Primaries: Four contenders up for city council seat
Published 8:01 am Sunday, August 10, 2014
Four men will compete to replace outgoing Austin City Council Member Roger Boughton Tuesday.
David Hagen, Alex Mayfield, Marvin Repinski and Brian Staska will face off in the Aug. 12 primary, but only two will go on to the November election.
Hagen is an Austin native who has been active in several local groups, including the Austin Jaycees, Pheasants Forever, American Legion, Austin Area Commission for the Arts and more. He works at KSMQ Public Television in underwriting and development.
Hagen is also involved with Vision 2020 and is excited for the initiative’s potential.
Mayfield moved to Austin in 2002. After he graduated from Austin High School in 2007, Mayfield attended Riverland Community College from 2007 to 2009, then Minnesota State University in Mankato from 2009 until 2012, and went back to Riverland Community College.
He hopes to earn his degree in political science from Mankato State University.
Mayfield has found several issues he hopes to get involved with, from keeping taxes low to improving the city’s small business climate.
He hopes the city can keep taxes where they currently are, if not lower. He also hopes the city can welcome more businesses into Austin.
He previously ran for Council Member Janet Anderson’s at-large seat in 2010, but lost 6,897 votes to 2,391.
Repinski is a longtime Austin volunteer and retired Methodist preacher. A Yale graduate, Repinski has been involved with Vision 2020, the Salvation Army, and currently serves on the Austin Housing and Redevelopment Authority Board. He has attended city council meetings for years and has been active in many volunteer efforts.
Repinski supports Vision 2020 efforts and said he would also like to find ways to get Austin’s communities of color involved in more community efforts.
Staska has been a firefighter for almost 30 years and also works as an instructor at Riverland Community College. If elected, Staska would like to find more ways to get businesses to Austin, as well as more youth-oriented activities. He also supports the city’s housing initiatives, from rental housing discussions to more attention on planning and zoning.