Pat Bredenkamp, Dist. 5 Cand., Republican

Name: Pat Bredenkamp
Address: 11 Eastridge Ave., York, NE 68467
Occupation: Retired
Spouse: Russell Bredenkamp
Children: Carey Goertzen, Jeryl Owens, Brent Bredenkamp, Jill Fink and Troy Bredenkamp

Q: Why did you decide to run for this particular office?
A: I am interested in county government and I was encouraged by several individuals to seek election for county commissioner.

Q: Have you ever held another public office, and if so, what was it?
A: I served as York County Clerk for 20 years.

Q: What in your background will benefit you in this capacity?
A: I have worked for York County for over 42 years. I worked in the County Treasurer’s Office for over four years. I worked for the County Clerk’s Office and served as County Clerk for a combined total of 38 years. As County Clerk, I was secretary to the Board of Commissioners and I am familiar with the procedures of the County Board. I was as involved in the County budget process. Recently, I have served as bailiff in county court and district court and gained knowledge of county government in the judicial area.

Q: Work experience?
A: A year after I graduated from high school, I started to work in the County Treasurer’s office and have worked in County Government ever since.

Q: Political experience?
A: I was a member of the York County Republican Committee and served as their Treasurer. I was also honored by the York County Republicans to receive the eighth annual Lincoln Day Award for Outstanding Service to the Community of York.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
A: If elected to the office of County Commissioner, I will try to operate York County as efficiently as possible with the least amount of expense to the taxpayers.

Q: What do you think are the primary issues facing the office?
A: I think that trying to keep a tight budget will be a very difficult task with the rising fuel costs and other increasing expenditures and I also feel that County Commissioners will be faced by property owners with their valuations, especially the farmers and the high sales of agricultural ground.


Please rank the following issues by importance, with 1 being the most important — as it pertains to how you see priorities for the county:
Keeping a tight budget
Economic development
Maintenance and new construction of roads
Veterans affairs
Cooperation with the city of York and other municipalities
Other
Comments:
Keeping a tight budget will probably be the most important issue with the increase in fuel costs affecting the law enforcement budget, road budget and hand-bus/busy wheels budget. It is very important to have cooperation with the City of York and other municipalities in order to have a united County working together. Having good roads is a great necessity to provide means for people to travel safely to York to shop, to and from work and for school and mail routes. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the Veterans for serving and defending our Country. Economic Development is probably my least important priority as I feel if we have the other factors in place Economic Development will happen. As stated above in my comments, I feel dealing with land valuations will be very important.