Each month, Eagle Radio in Great Bend will recognize groups or individuals that make a big impact on our community. This week's Appreciation Month is highlighting the Great Bend City Council. All eight councilmembers and the mayor will be featured with stories throughout the month.
By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
For Lindsey Krom-Craven, born and raised in Great Bend,
there has never been a desire to move away from her hometown; instead, there
has been a goal to improve her community. That is part of the reason why Krom-Craven
showed interest in being part of the Great Bend City Council.
“I want to see more for our community,” said Krom-Craven. “I want to take care
of the people that live here and make sure the young people want to stay here.”
Being involved in city government always seemed like a natural fit for
Krom-Craven with her grandfather being a former county attorney and her grandmother
heavily involved in the League of Women Voters.
“I remember going to my grandfather’s office and seeing how law affected lives
positively or negatively,” said Krom-Craven. “One case could change the way a
law or ordinance was enforced. That was always neat to me.”
Krom-Craven started working at Westlink, then managed Bank of America before spending
the past 10 years at Nex-Tech.
“Nex-Tech is local and always changing,” Krom-Craven said. “They put a bunch of
money back into the communities which I like a lot.”
Investing in the community was a huge driving force when Lindsey submitted her
application to fill an open seat on the City Council last year. Krom-Craven was
appointed to fill the vacant Ward 1 seat last March and then was voted for her
first full, two-year term that started January 2021.
“Once appointed, I had to understand the values that each part of town has. You
have to come together and determine what is best for the whole town and not
always just one area.”
Krom-Craven continues to push for ways to get younger citizens involved with
the city. She would love to see the Great Bend High School Student Council
(STUCO) participate with city processes and receive feedback from the youth.
“I am very vested in making this work,” said Krom-Craven. “I’m not just going
to show up for the meetings and vote. I truly want to understand what I am voting
on.”
Even when the water and sewer rates went up last October, Krom-Craven was
confident the change was going to do a lot of good for the city and its
residents.
“This is going to fix some of the issues that citizens have been complaining
about for so long.”
Lindsey joked she was never adventurous enough to leave Great Bend, but now her
adventure of being on the City Council is trying to make sure others have the
same passion for the town that she does.
“I knew I would enjoy being on the council, but I did not know how much. I do
think it is making a difference and I like being part of that.”