Dan Kealey
Name: Dan Kealey
Public Office Sought: Burnsville City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 952-250-8573
Website: n/a
Twitter handle: n/a
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DanKealeyforCityCouncil/
Candidate Bio
In 16 years of service to the community I have constantly challenged the priorities and programming of the city to ensure innovation and efficiency are never left behind. I suggest common sense solutions and vote common sense. I make wise decisions by reading, listening and learning from all perspectives. Leadership is not defined by single issues, leadership is inspiring others and changing things for the better. Serving on City Council you either earn or lose the support from voters with each major decision you make, however it’s the decisions over time that are the true test of ability in public office. Face-to-face meetings with residents and tax payers keeps me grounded and humble, and our wonderfully diverse population is reflected in my leadership on The City Council as well as in my leadership as Chair of the Board of our City Festival & Fire Muster, where I have lead dramatic changes to create a truly inclusive event that is welcoming to all. We have a low tax rate in Burnsville and this didn’t come by rubber stamping all spending. It came from challenging every department each budget cycle, questioning what our priorities are today and into our future, while also investing wisely in development and redevelopment for growth, and demanding efficiency and innovation at every level of City Government. We are faced with a new era of public safety challenges with behavioral health, as well as an aging community with ever increasing paramedic calls that require more and I have always and will continue to support our Police and fire chief and the staff they need to keep us all safe going forward. Our Resident & Business surveys tell us that Burnsville is a clean, safe and wonderful place to live, work and play and as a City Councilman, I will make sure it stays that way.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
#1) Safety- Our citizens demand a safe city to live, work and play and if they didn’t feel safe, they would move out. We have delivered a safe and clean city and will continue to invest in our strong public safety departments with required staff needs along with investing in technology and efficiencies in all departments to ensure we remain a competitive and desirable City where people want to live or start a business in. $2) Economic Development- After years of pushing our Council to remove barriers to development, I personally pressed hard for opening the door to a flood of development which has been a boom to property tax revenues. #3) Cleanup our Superfund Landfills - This is our #1 Legislative Priority and one that will take seasoned experience and strong leadership to accomplish. This is the key to preserving our riverfront quality of life, our natural environment and our precious aquifer that supplies our drinking water. This is a non-negotiable outcome.
How would you characterize the business climate in Burnsville and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
We have a strong business community with diverse types of businesses form 1 employee sole proprietors to large employers with over 1,000 workers. Our Chamber is greatly involved in our community and sits in leadership roles on many boards both non-profit and others to provide guidance and support to the community as a whole and help keep our businesses educated on trends, challenges and opportunities. A strong business community brings higher job opportunities and attracts residents to desire living here. They are a critical piece of the health of our city.
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, Burnsville?
We are very aggressive in our Economic Development efforts and participate in recruitment and retention of the businesses via our Chamber, business associations and conferences where we can showcase all the advantages that Burnsville offers, in locations to I35W & I35E access, affordable commercial options and our high parks per capital that make our city a better place to live and work.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
I would use part of our ARPA Federal funds to launch a program in partnership with our Chamber who proposed an idea to better market job opportunities and connect workers to those jobs. I would also better connect our Pathways Career program from our ISD19 High School, with those employers looking for workers.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals in Burnsville (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 Burnsville and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
We do not have a government mandated employee benefits requirement in our City nor do I think our City Council would support this. The private sector offers competitive benefits and I don’t believe the answer is government intervention to mandate benefit offering.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you propose to address public safety issues facing your community?
Since first running for office, I have consistently provided unwavering support of our public safety departments and I am currently supporting a proposed increase in sworn officers to maintain officer/population ratios to ensure our brave men and women are not overworked and over taxed to meet the changing needs of our growing community, including new calls for behavioral health response.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
We have an unusually high number of apartments that are affordable based on the age of the inventory, however we are enhancing the selection our residents have with many new amenity rich apartment options being built, as well as programs to help people invest in their homes to maintain and update them.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address transportation issues facing your community? Have your strategies or views changed on transportation since we’ve seen shifts in road use, public transportation use, work from home models, etc. due to the pandemic?
