Lambert seeks council seat
CITY ELECTION FILINGS
Jan Lambert celebrated her 50th birthday Tuesday by filing for an at-large post on the Brainerd City Council.
She was one of six people to file for Brainerd City Council on the opening day of filings. In Baxter, three candidates filed for city offices. With the exception of Lambert, all of the other candidates had previously announced their campaigns.
Lambert, a member of three city committees, said rather than complain about government she's decided to work on solutions. She and her husband, Brainerd Patrolman Mike Lambert, have lived in Brainerd since 1996 and in the area since 1987. Lambert is a licensed practical nurse at Brainerd Medical Center.
"I think Brainerd's a great city, she said.
An unsuccessful Ward 2 candidate in 2002, Lambert currently serves on the city's Transportation Committee, Planning and Zoning Committee and the Cable Television Advisory Committee. She said her committee experience has been valuable in terms of understanding how the city works.
She said that if elected, she'll help the city follow its comprehensive plan, target areas where annexation to the city would be welcome, attract jobs and protect the city's natural resources. She said she'd like to look at hiring a job "headhunter" on a contract basis, someone who might locate potential employers for Brainerd.
"We still have to protect our assets," she said. "We've got lakes. We've got rivers."
She commended the work of the police and fire department and particularly praised the work of Elizabeth Harris, the city's crime prevention specialist.
"I'd really like to see us embrace that even more," Lambert said.
Since her husband is on the police department she said she would abstain from voting on any issue that would financially benefit the couple. She said any motion that made her uncomfortable because of her husband's position, would probably prompt her to abstain from voting.
Lambert serves on the Habitat for Humanity Family Selection Committee. She and her husband and John Jourdan coach a girls' softball team. The Lamberts have two children, ages 15 and 17, both students at Brainerd High School.
Other Brainerd candidates who filed today but who announced their candidacies earlier were Jim Sykes and Kevin Goedker in Ward 3; Robert Fitzsimmons and Lucy Nesheim in Ward 1 and Andrea Lipovetz, at large. And in Baxter, three filed. They are mayoral candidates Darrel Olson and James Roelofs and council candidate and incumbent Barb Wells.
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.