High interest seen in Marquette trustee race

To say there is a great deal of interest in the two open seats on the Marquette Village Board would be an understatement. A total of seven candidates are running in the Nov. 5 election for those four-year positions on the board of trustees, including the two people who currently hold those seats. 
Incumbents Richard Archer and Dennis Saum are joined by five other Marquette residents seeking to unseat them. The list includes Kenny Aerni, William Gfeller, Jerry D. Jervah, Jr., Angela Pierce and Vincent White.
In September all of the candidates were mailed questionnaires asking them to provide biographical details as well as their thoughts on their candidacies and the current issues facing the village. They were also asked to provide a photo of themselves to be published along with their candidate profile. 
Only two of the candidates responded by the deadline and their responses are printed below and are presented in alphabetical order.

Kenny Aerni
Tell us a little about yourself.  
I was born in Central City and am a farm kid. I graduated from Yankton College with a teaching degree. 
Why are you running for this position? 
I want to do my part for the town. 
What personal strengths and talents do you bring to the position? 
I am a hard worker and I believe in small town living. 
What, in your view, are the top three priority issues facing the village? 
Water problems in Marquette have been here for years and have been passed on to the next generation too many times. I will fight and work to clear our water situation up. 
What goals do you hope to accomplish while serving on the board?
I want to see growth in our town.

Vincent White
Tell us a little about yourself.  
I was born in Lexington and grew up in a small community/village. I am an Army veteran and a father of two amazing young boys that also love the small town living.
Why are you running for this position? 
I am running for office to try and put the people of our very small community first. And to look and find ways to work alongside other board members and the town to do what is best for all.
What personal strengths and talents do you bring to the position? 
Growing up in a small town and other things I have seen how our little towns throughout are losing people and businesses to the bigger cities.
What, in your view, are the top three priority issues facing the village? 
My three top priorities for our small town will be first and foremost addressing the water issues we have, with having some of the most expensive water bills compared to other communities next to us but with way worse water service and pressure. 
Second will be addressing our roads and the unbelievable amount of pot holes etc. 
Third is then just revamping our community and village ordinances and ensuring they are what is best for all of our community members and are realistic to us and our small town and not off of the bigger cities.
What goals do you hope to accomplish while serving on the board?
My goals is to work alongside the community and other board members to help bring growth and new business opportunities to our small town, and keep people wanting to come back and wanting to  stay.