Mary L. Hershberger Thun
6490 Bayview Place
Excelsior, Minnesota
Family:  I have a small but important family.  I live with my husband, David, who works in Chanhassen, and my almost 12-year old golden retriever dog, Martha.  My stepson Brandon, who lives in Eden Prairie, and his fiancee, Kellie, spend a lot of time with us.  And my immediate extended family includes my father, Bob, and mother in law, Erna, who both live in Waconia.
Occupation:  I am an owner and prin-cipal of RCG Consulting, LLC.
RCG specializes in infrastructure, operations, and technical consulting ser-vices to business and education.  We de-velop and implement operation, financial, and technology solutions.  We also pro-vide a mentoring and coaching service.
Victoria resident:  I grew up in Waconia and am a graduate of Waconia High School.  In 1997 my husband and I purchased our home in Victoria after living in Minnetonka for over a dozen years.
Why would you want to sacrifice family and personal time for hours of city council work and meetings?  I believe in involvement.  Victoria is a growing com-munity with a rich heritage and a challenging future.  My work and family enable me to listen and devote a signifi-cant time to Victoria and our citizens' suggestions, issues, concerns, and beliefs.
I would like to be a member of a council that is committed to work together in partnership with stakeholders, resi-dents, organizations, and businesses.  The council is the perfect group to lead Vic-toria by carefully listening to all initiatives and making thoughtful, informative deci-sions that will impact each of our lives over many decades.
As you see it, what is the purpose of city government?  Government is a mechanism to economically provide ser-vices to citizens and to ensure a healthy, safe, community-oriented and lively business climate.  Through planning and listening and learning from our past, we can make informed decisions.
It is our privilege as citizens to elect a city government, i.e., the council.  The council's role is to oversee the provision and organization of services that make our daily living more enjoyable and safe.  These services include guidance and per-mit issuance for roads, housing, business and economic developments, parks and recreation, education, opportunities, and protection of our environment. 
What has prepared you to be a leader in the City of Victoria? I have led large business divisions and education services as a Chief Operating Officer, Vice Presi-dent, or Director.  I currently do private consulting through RCG.
I am one of nine members on the State of Minnesota's Higher Education Council.  I sit on Carver County's Solid Waste Advisory Committee and the Carver County's Parks Commission.
I have volunteered in many organiza-tions, including the MN Landscape Arboretum and the MN Orchestra's WAMSO.  I have also served on the State of MN's Solid Waste Management Advisory Council and as Vice-Chair of Loring Park's Neighborhood Association in Minneapolis.
In 1999 I served as a mentor in the MENTTIUM 100 program, an executive development program for 100 selected professional women.  I have developed and led motivational and leadership seminars.  And I co-authored a book, How to Buy a College Education, a consumer planning tool that assists families in mak-ing the purchase of a college education a reality.
I have degrees from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Drake Universi-ty in Des Moines, Iowa. 
In what ways would you continue the strides and successes made under the leadership of Mayor Mary?  Victoria's City Council is conscientiously planning and reacting to unprecedented growth, an abundance of new ideas, and explosive housing and economic development.
I believe that Victoria has no choice but to continue to manage the tremendous growth that will occur.  However, it is very important that we dedicate resources to provide a comfortable and appealing environment to people who may have over 100 years or more of history in our community.
The council keeps people informed in a variety of ways.  As a member of city council, I will want to expand and explore new and additional ways of communicat-ing with Victoria citizens.
What projects would you hope to initiate in the city in the next five years?  Initiating projects within a framework of beliefs is a guide to decisions and projects I will make and support.  As councilmem-ber, it is important to me that 1) resources are dedicated to providing a comfortable and appealing open-space environment, 2) tax dollars are maximized by making decisions that ensure dollars spent today will provide tomorrow's long-term bene-fits, as well as generate additional reven-ue, and 3) partnerships are developed to provide recreation, education, and busi-ness opportunities, 4) infrastructure, in-cluding roads, waste management, parks and open space remain a priority to pre-serve a high quality of life, 5) communi-cation is interactive and consistent; simple, clear statements of why a deci-sion is made must be communicated, and 6) the concept of neighborhood is promot-ed; if we think like neighbors, our deci-sions will reflect community beliefs, support community needs, and protect and maximize available resources.
Who are your heroes or mentors?  I have numerous heroes/mentors, but the ones that come to mind are Harry S. Tru-man, 33rd President of the United States who, despite physical and economic challenges, served his country in a variety of ways during critical times; Dr. Madelaine Korbel Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State, whose dedication to her three daughters and whose persever-ance and influence in enhancing oppor-tunities for women is impressive; and Ted Koppel, currently anchor and managing editor of Nightline, whose tough insight-ful questions elicit thoughtful information.  And my mother, for all of the above reasons.