BERLIN – Councilman Zack Tyndall officially joined Berlin’s mayoral race this week.
With two months until the filing deadline, two of the four seats up for grabs in this fall’s municipal election now feature contested races. Tyndall announced that he was running for mayor Tuesday, roughly a week after resident Bill Todd declared his intention to seek the position. Mayor Gee Williams, who has not yet announced whether he will seek reelection or not, has led the town for the past 12 years.
“I’ve not been able to go to the supermarket or walk through town without people asking me to do this,” Tyndall said. “I don’t know what the distaste is for the current administration, but people seem to want a different direction. I think I bring that to the table.”
Tyndall, who was elected to fill the District 2 seat on the town council in 2016, is a lifelong Berlin resident. He said he spent a year before he ran for council watching how town government worked.
“I wanted to make sure I didn’t come in not knowing anything,” he said.
Now that’s he’s served on the council four years, he believes he’s got the experience he needs as well as the right educational background — a masters in business administration and a bachelor of science degree in management and finance — to take on the role of mayor.
“I really think the leadership qualities I have would be really suited for helping Berlin move forward,” he said.
Tyndall said that during his four years on the council he’d worked diligently to advocate for the people of Berlin. He pointed out that he was the only councilman to vote against the budget for the last two years and that he also voted against the 20% tax increase approved last year.
As mayor, Tyndall said he would focus on greater community participation and would put significant emphasis on financial decisions and budget development. He said that it was the mayor’s responsibility to make the budget and the responsibility of the council and citizens to critique it.
“That starts and ends with good dialogue between council members and the community,” he said.
Other challenges Tyndall said the town faced moving forward related to roads and infrastructure as well as flooding.
“There’s a lot of stuff that can still be done on the stormwater side,” he said.
Tyndall, citing concerns he received from residents, said he also wanted to focus on public safety. He said there was a need for more crosswalks in town as well as enhanced efforts to control speeding.
Tyndall plans to spend the next three months reaching out to as many residents as possible. He encourages anyone who wants more information on his priorities to visit zacktyndall.com.
In his press release, Tyndall, who was unsuccessful in his bid for District 3 County Commissioner two years ago, wrote, “I have been proud to call Berlin home my entire life. As your next Mayor, I will continue to work with our employees, residents, business owners, and community leaders to keep Berlin a safe and affordable place we all feel proud to call home.”
The town’s election, scheduled for Oct. 6, will be for mayor as well as for the District 2, District 3 and at-large council seats. As of this week registered candidates included Jack Orris in District 2, Jay Knerr and Tony Weeg in the at-large category and Tyndall and Todd for mayor.
