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Hoyt picked for at large council seat
By Steve Dunn/Gate City Managing Editor
Business owner Mark Hoyt was chosen by the Keokuk City Council Monday to succeed Bill Olmsted as an at large council member.
The decision during a special meeting followed interviews with Hoyt and three other applicants for the position on May 22. The council asked Hoyt, Chuck Betts and former council members Marian Ealey and Rodger Whitaker about their views on several issues such as annexation, Main Street traffic signals and tax increment financing during the May 22 workshop.
The six council members present May 22 were asked to rank the four applicants, with the top candidate receiving four points, the second-ranked candidate getting three points and so forth.
When the rankings were tabulated Monday, Hoyt came out on top with 20 points, followed by Betts with 16, Ealey with 14 and Whitaker with 10. Hoyt will be sworn into office Thursday so he can participate in the regularly-scheduled workshop and council meeting.
“Anyone of them would do and have done a great job,” said council member Doug Matlick after the tabulation was announced.
“I think he'll be a good addition to the council,” said Mayor David Gudgel, referring to Hoyt. “I really do.”
None of the four applicants who were interviewed last month attended the special meeting Monday. A fifth applicant, Dan Winn, could not attend the May 22 meeting due to his work schedule but has been told he can run for the at large position in November 2009.
“I am excited about the direction the city has been going,” Hoyt said in his application. “The city has a rare opportunity to grow and possibly restore itself to the grandeur that it once was.
“I have spent most of my life in and around construction, and I know to create or build something new or better you must remove or change the face of something old,” he added. “I pride myself on being able to see the forest and the trees.”
The Keokuk native has ancestry dating back to the beginning of the city.
“My family and I are vested in this community now and forever,” he said.
“As a father and now a grandfather, I care deeply about the future of the community for the generations to come,” he added.
Hoyt and his wife have owned and operated Keokuk Pool and Spa in Keokuk for five years. He has 120 hours of college credit through Southeastern Community College where he took mostly job-related technical courses.
He has one child and four grandchildren. He has helped raise two foster children, too.
The decision during a special meeting followed interviews with Hoyt and three other applicants for the position on May 22. The council asked Hoyt, Chuck Betts and former council members Marian Ealey and Rodger Whitaker about their views on several issues such as annexation, Main Street traffic signals and tax increment financing during the May 22 workshop.
The six council members present May 22 were asked to rank the four applicants, with the top candidate receiving four points, the second-ranked candidate getting three points and so forth.
When the rankings were tabulated Monday, Hoyt came out on top with 20 points, followed by Betts with 16, Ealey with 14 and Whitaker with 10. Hoyt will be sworn into office Thursday so he can participate in the regularly-scheduled workshop and council meeting.
“Anyone of them would do and have done a great job,” said council member Doug Matlick after the tabulation was announced.
“I think he'll be a good addition to the council,” said Mayor David Gudgel, referring to Hoyt. “I really do.”
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“I am excited about the direction the city has been going,” Hoyt said in his application. “The city has a rare opportunity to grow and possibly restore itself to the grandeur that it once was.
“I have spent most of my life in and around construction, and I know to create or build something new or better you must remove or change the face of something old,” he added. “I pride myself on being able to see the forest and the trees.”
The Keokuk native has ancestry dating back to the beginning of the city.
“My family and I are vested in this community now and forever,” he said.
“As a father and now a grandfather, I care deeply about the future of the community for the generations to come,” he added.
Hoyt and his wife have owned and operated Keokuk Pool and Spa in Keokuk for five years. He has 120 hours of college credit through Southeastern Community College where he took mostly job-related technical courses.
He has one child and four grandchildren. He has helped raise two foster children, too.
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