KEYC reports…

Candidates seeking two open seats on the North Mankato City Council gathered for a candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the St. Peter area ahead of the general election.

Seven of the eight candidates running for the two council seats attended the forum to address city issues including a recent data center moratorium, budget priorities, housing and immigration.

Candidates were first asked about the city’s recent 12 month data center moratorium, with all in attendance indicating support for the current council’s decision while agreeing that further study is necessary.

“I’m not terribly concerned about small data centers, because even if there are small data centers coming into our community, likely they will actually serve residents of our community,” said North Mankato City Council candidate Benton Bakke.

Candidates agreed that additional time is required before moving forward.

North Mankato City Council candidate Bridget Quinton said, “So there is a lot of things that still need to be reviewed, discussed, found out, so I think that the year is the minimum amount of time that we’re going to need to look into this,”