Thank You to the Citizens of Silver Bay

I would like to thank the citizens of Silver Bay for electing me to serve them for the past 12 years on the city council. When I decid­ed to run for city council years ago, I was a new dad to a one and a half year old. It was hard to imagine at the time how my son would al­most be five when that term was over. But three terms and another child later, I have realized that if I were to run and be re-elected yet again, that child that was a year and a half when I start­ed, will be graduating high school by the end of this term. Crazy how fast time goes by. Time and family were driving factors in my decision not to run this time around.

When first elected one of the biggest items in the comprehensive plan was bringing a campground to the city. But first, we had an­other issue to work out. At the time, there was no pub­lic access to Black Beach. What good would a camp­ground near Black Beach be if we didn’t have public access to the beach? In the past several years I have heard people say that Black Beach was better when it was just “ours” and that the City only cares about tourism. However, until the City worked with Cliffs and the State of MN on obtain­ing a lease agreement to have access to the Beach, many of us were trespass­ing on private property. Obtaining that agreement allowed all of us to access Black Beach legally. It then took us several years and many trips to the State Cap­ital to secure funding for our campground. Now that the campground is built and running, the City sees the benefits. The profits of the campground go to the Park and Recreation Depart­ment and in return the City doesn’t have to levy for that department. I understand people’s frustration with tourists, but I would like to remind people that we are all tourists when we go and visit other cities or states. And the fact is, this town NEEDS tourism to survive. According to recent data collected by Lovin’ Lake County, $75 out of every $100 spent in the county on gas, groceries, accom­modations, restaurants, ect. comes from tourist dollars. Knowing these stats, it’s not hard to imagine where our local businesses would be without tourism. Silver Bay cannot sustain on local dol­lars alone.

Housing has been a big pri­ority of the council also. We are working on a Silver Point Two project and also housing along Penn Ave. Another project we have been working on for sever­al years is street improve­ments. I wish the Council of past years would have started setting money aside so that the project would be, like everything else, less of a burden. This project has doubled in cost just since we started to look into it in 2017.

As far as the upcoming lo­cal election, personally, it is difficult for me to con­sider voting for candidates that state the time they have lived in Silver Bay is mere months OR someone who is going to just take up res­idency within the city just for their term. I believe it is important to have lived in this community to know how things work and how one thing affects another. I have worked with Counsel­or Bautch for the last four years and believe he has been an asset to our council and brings experience to the boards he serves on. In addi­tion, since the last election, I have had the privilege of serving on multiple boards that candidate Mr. Fitzger­ald has since joined. I feel he brings a lot of experience from past job experiences as well as someone able to listen to people and think on both sides of an issue.

Lastly, I have served with Mayor LeBlanc for both of his terms so far as Mayor. For me, it’s hard to think of anyone else who cares about this community more than Wade does, from the youth to the elderly. He be­lieves that the most import­ant building in Silver Bay is the school and I would 100% agree. When you vote, ask yourself, ‘Do I see these candidates around town?’ Having a presence in the community is import­ant. You don’t have to look hard to find Mayor LeBlanc in our community. You may find him at the school, the hockey arena, or the golf course supporting the youth around town and being a positive influence to them. You will also see him at every business in town sup­porting them as well. In the last four years he is the only Mayor I’ve worked with who opens his office door to the public for his “Meet the Mayor” meeting each month. He definitely has an open door policy for any­one who wants to take the time to meet with him on any issue or concern. My vote November 5th is for Wade LeBlanc, who truly does bleed Mariner Blue!

As a kid I can remember driving around town with my dad and he would show me different projects that he had some sort of part in making it happen. Over the past few years that has come full circle as I find myself on drives with my own kids talking about lo­cal projects. I hope that my work on the council has in some way served them, as well as all of you. It has been a pleasure to serve the city as councilor and I look forward to continuing to serve our community through my current service on several boards, being an active member of the Sil­ver Bay Fire Department, and through coaching youth hockey. I hope that many of you will also think of ways that you can serve our com­munity. Silver Bay has a bright future and I’m excit­ed for what’s to come.

Stepping aside but not away,
Dustin Goutermont