With the June city election in sight, two members of the Dickinson City Commission have taken an initial step toward the mayoral campaign trail.
Commissioners Scott Decker and Klayton Oltmanns both have petitions in circulation to obtain the 300 signatures necessary to begin the process of securing their names for consideration on the ballot.
Decker said he picked up his petition the second week of January and has found a “very receptive” response.
“I’ve talked to some different groups, and will continue to talk to different groups, to see what their concerns are,” Decker said of his early approach.
Oltmanns said he picked up his petition “the very first day that it was available.”
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“So far, so good,” he said of the signature-gathering effort. “I’ve got a team of people that are helping me collect signatures and from there we’re going to form our election committee.”
Both men acknowledged the petition stage as a preliminary point in any campaign, stressed the importance of their experience as commissioners in preparing them for mayoral office and spoke to a forward-facing vision for Dickinson.
Decker pointed to his past in military leadership as a factor that would help in “guiding the city through some rough waters that appear to be coming” due to the oil slowdown and said he had a “good rapport” with city departments that made him an approachable leader.
“I look at myself as someone with a steady hand,” he said.
Oltmanns said the primary motivator driving him to want to run for mayor is his second term as a city commissioner, adding that he’s been “at the forefront of Dickinson doubling in population and helping with the 2035 Roadmap to Success.”
That experience, he said, was important in ensuring “the next commission knows not only where we’ve come from, but where we’re headed into the future.”
Dickinson Mayor Gene Jackson has indicated in the past that he will not run for re-election, but could not be reached Thursday for comment.
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