Reed Olson, who currently serves as a District 2 Commissioner for Beltrami County, has announced plans for reelection.

Olson is from Litchfield, MN and studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a local business owner, Olson is the owner at Wild Hare Bistro and the executive director of the Wolfe Center, a local homeless shelter.

Olson was elected in 2016 and says he hopes to serve the people of Beltrami County for another term.

Olson plans to continue to work on issues he believes that Beltrami County is facing, such as managing COVID-19 related concerns. Olson has voted to approve $250,000 for relief for area small businesses due to COVID-19 and has worked to establish convalescence sites for people who contract the virus but cannot recover at home.

“I really love serving the county, the main thing on my mind is our continued response to the COVID pandemic. I am definitely very close to that, working with the homeless population and trying to make sure the people that don’t have a home, have a safe place to go if they do contract the virus,” said Olson.

A healthy forest, clean lakes and rivers is another topic that Olson finds important.

Olson has built valuable relationships with people in St. Paul, since a bulk of the counties funding comes from that area.

“I think that I have some of the connections now with people down in St. Paul that I can do a really good job serving us from that perspective,” said Olson.

Although campaigning will look different due to social distancing, Olson is excited and hopeful.

By — Destiny Wiggins