Amy Hoogstraet
for Nixa City Council
District 1

Who Am I and Why Should I Represent You?

My name is Amy Hoogstraet (HOOK-strat), and I am your neighbor. I am thrilled to be a member of the Nixa community; I love this town and its sense of community and caring! I would like to serve the city as a member of council, and I hope you will allow me that honor.

I grew up in Springfield, where I graduated from Drury University. After marrying a soldier, I spent 20 years away from the area, but it was always "home," and I finally returned in 2017. My husband and I chose to make our home in Nixa because we loved the small town feel and were very impressed with the schools, and we are so happy with our decision! We feel that Nixa is our home, and we have no plans to go anywhere else. We have a 16-year old son and a 6-year-old daughter, and a fabulous miniature poodle named Sam.

After holding various interesting jobs, I left the workforce to become a stay-home mom, which is a move I have never regretted. As my youngest has gotten a bit older and more independent, and since moving to Nixa, I have finally realized my dream of becoming more involved in volunteering, advocacy, and helping others however I can. This sounds cliché, but honestly, helping others and finding solutions to problems are my passions. And when I commit to something, I'm ALL IN!

​

An experience which really crystallized my love of civic/government involvement was when I had the honor of serving on Nixa’s Strategic Planning Advisory Committee this past summer and fall. The committee was comprised of volunteers from the community, and was tasked with culling through public feedback and listening to subject matter experts in order to come up with Nixa’s next five-year strategic plan. It was a lot of hard work, and I loved every minute of it! Working with a varied group of people who had a lot of different opinions and priorities, but who all agreed that they wanted what was best for our community, was exciting and challenging, and I not only made valuable contributions to the process, but also grew from it. This experience left me feeling sure that I wanted to continue my involvement with local government and with helping to bring the five-year strategic plan to fruition. It’s a wonderful, ambitious plan, and I’m very proud to have contributed to it. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in the next 5 years, and the amazing ways in which Nixa can grow and improve!

​

My work on the committee, along with attending city council meetings, has shown me how much grey area there can be in issues involving a city and its residents, and I really enjoy the challenge of working within that grey area to find solutions. With my history of volunteerism, advocacy, collaboration, and leadership, along with my involvement in the strategic plan, joining our city council feels like the next logical step for me, and I’m incredibly excited at the thought of serving my community in this way!

As one of its creators, I am familiar with Nixa's 5-year plan and ready to jump in and facilitate its implementation. As a member of city council, I will do my absolute best to always keep in mind what makes Nixa special and to do everything I can to support and foster that sense of community and friendship. We all want to live in safe, friendly, caring neighborhoods and to have and be good neighbors. Communication is the key to all of that, and the most important part of communication is listening - being able to really put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand their experience. Kindness begets kindness, and I believe that many problems can be solved, or at least mitigated, through kindness and understanding. Oftentimes, the key to finding solutions to problems lies in examining all angles, thinking outside the box, collaborating, and compromising.

Why should you vote for me? I believe that my experience on the committee and my prior involvement in the strategic plan puts me in a perfect position to pivot right into city council. I have made valuable connections and have a great rapport with several of our council members and city administrators, and feel comfortable working with them. I’m continually impressed with our city’s administration, and would be honored to serve alongside them! As someone who contributed to the five-year plan, I am very committed to helping see it through in a way that offers the most benefit to our community. I believe that my education and experiences have equipped me to work confidently, yet humbly, with others and to look for commonalities and ways to compromise to come up with good solutions to tricky problems. I am a very logical, analytical thinker who naturally looks at problems from all angles and perspectives and can think outside the box when needed. I am level-headed and feel comfortable interacting with people, even when they disagree with me. I’m not given to knee-jerk reactions, but rather to thorough consideration of all viewpoints. I’m not running with any single agenda – I simply, honestly love Nixa and want to help it be the best town it can be.

​

I believe that with a great governing body, Nixa can continue to grow, be progressive and innovative, and stay a leader in the region while still remaining true to its small-town roots. I also believe that the more diverse city council is, the stronger it will be, and I’d love to help further diversify our council by becoming the second woman on the current council. I want to continue to be a voice for those who may not have one, and for ALL members of this town I love.

I want to see Nixa be as strong as it can be, to help build bridges, and to further unify us while doing my best to make thoughtful decisions with the greater good of the community ever-present in my mind. I truly believe that despite our differences, we all have much more in common than we may realize, and we all want what’s best for our community.

The bottom line is this: I love Nixa, I want to help improve my community and build on what is already amazing about it, and I believe that my skill-set makes me uniquely qualified to be a productive member of city council. If elected, I pledge to do my absolute best to serve you, and I will always be accessible to my constituents. I am an excellent communicator, and will be sure to keep the lines of communication open, share what is happening, and seek feedback from my constituents.

If you love Nixa's sense of community and caring and want to support that and help it grow even stronger,

Vote for Amy for Nixa City Council on Tuesday, April 6!