Lind Mayor Candidates: Incumbent Jamie Schmunk

Jamie Schmunk

Age: 48

Spouse: Gregory

Current Lind Mayor Jamie Schmunk has filed for reelection after serving one term as the mayor of Lind. Schmunk has filed for reelection in hopes of being able to continue to positively serve the community and use the traits she has developed in the last four years.

Schmunk has been a Lind resident for over nine years and said her primary goal if reelected into the position of mayor is to enhance the overall appearance and the infrastructure in the town. As a very visual person, Schmunk explained the first impression of the town is crucial to attracting people to visit or return to the community.

The failing infrastructure throughout the town has been an ongoing concern for Schmunk, and she hopes to continue working with Lind Town Council members to develop ideas of how to improve the town’s overall infrastructure. With the town being 125 years old, Schmunk said there are a lot of issues associated with an aging community and the council continues to work on receiving grants for improvements and repairs to the infrastructure.

Since becoming mayor four years ago, Schmunk has been actively involved in applying for grants to help complete necessary improvements for the town. Schmuck said it has been a huge learning experience to become mayor, but she believes the lessons learned have helped her to remain an effective leader for the town.

The main funding project for the town began during Schmunk’s term is the $503,000 Community Development Block Grant for water system improvements. The town also received a 90 percent grant from the Department of Ecology for the new wastewater treatment facility.

Schmunk believes partial success of the grants the town has received is due to her continuing to build relationships with different members from regulatory and funding agencies. During her mayoral term, Schmunk has attended a variety of workshops, trainings and conferences, which allows her an opportunity to meet with grant funding representatives.

Another source of accomplishment for Schmunk is the hiring of a third, full-time employee for the Town of Lind. Schmunk explained the addition of a third employee has immensely helped the public works department complete essential work around the town and reduced the amount of overtime.

“This addition will make a huge impact on the amount of work we will be able to complete, as we have been understaffed,” Schmunk said. “The impact to the budget will be minimal because we were able to restructure the way we pay our consultant.”

The largest concern for residents in Lind is the constantly rising utility rates and Schmunk said she understands the stress the increased rates have on citizens.

Schmunk said that while the rates seem extreme, the town is actually paying reasonable rates compared to other communities.

“Our rates are moderate to high, and not as high as other towns,” Schmunk said.

Schmunk explained utility rates are increased in order to cover the expenses of town, but the council strives to make the increases as minimal as possible. While Schmunk would like to maintain low rates, she knows it is not plausible with the rising expenses.

“When it’s not paying the bills, it’s a burden on our town,” Schmunk added.

Schmunk said the utility rates can be beneficial when applying for grants when the statistics are combined with the average income per household and small population in the town. The factors show strain on the community and funding agencies are more likely to award grant money to ease the burden to the town, Schmunk explained.

With there being many vacant homes and empty storefronts in the town, Schmunk is continuously looking for ways to bring new residents into the community and is also pursuing options to tear down the uninhabitable homes in the town.

“I think it’s important that our town’s infrastructure is up in running because you have to a certain quality of infrastructure to attract businesses,” Schmunk said.

“When you have issues with water, and sewer, streets, it all makes it very hard to attract folks. So as a town, we’re working very hard to be attractive, and to offer quiet, safe way of life, that’s what people come to small towns for, they want life slowed down. They want to spend time with their families,” Jamie said. “And I think our town needs to promote that.”

Schmunk explained she wants the town to be a place people take pride in and while there are empty buildings on Main Street, Lind residents have done well maintaining businesses.

“We have a lot of personal businesses here in town,” Schmunk said. “Just because they’re not in a building on Main Street doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot.”

Schmunk hopes to be reelected as mayor with the goal of continuing to represent the town in an honest, fair and compassionate way, while promoting the town with the intent of bringing more people to the community. Schmunk believes advertising the town and events hosted by local organization can help provide for the future of the town.

Aside from being mayor of Lind, Schmunk has also been an active member of Lind Chamber of Commerce for six years, on the Adams County Development Committee board for four years and also served four years on the solid waste advisory committee. For eights years, Schmunk has been the manager at the Lind Community Pool, which her husband Gregory operates.

“I enjoy being mayor,” Schmunk said. “I feel like I’m helping the community to help it grow and have a future.”