I serve on several transportation committees and boards: MVTA, Metro Cities Transportation and General Government Committee, Met Council’s Transportation Advisory Board, MNDOT/NASA Advanced Air Mobility, and National League of Cities Transportation Infrastructure & Services Federal Advocacy Committee and WEF Advanced Air Mobility Cities and Regional Coalition. These assignments are demanding of time however they have given me a deep perspective of the challenges of muti-modal changes and trends and we are discussing post pandemic transit needs and transportation opportunities as things change almost monthly on how people are returning to work. We see likely permanent change of express serve demands, yet suburb to suburb transit is already back to pre-pandemic levels and growing. Our greatest growth is on On-Demand ride services, MVTA Connect (Southwest Transit is “SW Prime”). Suburban Transit providers innovated this concept which is now being copied by Metro Transit. Public Transit is being used by not only those who cannot afford a car, but by many millennials who choose not to own a car. This demand for transit will continue to grow as we exit the pandemic.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
We have a post pandemic challenge in the levy as we have kept our tax levy increase small by comparison to many cities, by using one-time federal CARES and ARPA funds. However, we have to catch that up while at the same time adding more police and paramedic fire fighters to our staff. This is the largest levy challenge we have ever faced as a city and we are looking for efficiency, consolidation, priorities and deferral of capital improvements where we can to continue to keep the levy as low as possible.
What will you do to expand Burnsville’s tax base?
Thanks to my efforts in leading this idea of allowing more new market rate amenity rich apartments, we are already expanding our tax base after decades of rejecting developer projects. We are in a building boom right now and along with redevelopment projects also happening, our tax base is growing in a very healthy way. We expect this to continue for years to come as we have new development areas in our MN River Quadrant that are being prepared for building with soil remediation.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce? We currently work with our ISD191 Pathways program along with the Chamber to guide student to career opportunities right out of high school with 2 year college degree credits. Burnsville has one of if not the highest PSEO credits in the state and we are an example for other school districts to follow. One example is our Culinary Pathways where graduating Seniors are going right into good paying chef jobs with all the training and experience the restaurants are looking for.
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?
As noted in other questions, I am constantly asking for efficiencies and areas of City government we can reduce or cut. In fact since I have been on City Council we have cut or restructured so many programs and reduced so many expenses that our Tax Rate is low and very attractive to folks considering where to live in the metro. During the great recession when nearly all cities kept their existing staff, Burnsville cut 20 FTE and passed a zero-budget levy when people needed lower cost government the most. We were pretty much alone in that decision, and I lead the way on City Council through difficult policy setting levy changes. 20 FTE was more than a 2 million dollar permanent cut to the budget. In Burnsville we operate on philosophy of efficiency and controlling costs and we have for the 16 years I have been serving on Council. Today for Burnsville it’s now a question of what can we stop doing, rather than what we can trim around the edges. This is a great place to be as we are an attractive low cost city to locate in.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Burnsville?
We work with agencies and our County CDA and also its Workforce development departments on fostering opportunities for minority business ownership. These other agencies are tasked with these areas, however have always wanted a seat at the table to ensure the city was participating in the solution wherever we could.
What further policies can Burnsville adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
I recently tried unsuccessfully to win a 3rd Council member vote to join Council member Shulz and I to carve out some of the ARPA funds to help small businesses with another Grant like we did with CARES funds in 2020. Many small businesses are still struggling badly and are left behind and no one is advocating for them as loud as I have and either the County or the Feds need to provide circuit breaker funding assistance to help these businesses survive the tails of the pandemic. We have loosened ordinances to allow businesses to create more opportunities for marketing themselves and worked with our Chamber of Commerce to ensure they all were updated on flexible options during the pandemic and we still have these allowances in place today.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Being on City Council is a serious commitment of time and some weeks can be nearly a fulltime job with all the committee assignments and Council meetings with hundreds of pages of reading nearly every week. I am committed to do whatever it takes to deliver on the taxpayers expectations and keep Burnsville safe for everyone, while keeping it a lower cost city to locate in. I draw upon my decades of business ownership and deep appreciation for the value of our folks in Burnsville to share there stories and so that I can make solid, well thought out decisions on their behalf. I have been on our local Chamber’s Public Policy Committee to stay plugged in to local businesses as they share their stories. Finally, this is a privilege the voters have given me and I have never forgotten this. Its an honor to serve them and I ask for their support to return for another term to continue the work I have done and offer new ideas for opportunities in the future to keep Business a great place where everyone belongs.
