Luverne Mayor Ed Beasley formally declared his candidacy this week, announcing he will seek another term in office he has held for nearly a decade.

“I am proud to announce my candidacy for re-election as Mayor,” Beasley said in a media release. “Over the past nine years, with the help of the good citizens of Luverne, we have made Luverne a stronger, safer and more prosperous community. I am committed to continuing this progress and making sure Luverne remains on the path of growth and stability.”

Beasley pointed to a few milestones the city reached during his tenure, such as securing over $6.6 million in funding for major projects for economic development and infrastructure improvements. 

“These achievements are the result of relationships I have been able to establish at the local, state and federal levels —-relationships that I am dedicated to maintaining as your mayor,” he explained. 

One significant advancement achieved under his oversight is the $1 million smart meter project implemented without borrowing funds, a success Beasley said is thanks to prudent financial management. The new meters, aimed to save taxpayers a substantial amount of money by providing energy usage data that quickly identifies infrastructure issues, were installed to reduce costs for outages and repairs.

“We have also taken important steps to improve fairness and efficiency within our city government,” Beasley said. “For the first time, we have established structured pay scales for all city employees. We have some outstanding employees that make sure our streets are safe, and our lights and water stay on.” 

While much has been accomplished, Beasley said there is still a lot more to do. 

“We are currently working on a complete revision of the city code,” he said. “It has not been completely revised since it was originally adopted over 40 years ago. In the very near future, the revision will be put on the city website so that you can provide your feedback before the revision is approved by the Council.”

A splash pad at Turner Park is also in the works. With the lowest bid for the work coming in $50,000 over the budgeted amount, city leaders set about to raise the needed funds. 

“Rather than give up or cut back on what we wanted to do, I went to work and was able to obtain grant money sufficient to cover the additional cost,” Beasley said. “We will be starting construction on the splash pad very soon. These are just a couple of the projects that we are working on. I will be talking about others in the coming weeks.”

As Luverne’s mayor, Beasley said he is working for the citizens. 

“The main thing I want the citizens of Luverne to know is that as your Mayor, I am working for you every day,” Beasley said. “With your continued support, I am confident we can accomplish a lot over the next four years. Thank you for your trust and support. I humbly ask for your vote. Together we can make Luverne even better.”