Cyndee Fields
Name: Cyndee Fields
Public Office Sought: Eagan City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 952-270-3093
Website: Cyndeefields4eagan.com
Twitter handle: @Cyndeefields1
Facebook page: Cyndee Fields for Eagan City Council
Candidate Bio
Currently serving my 5th term on the City Council. I have served as Acting Mayor in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2014 and 2018. I serve on the Public Works Committee, Human Resource Committee, and Council liaison to Metropolitan Airport Commission, Noise Oversite Committee.
Prior to serving on the Eagan City Council, I served on the Eagan Park and Recreation Commission, Eagan Athletic Association Board, In-House Baseball Director and many leadership roles within the schools.
I have lived in Eagan since 1992. I have raised 2 sons who have both graduated from District 196 schools. Both continue to live in Eagan, now raising families of their own.
I continue to build strong and positive relationships with other community and business leaders in order to keep Eagan prosperous.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Budget – Continued to find ways to keep our taxes low and service high.
Public Safety – Continue to support police and fire in order to provide a safe community.
Development – Making sure we have quality development that supports our businesses.
How would you characterize the business climate in Eagan and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
Eagan is home to over 60,000 employee, with many major business that call Eagan home. Eagan still continues to attract large and small employers such as retail at Central Park Commons and Twin Cities Premium Outlets and large corporations such as the Minnesota Vikings and Prime Therapeutics to name a few.
Our business survey which we commissioned in 2018. 99% of Eagan’s business owners felt Eagan was excellent or good and 97% said they would recommend having a business in Eagan.
What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in, Eagan?
I believe we should always look for opportunities to continue to keep businesses viable in Eagan. In the past I have worked with the developers at the Premium Twin Cites Outlet Mall and the Minnesota Vikings to help pave the way for them to come to Eagan. Keeping an open line of communications with our businesses helps foster great businesses.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Eagan (such as minimum wage, sick time, or mandatory scheduling notice)? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of an ordinance on the many types of businesses in Eagan and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I do not believe the city should be mandating any type of wage, sick time or scheduling notice. That is a policy of individual business.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
Public safety is still is my number one concern. Recently we have transitioned from a volunteer fire department to a full time Fire Department. We have reduced the number of stations down and now can house shifts within the stations. These changes have taken our response times to calls down.
Over the past 19 years working closely with the Dakota County CDA is very important to me. Providing more affordable/workforce housing is and just recently approved a apartment complex that will be a veteran preferred housing and a 204 unit workforce housing which will meet the needs the Met Council suggests through 2030.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
Over the last 19+ years my support for fiscal prudency has landed Eagan with the highest ratings, Moody’s Aaa and S&P AAA Bond rating. Eagan has the lowest per capita total expenditures among comparable Minnesota cities. Eagan is amongst 3% of cities in the nation that have achieved that goals. Eagan has one of the lowest per capita expenditures amongst Minnesota cities with population of 50,000 and the 6th lowest property tax rating of cities of comparable size.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many business, families and cities. At this early point the city could potentially see a net deficit of $990,000 in 2020 and $591,400 in 2021. As a note most of the deficit the city will have we be from revenue not added expenditures.
Recently we have changed from a one year budgeting cycle to a 2 year budgeting cycle. This will help us better predict out our needs due to some of the deficits we may be facing.
What will you do to expand Eagan's tax base?
With the highest job growth in the metro area. I believe in looking outside of the box as we continue to work with business to meet their needs and continue to make Eagan one of the highest job growth in the metro.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
I spent many years involved in district 196. From parent associations to chair of the curriculum and instructional committee. I continue to support the education programs in our community to help prepare our students as they transition into post-secondary education.
Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
At this time, I don’t see any city services that we should be cutting back. If there are other opportunities to have shared services, I am open to exploring them.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Eagan?
We continue to encourage and support minority and women owned business. Eagan does not provide any funding options for any business.
What further policies can Eagan adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
On March 17th we declared a local peacetime emergency due to COVID-19. Essential city services were still available to residents and business. One way we were able to assist out local restaurants who were struggling during their closure was once they were able to open, we temporarily suspending the typical process for restaurants to allow added outdoor dining. This allowing restaurants to open with expanded outdoor seating without having to go through the usual 60 day approval process.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
My dedication to the residents and business of Eagan has never wavered. I believe that residents and business should have a voice in their community and I continue to be there consistently for our community.
