DEAN KATERNDAHL SAYS HE WANTS ‘TO CONTINUE THAT WORK’
“I am seeking reelection because I think we have accomplished a lot in the past three years and I wish to continue that work.”
And with that Parkville Mayor Dean Katerndahl has spread the word he will seek a second term. The municipal election will be held April 8.
Filing for municipal offices opens Dec. 10 and runs through Dec. 31.
The mayor’s seat at Parkville runs on a three-year term. Katerndahl was first elected in 2022.
“I plan to run for a second term. My campaign will focus on my record as mayor for the last three years, my vision and projects for the future, and my continued commitment to transparency, public engagement and integrity,” Katerndahl told The Landmark in a Sunday email.
Katerndah candidly recalls that when he took office in April of 2022 “The city had been experiencing several years of turmoil, which had inhibited the city’s ability to get things done and had strained the level of trust that is necessary between the city and its residents.”
He recalled: “My focus upon taking office, along with the board of aldermen and the city staff, was to first restore resident trust by pledging our commitment to a transparent government and then putting in place new programs and mechanisms to expand the government’s transparency and increase our engagement with our residents.”
Katerndahl said: “Once we had moved forward on transparency and engaging the public, we turned our focus to getting things done.”
There were a number of issues that had not been addressed during the final couple of years during the tenure of Nan Johnston, former mayor, whose final term was marked by controversy, which included a DWI arrest for Johnston and a major Sunshine Law legal action filed against the city by an area resident.
“Some of these unfinished commitments included such things as hiring our first-ever parks and recreation director and getting the US Corps of Engineers to return to the city to turn the ‘dry wetlands’ they left us with into a ‘wet wetlands,’” Katerndahl said.
“Along with the board of aldermen and city staff we set strategies and goals and began to put in place new programs that would make city government more effective and efficient and enhance Parkville as the place families want to live, shop, play and work,” he added.
“I have a great amount of respect for the aldermen and staff I have worked with and I feel a commitment to continue to support our work to make Parkville the best possible community we can,” he remarked.
“I have enjoyed–most of the time–talking with, meeting with, and working with residents of the city that share our passion for our community,” Katerndahl added.
Katerndahl said his campaign website is deanformayor.org, which he said contains more detail about him, what has been accomplished in the last three years “and what we hope to accomplish in the next three years.”
