down the same road twice. If we try to pursue the idea, we need to go down some different paths before we do.”
He also wants to see department heads want to stay.
“We have some good people onboard, and they’re going in a good direction as department heads,” he said. “We need to thank them and keep them going in that direction.”
An example is the road department, Dallke said.
“We have a good person on board who’s trying to improve our roads,” he said. “That is something we need to continue for the public.”
It’s “just lucky” that he’s been on the commission so long, he said.
“I used to feel that after two or three terms, that would be it,” Dallke said. “I think it’s good to have some new ideas come on board, but I think it’s good to have someone who has memory of the past.”
He wants county employees to remember that taxpayers are the people they serve.
He also wants to see employees satisfied with the way they are appreciated and with wages and benefits.