Bemidji City Councilor Lynn Eaton announces intent to run for reelection

Apr. 25—BEMIDJI — Lynn Eaton, who currently represents Ward 5 on the

Bemidji City Council,

has announced his intent to run for reelection later this year.

Eaton, who was

elected in 2022 to finish the term of Nancy Erickson,

shared that he is anxious to continue to move ahead with unfinished work on the city council.

"The city council is in a good position to advance important decisions and projects," Eaton said in the announcement's release. "There are a lot of things in position to make this community an even better place to call home."

Eaton shared that in the last two years, he feels the council has been preparing for the future, mentioning the numerous changes that have occurred since he took office — including hiring

a new city manager

, dissolving the

Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board

, hiring

new management for the Sanford Center

and handling two housing crises at

Ridgeway apartments

and

Red Pine Estates.

"With these matters somewhat behind us, we can now look forward to getting the

Rail Corridor projects underway,

addressing our housing needs, finding ways to finance our capital improvements and making our community the best it can possibly be," he said. "I am ready to help make those things happen."

Eaton has served on a list of community organizations, including the Bemidji Youth Hockey Board, which he was president of for six years; St. Philip's School Board; Sacred Heart Church Pastoral Council; Bemidji Youth Soccer Association; and Beltrami County's Democratic-Farmer Labor Executive Committee, among others.

He is an active youth soccer coach and has coached Bemidji youth and high school teams since 1990.

Eaton was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. He is a 1969 graduate of Aurora High School in Aurora, Neb., and has been married for 47 years to his wife Mary Zavoral Eaton. They have lived in Bemidji since 1984 and have three children: Laura, Todd and Sarah.