Kenyon/People
People and participation
74 people who run, staff, advise or sit on boards for the City of Kenyon, with what the council record says about each: attendance, motions made and seconded, and every mention in 130 documents from 2019 to 2026. Click a name for the full history.
| Name | Group | Role | Years | Present | Absent | Moved | Seconded | Mentions | Docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Bailey | Council | Council member, Acting Mayor | 2021–26 | 73 | 21 | 167 | 196 | 790 | 82 |
| Kim Helgeson | Council | Council member | 2021–26 | 75 | 4 | 145 | 180 | 652 | 67 |
| Molly Ryan | Council | Council member | 2021–25 | 53 | 13 | 108 | 116 | 535 | 62 |
| Doug Henke | Council | Mayor | 2019–26 | 71 | 2 | 72 | 80 | 805 | 88 |
| Lee Sjolander | Council | Council member | 2019–26 | 54 | 11 | 99 | 35 | 398 | 61 |
| Dan Rechtzigel | Council | Council member | 2019–25 | 36 | 1 | 99 | 37 | 373 | 46 |
| Don Kirchmann | Council | Mayor | 2022–26 | 25 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 345 | 36 |
| Elana Brunner | Council | Council member | 2024–26 | 19 | 3 | 11 | 30 | 140 | 18 |
| Tom Gard | Council | Council member | 2019–25 | 13 | 1 | 19 | 25 | 28 | 19 |
| John Mortensen | Council | Council member | 2019–25 | 7 | 18 | 22 | 84 | 16 | |
| Richard Nielsen | Council | Council member, Acting Mayor | 2019–25 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 63 | 13 | |
| Deanna Gard | Council | Council member | 2023–26 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 10 |
| Mike Engel | Council | Mayor | 2019–26 | 3 | 5 | 49 | 17 | ||
| Holli Gudknecht | Staff | Administrative Assistant / Deputy City Clerk | 2019–26 | 960 | 97 | ||||
| Mark Vahlsing | Former staff, 2019–2025 | City Administrator | 2019–25 | 745 | 70 | ||||
| Derek Olinger | Contracted | City Engineer, Bolton & Menk (Rochester) | 2019–26 | 431 | 79 | ||||
| Scott Lehner | Staff | City Administrator; EDA Executive Director | 2024–26 | 403 | 34 | ||||
| Scott Riggs | Contracted | City Attorney, Kennedy & Graven | 2019–26 | 311 | 75 | ||||
| Wayne Ehrich | Staff | Public Works Superintendent / Director; Fire Chief (Asst. Chief to 202 | 2019–26 | 276 | 78 | ||||
| Jeff Sjoblom | Staff | Police Chief | 2021–26 | 187 | 62 | ||||
| Whitney Kyllo | Staff | Finance Director (Finance Clerk 2023–24) | 2021–26 | 106 | 27 | ||||
| David Jacobsen | Contracted | Prosecuting Attorney, Jacobsen Law Firm | 2019–26 | 80 | 24 | ||||
| Matt Bartel | Staff | Municipal Liquor Store Manager | 2019–26 | 77 | 27 | ||||
| George Eilertson | Contracted | Financial consultant, Northland Securities | 2019–26 | 57 | 23 | ||||
| Frank Boyles | Former staff, 2019–2025 | Interim City Administrator | 2024–25 | 51 | 11 | ||||
| Randy Eggert | Staff | KMU Operations / Utility Superintendent (electric & water) | 2019–26 | 48 | 28 | ||||
| Michelle Otte | Staff | Library Director | 2019–25 | 43 | 18 | ||||
| Kathy Flikke | Former staff, 2019–2025 | Finance Clerk | 2021–23 | 43 | 29 | ||||
| Cora Boelman | Former staff, 2019–2025 | CEDA Economic Development Specialist (EDA staff) | 2022–24 | 41 | 9 | ||||
| Bob Peterson | Boards | Yard-sale / donations contact | 2021–26 | 36 | 11 | ||||
| Kevin Anderson | Boards | Member (12/2026) | 2019–26 | 33 | 18 | ||||
| Sue Dodds | Staff | Finance Clerk (26 years to Jan 2022); part-time finance help 2025–26 | 2019–26 | 30 | 21 | ||||
| Jon Meyers | Boards | Commissioner (term to 02/2028) | 2021–26 | 30 | 13 | ||||
| Jim Malloy | Boards | Commissioner (term to 02/2027) | 2019–26 | 26 | 15 | ||||
| Todd Kieffer | Contracted | EDA Executive Director, CEDA | 2024–26 | 24 | 7 | ||||
| Nate Craig | Staff | Public Works Worker | 2022–26 | 24 | 4 | ||||
| Joe Sathe | Contracted | City Attorney, Kennedy & Graven (alternate) | 2021–25 | 21 | 11 | ||||
| Armani Tucker | Staff | Police Officer | 2024–26 | 20 | 9 | ||||
| Jerry Houglum | Boards | Commissioner (term to 12/2026) | 2023–26 | 20 | 9 | ||||
| Josh Johnson | Staff | KMU line workers / fire volunteers | 2024–26 | 17 | 15 | ||||
