Sara Machakaire will throw her hat into the election ring for a seat on the Chaska City Council this fall.

The 27-year-old mother of two will challenge Greg Boe for the seat being vacated by Bob Lindall. Lindall announced last month that he would not run for re-election after representing Ward 2 for the previous 30 years.

Machakaire said her focus will be to provide for Chaska’s residents.

“I promise to work hard to keep our community intact,” she stated in an e-mail. “It will be my goal to work with the residents of Chaska to find a solution that will attract new residents, increase property values, and most of all, help keep all of our taxes low.”

She is also interested in working to attract new businesses to the city. “With my experience working with small businesses, I will work to deliver new businesses, services and revenue to the city,” she wrote. “We need to attract and promote business growth in Chaska.”

Machakaire intends to work on providing quality social programs for the community as well. “Our social programs should reflect the needs of our society and I will work to find funding for those programs that are most needed and essential to our community.”

Machakaire currently works as an account service coordinator with Textron Financial in Golden Valley. She graduated from St. Cloud State University in 2004 with a degree in political science. She has previously volunteered with the Open Arms organization, a group that provides meals to those with chronic illnesses.

She is married to Joel Machakaire, a Zimbabwean applying for his U.S. citizenship this fall. Together they have two children – Justin, 4, and Kyra, 3. They live at 870 Braunworth Court in the Clover Field neighborhood.