Public Office Sought: Eagan City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 952-270-3093
Website: Cyndeefields4eagan.com
Twitter handle: @Cyndeefields1
Facebook page: Cyndee Fields for Eagan City Council
Candidate Bio
Currently serving my 5th term on the City Council. I have served as Acting Mayor in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2014 and 2018. I serve on the Public Works Committee, Human Resource Committee, and Council liaison to Metropolitan Airport Commission, Noise Oversite Committee.
Prior to serving on the Eagan City Council, I served on the Eagan Park and Recreation Commission, Eagan Athletic Association Board, In-House Baseball Director and many leadership roles within the schools.
I have lived in Eagan since 1992. I have raised 2 sons who have both graduated from District 196 schools. Both continue to live in Eagan, now raising families of their own.
I continue to build strong and positive relationships with other community and business leaders in order to keep Eagan prosperous.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Budget – Continued to find ways to keep our taxes low and service high.
Public Safety – Continue to support police and fire in order to provide a safe community.
Development – Making sure we have quality development that supports our businesses.
How would you characterize the business climate in Eagan and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
Eagan is home to over 60,000 employee, with many major business that call Eagan home. Eagan still continues to attract large and small employers such as retail at Central Park Commons and Twin Cities Premium Outlets and large corporations such as the Minnesota Vikings and Prime Therapeutics to name a few.
Our business survey which we commissioned in 2018. 99% of Eagan’s business owners felt Eagan was excellent or good and 97% said they would recommend having a business in Eagan.
What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in, Eagan?
I believe we should always look for opportunities to continue to keep businesses viable in Eagan. In the past I have worked with the developers at the Premium Twin Cites Outlet Mall and the Minnesota Vikings to help pave the way for them to come to Eagan. Keeping an open line of communications with our businesses helps foster great businesses.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Eagan (such as minimum wage, sick time, or mandatory scheduling notice)? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of an ordinance on the many types of businesses in Eagan and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I do not believe the city should be mandating any type of wage, sick time or scheduling notice. That is a policy of individual business.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
Public safety is still is my number one concern. Recently we have transitioned from a volunteer fire department to a full time Fire Department. We have reduced the number of stations down and now can house shifts within the stations. These changes have taken our response times to calls down.
Over the past 19 years working closely with the Dakota County CDA is very important to me. Providing more affordable/workforce housing is and just recently approved a apartment complex that will be a veteran preferred housing and a 204 unit workforce housing which will meet the needs the Met Council suggests through 2030.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
Over the last 19+ years my support for fiscal prudency has landed Eagan with the highest ratings, Moody’s Aaa and S&P AAA Bond rating. Eagan has the lowest per capita total expenditures among comparable Minnesota cities. Eagan is amongst 3% of cities in the nation that have achieved that goals. Eagan has one of the lowest per capita expenditures amongst Minnesota cities with population of 50,000 and the 6th lowest property tax rating of cities of comparable size.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many business, families and cities. At this early point the city could potentially see a net deficit of $990,000 in 2020 and $591,400 in 2021. As a note most of the deficit the city will have we be from revenue not added expenditures.
Recently we have changed from a one year budgeting cycle to a 2 year budgeting cycle. This will help us better predict out our needs due to some of the deficits we may be facing.
What will you do to expand Eagan's tax base?
With the highest job growth in the metro area. I believe in looking outside of the box as we continue to work with business to meet their needs and continue to make Eagan one of the highest job growth in the metro.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
I spent many years involved in district 196. From parent associations to chair of the curriculum and instructional committee. I continue to support the education programs in our community to help prepare our students as they transition into post-secondary education.
Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
At this time, I don’t see any city services that we should be cutting back. If there are other opportunities to have shared services, I am open to exploring them.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Eagan?
We continue to encourage and support minority and women owned business. Eagan does not provide any funding options for any business.
What further policies can Eagan adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
On March 17th we declared a local peacetime emergency due to COVID-19. Essential city services were still available to residents and business. One way we were able to assist out local restaurants who were struggling during their closure was once they were able to open, we temporarily suspending the typical process for restaurants to allow added outdoor dining. This allowing restaurants to open with expanded outdoor seating without having to go through the usual 60 day approval process.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
My dedication to the residents and business of Eagan has never wavered. I believe that residents and business should have a voice in their community and I continue to be there consistently for our community.