Meet Mark Gaylord: Candidate for Mayor of Excelsior

To the editor:

I’m Mark Gaylord, and my candidacy for the Mayor of Excelsior has begun.

I have served the City of Excelsior as a Planning Commissioner for the past seven years with the last three years as Chairman. It has been my privilege to serve my appointment to the city and would like to continue my service as Mayor.

Many of you in the City of Excelsior do not know me, so a brief introduction of me is warranted. I’m married, with a blended family of four children, and we have lived in a renovated historic home on 2nd Street for ten years.   

We moved to Excelsior for the casual lakeside living, friendly business community, and walkable, porch oriented neighborhoods.

As the current Chairman of the Excelsior Planning Commission, I have played an active role in shaping  the effectiveness of the commission, changing ordinances to foster growth of the City of Excelsior, and have learned a great deal of how the city operates. Over the years as a volunteer planning commissioner, I have developed working relationships with the city staff, council members, and our current Mayor, Nick Ruehl.

I began my journey to the Mayoral candidacy early this spring by discussing with Mayor Ruehl a vision for the future of the City of Excelsior and the need to continue positive changes that have occurred over his four consecutive terms.  Mayor Ruehl has endorsed my candidacy and I intend to keep the forward momentum initiated by Mayor Ruehl and the past four Councils to make Excelsior a vibrant location for businesses, residents, and a destination for our extended community of South Lake Minnetonka.

Mark Gaylord