Politics & Government

Dan Gustafson Withdraws from Council Race

On Tuesday, the two-term council member withdrew his bid for re-election.

One incumbent has dropped out of the race for city council: Dan Gustafson put in an affidavit of withdrawal on Tuesday afternoon, reducing the field of council candidates from nine to eight.

Gustafson, a businessman, was first elected in 2004. While in office he went through a drastic change in fortunes after filing for bankruptcy in 2010. Gustafson recently started up a new business venture, , a roving food truck.

In a brief phone interview on Wednesday, Gustafson said his reasons for leaving city government were personal.

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"My wife and I have been talking about this for a while. It's been eight years of public service and now we're going to focus on our lives and our business," Gustafson said. "I love being on council but sometimes it's just time for new things."

Gustafson mentioned that though much of his time would be consumed by Wicked Palate, he was exploring some other business opportunities as well. He said he would still be involved in Art and All That Jazz and other community organizations.

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He said that he'd found working with his fellow council members—even when they strongly disagreed—to be the most rewarding aspect of his time in city government

"I think the biggest thing for me learning the art of compromise. Compromise is what gets things happening, what gets things done," Gustafson said. "There were so many things we got done in my eight years there: We got the soundwalls up, water treatment plant going, funding for County Road 5 and Highway 13, which was years and year of work. It's a pretty long list actually."

"It's been great being on the council and an honor of serving the citizens, but I'm looking forward to being a civilian," Gustafson added. 


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