News Benton County Supervisor Candidate Profile: Dave Redlinger

Editor's Note: Vinton City Council member Dave Redlinger is a Republican candidate for the Benton County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat. Below, in his own words, is Dave's summary of his experience and his vision for Benton County:

I spent my early childhood working on our family dairy farm in southern Minnesota where I learned the meaning of a hard day’s work.  Our family moved from the farm to Benton County in 1984 and eventually settled in Vinton.  I attended high school in Vinton and later studied at Kirkwood Community College.  I have been employed at Transamerica Capital Management since 2007 where I work as an Institutional Operations Specialist. 

My wife Kristen and I have four beautiful daughters, Makenzie, Makayla, Madison and Maren.  Kristen is the owner of Total Image Salon in Vinton.   Makenzie just completed her freshman year of college and has accepted an internship opportunity in Lincoln, Nebraska for the summer.  Makayla will be a senior this fall, followed by Madison as junior and Maren in fourth grade.   My wife and I are both very active in the community. I am currently a member of the Vinton RAGBRAI Committee.  I have served as a Vinton Post-prom volunteer and as an assistant high school wrestling coach. We are also members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Vinton.

I have had the privilege of serving as a member of the Vinton City Council for the last eight years where I currently serve as Mayor Pro Tem. Through my work on the council, I have gained a great deal of hands on, practical experience in local government and budgeting. After many years of difficult budgeting sessions, I have earned a reputation as a tough fiscal conservative.   I am not afraid to voice my opinion and fight to protect the tax payer.  As a member of the council I helped to manage the needs of the community through the Flood of 2008.  I was involved in the very tough decisions that came about as part of the recovery and the FEMA buyouts.  This experience was put to use again with windstorms in 2011.

I believe the current Board of Supervisors has done a good job of dealing with the issues as they arise.   I would like to see the board focus on more long term planning when dealing with the issues of rural infrastructure and road improvement.   Agriculture is absolutely vital to Benton County and we must be able to provide dependable and safe routes for our farmers to bring their goods to market.   I would also promote a long term solution to the landfill issue.  I believe with proper planning, we may be able to provide a viable, cost effective, long term plan to resolve this issue.

I hope to have opportunity to put my proven leadership and experience to work for the citizens of Benton County.