| Lee Skillestad | Former staff, 2019–2025 | Fire Chief | 2019–23 | 17 | 6 | ||||
| Rachel Goven | Staff | Part-time office staff | 2026–26 | 16 | 7 | ||||
| Mitch Taylor | Staff | Police Officer | 2021–26 | 16 | 13 | ||||
| Linda Bean | Former staff, 2019–2025 | Administrative Assistant | 2021–25 | 15 | 10 | ||||
| Mary Klatt | Boards | Medallion Hunt prize contact | 2022–26 | 14 | 7 | ||||
| Heidi Haugen | Boards | Garden plot contact ($10/season) | 2022–25 | 13 | 8 | ||||
| Stu Campbell | Boards | EDA Board member (term to 12/2028) | 2019–25 | 12 | 6 | ||||
| Chris Mallery | Boards | EDA Board member (term to 12/2026) | 2021–26 | 10 | 7 | ||||
| Bailey Ament | Boards | Member (term to 12/2028) | 2023–26 | 10 | 6 | ||||
| John Cambronne | Boards | Commissioner (term to 02/2028) | 2024–26 | 9 | 6 | ||||
| Bev Emerson | Boards | Board member (term to 12/2026) | 2022–24 | 8 | 4 | ||||
| Kelly Kreisler | Boards | Commissioner (term to 02/2028) | 2023–26 | 8 | 4 | ||||
| Chrissy Alexander | Staff | Pool Manager (seasonal) | 2025–26 | 7 | 5 | ||||
| Jed Johnson | Staff | KMU line workers / fire volunteers | 2024–26 | 7 | 6 | ||||
| Kayla Larkin | Boards | Board member (term to 12/2027) | 2022–25 | 7 | 5 | ||||
| Kelly Perry | Former staff, 2019–2025 | Finance Director | 2023–23 | 6 | 5 | ||||
| Renee Caron | Boards | Board member (term to 12/2028) | 2025–26 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| Tedd Pederson | Boards | Member (term to 12/2026) | 2023–24 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| Heather DeWitz | Staff | Part-time office staff | 2026–26 | 5 | 3 | ||||
| Zach Bubany | Former staff, 2019–2025 | CEDA (EDA staff) | 2024–24 | 5 | 3 | ||||
| Bryana Lothert | Boards | Board member (term to 12/2028) | 2025–26 | 5 | 3 | ||||
| Jill Warner | Boards | Member (term to 12/2027) | 2025–25 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Taylor Eggert | Boards | Member (term to 12/2028) | 2026–26 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Cathy Whipple | Boards | Board member (term to 12/2026) | 2024–24 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Barb Bonde | Former staff, 2019–2025 | Assistant Librarian | 2022–22 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Jeremy Eggert | Staff | Assistant Fire Chief | 2024–24 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Dave Vandergon | Boards | Startup committee organizers (Oct 2024 letter) | 2024–24 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Paul Senjem | Boards | Flag reservations | 2019–19 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Abby Dahlgren | Boards | Vice President | 2022–22 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Dan Englund | Staff | Police Officer | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Misty Englund | Staff | Police Officer | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Brian Mork | Staff | Public Works Worker | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Robin Wipperling | Boards | Member (Goodhue County Historical Society rep) | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Tina Leininger | Boards | Secretary | – | 0 | 0 |
Attendance is counted only for council members from the roll call in each set of minutes (109 meetings; 2020 is missing from the city's archive). Motions are parsed from "Motion by X seconded by Y" lines, 898 in all. Mentions count surname matches, so common surnames overstate. Sources: council packets, agendas and minutes on cityofkenyon.gov; roster from City Hall.
Notable people from Kenyon's past
1860–1947
Andrew J. Volstead
Congressman; author of the Volstead Act
1866–1946Clifford L. Hilton
Minnesota Attorney General and Supreme Court justice
1853–1925C. L. Brusletten
Postmaster, banker, state representative
1871–1947Mabel Johnson Leland
Lecturer and translator of Norwegian literature
born 1951Steve Sviggum
Speaker of the Minnesota House, 1999–2007
born 1943Stephanie Edwards
Television host; the Rose Parade on KTLA
born 1964Mark Rein-Hagen
Creator of Vampire: The Masquerade
born 1983Luke Redfield
Singer-songwriter