They appear to be six upstanding, outstanding, understanding people who are looking to be seated on the Victoria City Council in 2003.  Together their education, brains, and life experience could probably govern a large metropolis, but they've chosen Victoria, and now Victoria voters must choose them -- three of them, to be more accurate. 
The 2-year mayoral seat and two
4-year council seats in Victoria will be filled according to the election results of November 5th.  In preparation for that election, the residents of Victoria are invited and encouraged to know the candidates who are looking to be seated.
Jerry Bohn and Richard Tieden, both currently serving as Victoria councilmem-bers, are now vying for the mayoral posi-tion.  Mayor Mary Meuwissen, who is completing her fourth term, informed residents that eight years as the mayor of Victoria were educational, delightful, and enough.
Terrence Bishop, Todd Corbo, Gordon Simanton, and Mary Thun (pronounced like tune) are standing up for two open council seats.  Gordon, who was appointed earlier this year to fill the posi-tion vacated by the resignation of Jim Paulsen, is now seeking election to the seat.  Jerry Bohn's council seat is the other one up for election.
Yes, in a manner of speaking, there is a measure of musical chairs in play.  Only Councilmember Dave Lindgren is not being juggled at this time.  It might also be noted that the melody has been both harmonic and dissonant in recent times.  It's not easy to write a new symphony, and the new conductor will have in front of him overtures already underway. 
Entitled "Critical Mass," the piece is named after the new political beast in town, one whose nature is mostly urban environment rather than small town.  One can look in any direction in Victoria to see that the new species has not only arrived, but has grown into the toddler stage and gotten its fingers into all kinds of things.
Under the leadership of Mayor Mary, it has opened doors to a handsome Catholic high school, extensive remodel-ing of city hall and offices, expansive parks and ball fields, a 500,000-gallon water tower, and several attractive neigh-borhoods with names like Wintergreen, Swiss Mountain, Garden Path, Allegheny Grove, Savanna Valley, Applewood, Watermark, Kelzer's Pond, and Parkview Estates -- not to mention the miles of new infrastructure needed to service those neighborhoods, and not to mention extensive preparations for the orderly annexation of Laketown Township.
Soon that toddler will open doors
to a huge ice arena and gymnasium at Diethelm Park.  Most residents seemed to support Mayor Mary and the facility despite dissension among councilmem-bers themselves.
In addition, steps are underway at this very moment to complete an impressive new bridge and construct new streets in downtown Victoria.  Nearby, three old homes on Stieger Lake have now been burned to the ground by the Victoria Fire Department to make way for a grand condominium complex.  The condo con-struction will add new stripes to the Critical Mass needed to support new downtown business.
Subsequently, and perhaps most excitingly, Hartman Communities is pursuing its plans to construct a multi-retail building on Main Street Victoria.
Downtown redevelopment has been a stated city goal for at least the last 30 years in Victoria.  It is becoming a reality today, not just because of the Critical Mass beast, but because, over the last eight years, the city purchased several downtown properties from willing sellers in wise anticipation of the beast. 
The city currently owns, for example, the properties being sought for the condo-miniums and retail center.  City owner-ship of these properties and others gives control of quality, substance, and style, as well as fair price to those would purchase from the city and develop for the benefit of the community.
It is evident that the stripes and the landscape of Victoria have changed much these past eight years under at least eight different councilmembers, but especially under Mayor Mary who climbed onto the emerging political beast in 1994 and steered it adeptly.  She sits high in the saddle and rides well.  She is not afraid to rope big prizes and pull them into the arena.  She does not shrink from Critical Mass but helps to direct it and limit its tentacles.
So not in conclusion but in the beginning, the new symphony has begun and the first measures have been written.  Victoria is fortunate that there are residents who step forward to help write many more pages. 
The Gazette is pleased to provide some improvisation of its own, in the form of questions to those who are standing up to be counted and looking to be seated on the Victoria City Council.  Thank you, candidates, for your prompt and serious consideration of the Gazette's continuing efforts to inform the people of Victoria.

Click here to read each of the candidates' responses
to the editor's questions.