On Nov. 8, Moorhead residents will elect one new member to the City Council to represent each of the city’s four wards. Each will be introduced here in The Extra between now and Election Day.
First up this week: Sara Watson Curry and Cory Emerson, two of the five candidates competing for the Ward 1 seat vacated by Nancy Otto after 17 years of service. Three more – Daryl Moede, Raymond Schultz and Jim Steen – will be featured next week. First-term councilwoman Mari Dailey also represents the north Moorhead ward; her term expires in 2018.
Ward 1 includes Oakport and northern part of the city, with its southern boundary following Third and Fourth Avenues to 21st Street, then along Center Avenue and Highway 10 to the city limit at 34th Street.
Sara Watson Curry
Community activist Sara Watson Curry is something of a big wheel in local biking circles. The Grafton, N.D., native – who moved here in 2001 – is the director of operations for Great Rides Inc., which operates Fargo’s popular bicycle-sharing program. They’re now laying plans to expand their service to Moorhead.
Sara and her husband Joe were among the founders in 2007 of the F-M Community Bicycle Workshop, a nonprofit that gathered, recycled and distributed bicycles to people in need of transportation. She has also worked with Streets Alive, as well as other community programs and businesses as an employee, an Americorps volunteer and an individual who pitches in to help build a healthy, active community.
She credits her interest in this first run for elective office to participation in the Tri-College University’s New Leadership Program in 2009. “It’s all about empowering women to get involved in their community,” she says. “Obviously, I have a willingness to serve, and I believe in finding creative solutions.
“Moorhead is a great community, but it needs to move forward a little bit more,” she continues. “I want to lift up the community’s assets and resources and connect people.”
She points to the city’s youthful population as a special resource in moving forward, along with the rich geographic setting and the well-established metropolitan spirit bringing different cities and groups together. “We don’t need to let negativity define us. We can act in a positive way. I believe in putting our positive energy to work. Lots of people are looking for places to plug in.”
Sara graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2006 with a degree in studio art and art education, also completing a minor in Scandinavian studies at Concordia. She has taken part in several programs focusing on building diverse communities, combating racism and innovative leadership.
The 33-year-old believes she would bring a new dynamic to the City Council. She plans to focus on smart growth and building infrastructure for all neighborhoods, as well celebrating civic pride and identity. “The health of our community translates to healthy bodies, businesses, and infrastructure. When we are able to move, work and play safely, it builds a robust community.”
More information on Sara’s qualifications and platformis available online at sarawatsoncurry.com
Cory Emerson
How long has Cory Emerson lived in Moorhead? Forty-seven years – his entire lifetime. During that time, he has watched the city struggle to keep the Center Mall populated and retain businesses.
“I feel things in Moorhead have gone slack,” the lifelong northside resident says. “The present council has us in a little hole, and business growth has stalled. I hate to lose business to Fargo. We need more support services here in town.”
“I would like to make Moorhead great again.”
Cory attended St. Francis School as a boy, then graduated from Shanley High School. He took a year off after graduation to earn money for college at Dahlgren and Company in Fargo. “Twelve years later, I was still there,” he says with a smile. “That’s where I learned to be a mechanic.”
Today he is the lead mechanic at Pactiv. He schedules and oversees a staff of 10 – part of the international corporation’s local workforce of 130. Pactiv produces food packaging and food-service products at its plant in the Moorhead Industrial Park.
His son, a former team captain on the Moorhead High School Spuds football team, is now a sophomore at Minnesota State University Moorhead. His daughter is a junior at Moorhead High.
Cory appreciates how Moorhead has maintained its small-town atmosphere as the city has grown. He has fond boyhood memories of helping out at the Standard service station his grandfather Charles Emerson operated on the corner of 11th Street and First Avenue North. “I remember going there with Dad when I was just little, sitting on the counter and watching people go in and out. It was a classic family business.”
His father Lloyd Emerson helped out in his spare time, too. His full-time job, though, was as a Moorhead fire fighter, a career that spanned more than 30 years. That’s part of the reason Cory feels strongly about funding city services like the Fire and Police Departments. “I’ve heard they’re looking for two police officers,” he says. “My attitude is, hire them! St. Cloud isn’t very far away. If they need more cops, let’s get them now.”
He expresses some doubts about plans for the Fargo Diversion. “The decisions are above and beyond us at the state level now,” he notes. He strongly supports adding an underpass at 11th Street between Main and Center Avenues, telling of a woman he spoke to who sometimes drives to Fargo and back to get around train tie-ups.
Too, he supports commercial development of the 34th Street corridor. “Right now, it’s wasted space,” he comments. “I wouldn’t mind seeing more restaurants and maybe a strip mall to serve people in the area.” He adds, “I don’t want to see them tear down any more old buildings. That’s our history.”
