City Council holds forum

The St. Joseph City Council held a candidate forum last Friday, Oct. 23, in City Hall. Candidates Tayla DeMarce and Jon Hazen answered four questions given ahead of time to allow time to prepare, and two unknown questions to show their ability to think on the fly. Candidate Andrew Mooney could not attend because of a serious family health issue, according to KNSIRadio.

St. Joseph Mayor Adam Scepaniak led the forum and asked questions of the candidates. He put emphasis on the forum not being a heated political debate, but rather a discussion and a place to simply put out views. Following the scheduled questions, attending residents had the opportunity to ask one-on-one questions.

The forum opened with both candidates speaking about who they are and their experience.

Hazen talked about living in St. Joseph for most of his life. He got his degree in behavioral psychology at St. Cloud State University, where he lived until moving back to raise a family in St. Joseph with his wife.

“We wanted to raise our family in a community that was welcoming. Now I am happy to say that we have four beautiful children, and we have lived in our house since 2016 off East Able Street. I just love our town,” Hazen said.

DeMarce has lived in St. Joseph for the past 12 years. Her son attends Kennedy Community School. She spoke about her civic experience as the human rights representative on the St. Cloud Human Rights Commission.

“I’m still learning the ropes of that,” said DeMarce. “I just really want the people of St. Joseph to have a voice and know what is going on within their local government and within their backyard.”

Previously a councilor in 2022, Hazen spoke on his civic experience, including running against Scepaniak for Mayor in 2024.

“I learned a lot about our city, our businesses, our neighbors, our people. It just taught me a lot about what it is to be a community,” Hazen said.

He has been the chair of the planning commission for the last two years, is the president of the St. Joseph Lions and the president of St. Joseph Area Dollars for Scholars, which his father started back in 1996.

“I’m proud to say that I was able to continue his legacy in that program, and to this day we’ve given over a quarter of a million dollars to local area students here in St. Joseph and graduates,” Hazen said.

The candidates then spoke about what they thought the strengths of the city were.

“One of the great strengths I believe St. Joseph has is that it is a very well-knit community. The people of St. Joseph know what they’re doing, and even if they don’tknow what they’re doing, I would like for them to be able to come to me and ask any questions and get the answers that they need,” DeMarce said.

Hazen agreed with her, echoing her sentiments on the culture of the town.

“For me, it’s our community. It’s the sense of community that we have here in St. Joseph… We are like no other city, and I will say that through and through. We are unique,” Hazen said. “We have an opportunity again to build foundations, to be a growing community. I really think that our strength again lies in our community and its residents and small-town feel, but man, we have big heart.”

When asked why they are running for City Council, both candidates had prepared answers.

“I’m running for city council just because I want to see the future of St. Joseph grow and grow responsibly… I want to be a part of the conversation, talk with all of its residents, although I might not have all the answers,” Hazen said. “I’m running because I want to see our city flourish. I want to see our businesses grow. I want to see our parks and recs continue to grow. I’m running because I truly have a passion to serve.”

DeMarce is also running with hopes of benefiting local involvement and making a difference.

“The thing that I keep falling back on is that I want to make local government accessible, and I want to make sure everybody knows what is going on within their community. So, people can have a fair say and be heard if there are disagreements,” DeMarce said. “My main thing is accessible government and making sure that the people of St. Joseph know that they are definitely heard.”

The final scheduled question asked the candidates why residents should vote for them this fall.

DeMarce spoke about how this is something she’s doing to step out of her comfort zone and how she wants her son to be proud of her.

“I’ve definitely been an observer for most of my life. I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore. Whether it makes me nervous, anxious, excited or scared, I just want to be able to step out of my comfort zone. Hopefully, my son will be like, “Yeah, my mom’s really cool.” That’s why that’s awesome. I think all parents aspire to that,” DeMarce said.

Hazen spoke about his goals for St. Joseph and he plans to address the growing city population and work with the council to come to solutions.

“I’m not running because I think everything is wrong with our city. I’m running because I believe that we have tremendous opportunity ahead of us. I really want us to grow responsibly. We’re a city of 7,000, and they say in five to ten years, we’re going to be a city of 10,000. With that comes some growing pains,” Hazen said. “I’m running to keep our community happy, positive and upbeat.”