BRAINERD — As chair of three of Brainerd’s volunteer commissions, Jeff Czeczok is ready to take his service to the city one step further.
He is one of
two candidates
running for an at-large seat on the Brainerd City Council. Tad Erickson currently has the seat but is running for the Crow Wing County Board.
“I would have gladly supported Tad had he filed again,” Czeczok said during an interview Oct. 12. “And since he didn’t, there’s an open seat, and I thought, ‘Well, if I want the best person to run, then I got to do it.’”
Not looking to come in and make any drastic changes, Czeczok said he doesn’t have any agendas in running for the council.
“I think things are going very well. I appreciate the council right now,” he said, noting he may not always agree with all of its decisions but can understand the way of thinking.
“I think the council has a great rapport, which I appreciate,” he said.
One idea he is interested in pursuing, though, he said, is the potential for using COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to contribute to the operations of Evergreen Cemetery, an organization that has been open about its financial troubles for the past few years. After learning the city cannot allocate funds to the cemetery through its charter, he said the relief funds might be the way to offer financial support.
He also said he wants to support park improvements and maintain good police and fire services throughout the city.
As an advocate of transparency, Czeczok said he is glad to see most of the city’s meetings recorded and streamed on YouTube, as residents have the right to know what city officials are doing and be able to view the meetings.
Availability of meetings also comes into play when communicating city decisions and issues with the public.
“Go to the EDA meeting, go to the Park Board meeting, go to transit, even, Charter Commission. All those meetings are out there,” he said. “And I can’t think of a better way for the City Council, you know, city staff to make what the business of the city is — what’s taking place — other than to show them, let them listen.”
For most meetings, residents can attend virtually, call in and listen or watch them on cable TV.
As far as hearing from constituents, Czeczok said his phone is always on, and he’s available by email or in person if anyone wants to talk about something.
“They got a problem? Let’s talk,” he said. “I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to try and find people that might. … I’m not an expert at anything, necessarily. I just have gained knowledge over the years.”
That knowledge comes from living in Brainerd for more than 50 years. Czeczok moved to Brainerd as a third grader in 1971, attending St. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School and later Franklin Junior High and Brainerd High School.
He began his involvement with city commissions shortly after moving to his northeast Brainerd apartment in 1993 and beginning to use the city’s transit system. He said his interest started when he found problems with the new contractor for the bus service and heard concerns from other residents. He was appointed to the Transportation Advisory Committee in 1996.
“I just felt like I had a knack for helping people,” he said.
He is now chair of that committee and serves in the same position on the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport Commission and the Charter Commission. He previously served on the city’s Facilities Committee and the Walkable/Bikeable Committee.
He previously ran in 2010 among a pool of six candidates for an at-large seat that ultimately went to incumbent Bonnie Cumberland. He lost the Ward 3 seat in 2012 to former council member Gary Scheeler and made an unsuccessful bid for an appointment to fill the open City Council at-large seat in 2014. He also ran for the Crow Wing County Board in
2014
and the Brainerd School Board in 2016 and
2018
, but did not win those races.
Czeczok said he takes his committee service, of which he now has nearly 27 years of experience, very seriously and believes he is qualified for the council position and good at public service.
Czeczok said he wants to protect the services people rely on — like streets, snow removal, water and electricity — while also paying attention to the cost of those services.
“The more you spend, the more you get, and sometimes you have to also balance that out with who’s paying for it,” he said. “And cities, counties, state governments — they have kind of a bottomless pit of money if the elected people choose to go there, and I want to be very conservative and make sure we’re giving people the most for their tax dollars that they can get without really getting too deep in our pockets.”
Czeczok said there is no incentive for public service other than a willingness to serve the people. He said he believes he has good relationships with city staff, a desire to work with other council members to better the city and a lot of knowledge of Brainerd that would help him on the council.
“I’m interested in helping people,” he said. “I’ve been doing it a long time.”
THERESA BOURKE may be reached at
theresa.bourke@brainerddispatch.com
or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa
.
