Sales representative Neal Gjersvik, running for Freeborn County Commissioner District 1 against incumbent Glen Mathiason, thinks there are issues at the county level that may not be glamorous, but they have to be handled — and he’s ready to get into the nitty-gritty.

“I don’t call it thinking out of the box so much as thinking outside of Freeborn County,” he said.

Gjersvik, 46, points to his dedication and efforts with the Manchester Township board, on which he is a supervisor and has been the chairman, as evidence.

“I have a history, and I think it’s a good history,” he said.

Top on his list of things to do should he become commissioner, Gjersvik said, is to be more visual on the state level to achieve results for Freeborn County.

“The biggest issue to me is to be a good lobbyist for my community’s issues,” he said.

Gjersvik has experience lobbying at the state capital through Manchester Township and as the chairman of the Freeborn County Township Association. He went to Washington, D.C., with the National Association of Towns and Townships last fall to become more educated on his role and lobby legislators.

At the nation’s capital, Gjersvik said he learned the importance of an accurate census, because that is how Freeborn County receives state and national funds. Having a up-to-date census for the county is important to him, he said.

Gjersvik serves on an environmental legislation and research committee for the state and through that work has learned a lot about individual septic systems and problems that can occur.

He said he is passionate about environmental issues and returning land to native prairie grasses as well as reducing chemical spraying of weeds.

Through his work at the township, Gjersvik said he has learned a lot about roads and bridges and is an advocate for retro-reflectivity striping to make rural roads safer.

He sits in on taxation and localization meetings regularly and has advocated for taxation issues with local state legislators.

Educating himself and others on issues — no matter how minor they may seem — is important to Gjersvik, he said. When it comes to issues at the township level, he said he takes the time to learn the details and both sides to the issue. He said he values community input when it comes to decisions that affect his constituents.

“Your choices can’t always make every single person happy, but the choices need to be made from educated decisions, so I always try and do my homework,” Gjersvik said.

Through all of his work with township government, Gjersvik has become familiar with many county departments, employees and policies. If elected to commissioner, he said, he would not be meeting a lot of new people because he is already a familiar face in the government center.

“From day one, I could be an effective and working county commissioner,” he said.

This is the second time Gjersvik has put in his bid for commissioner. He ran against Mathiason in 2004.

Gjersvik said he hates using the word politics.

“It’s local government, and it’s the most important government because a vote you pass affects your neighbor,” he said.

Gjersvik grew up in Freeborn County and only spent a short period of time outside of the area for college or a job. When he moved back to Albert Lea in 1998, he said, getting involved with township government was one of the first things he did.

He has been a sales representative since 1983, working for two medical supply companies and now TEC Industrial Inc., selling power transmission to farms and the agricultural industry. Gjersvik comes from a farm family and helps on his father and brother’s farm operation.

Gjersvik has been married to his wife, Lisa, for 21 years and has three kids ranging in age from 11 to 16. He is involved with his church and helps on his son’s soccer team.