Cloquet city council candidate: Lyz Jaakola

Q What in your personal background, characteristics and qualifications makes you good for this job?

A I am an upstanding citizen of the reservation, city, county, state, country and tribe. I work to help people understand governments, history and my fellow citizens. My family has been a part of this community even before they named it Cloquet in 1882.

My 28-year career in education and music performance has prepared me to listen first, make informed decisions and represent with a strong voice.

Q What motivated you to run for city council?

A We have many issues to work through: a pandemic, unemployment, economic challenges, housing, public safety, etc. It's important we seek creative solutions to meet the needs of all citizens. I would like to bring my skills, perspective and integrity to help steer our hometown toward a unified Cloquet.

Q What do you think are the top two issues facing the city of Cloquet and how would you go about tackling those?

A Public safety. Cloquet has faced some challenges and with continued transparency and cooperation we can create a safer city where citizens have more confidence in public servants. Cloquet can more effectively respond to the pandemic, drug trafficking, violence, theft, vandalism and stray animals to create a safer city with fresh perspectives of key officials. The June 6 gathering and march provided a promise of future collaborations. I would support expanding neighborhood watch or citizen policing efforts. FDLTCC has law enforcement students, perhaps we could explore creative cooperative initiatives? I think public safety is about more than just the police.

Unity. Cloquet has had a history of considering the people "up over the hill" a separate population. My life-long experience considering "both sides" has convinced me we are stronger working together. There is strength in our differences. Our community has yet to maximize the opportunities within our differences. Since the 1970s when Cloquet annexed Ward 5, there have been hesitant efforts to serve the needs of all citizens. Creative solutions remain to be teased out of the various jurisdictions, regulations and relationships that would bring unity to our community. Let's put our minds together and see what we can do.