Public Office Sought: Burnsville City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 952-250-8573
Website: n/a
Twitter handle: n/a
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DanKealeyforCityCouncil/
Candidate Bio
In 16 years of service to the community I have constantly challenged the priorities and programming of the city to ensure innovation and efficiency are never left behind. I suggest common sense solutions and vote common sense. I make wise decisions by reading, listening and learning from all perspectives. Leadership is not defined by single issues, leadership is inspiring others and changing things for the better. Serving on City Council you either earn or lose the support from voters with each major decision you make, however it’s the decisions over time that are the true test of ability in public office. Face-to-face meetings with residents and tax payers keeps me grounded and humble, and our wonderfully diverse population is reflected in my leadership on The City Council as well as in my leadership as Chair of the Board of our City Festival & Fire Muster, where I have lead dramatic changes to create a truly inclusive event that is welcoming to all. We have a low tax rate in Burnsville and this didn’t come by rubber stamping all spending. It came from challenging every department each budget cycle, questioning what our priorities are today and into our future, while also investing wisely in development and redevelopment for growth, and demanding efficiency and innovation at every level of City Government. We are faced with a new era of public safety challenges with behavioral health, as well as an aging community with ever increasing paramedic calls that require more and I have always and will continue to support our Police and fire chief and the staff they need to keep us all safe going forward. Our Resident & Business surveys tell us that Burnsville is a clean, safe and wonderful place to live, work and play and as a City Councilman, I will make sure it stays that way.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
#1) Safety- Our citizens demand a safe city to live, work and play and if they didn’t feel safe, they would move out. We have delivered a safe and clean city and will continue to invest in our strong public safety departments with required staff needs along with investing in technology and efficiencies in all departments to ensure we remain a competitive and desirable City where people want to live or start a business in. $2) Economic Development- After years of pushing our Council to remove barriers to development, I personally pressed hard for opening the door to a flood of development which has been a boom to property tax revenues. #3) Cleanup our Superfund Landfills - This is our #1 Legislative Priority and one that will take seasoned experience and strong leadership to accomplish. This is the key to preserving our riverfront quality of life, our natural environment and our precious aquifer that supplies our drinking water. This is a non-negotiable outcome.
How would you characterize the business climate in Burnsville and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
We have a strong business community with diverse types of businesses form 1 employee sole proprietors to large employers with over 1,000 workers. Our Chamber is greatly involved in our community and sits in leadership roles on many boards both non-profit and others to provide guidance and support to the community as a whole and help keep our businesses educated on trends, challenges and opportunities. A strong business community brings higher job opportunities and attracts residents to desire living here. They are a critical piece of the health of our city.
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, Burnsville?
We are very aggressive in our Economic Development efforts and participate in recruitment and retention of the businesses via our Chamber, business associations and conferences where we can showcase all the advantages that Burnsville offers, in locations to I35W & I35E access, affordable commercial options and our high parks per capital that make our city a better place to live and work.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
I would use part of our ARPA Federal funds to launch a program in partnership with our Chamber who proposed an idea to better market job opportunities and connect workers to those jobs. I would also better connect our Pathways Career program from our ISD19 High School, with those employers looking for workers.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals in Burnsville (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 Burnsville and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
We do not have a government mandated employee benefits requirement in our City nor do I think our City Council would support this. The private sector offers competitive benefits and I don’t believe the answer is government intervention to mandate benefit offering.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you propose to address public safety issues facing your community?
Since first running for office, I have consistently provided unwavering support of our public safety departments and I am currently supporting a proposed increase in sworn officers to maintain officer/population ratios to ensure our brave men and women are not overworked and over taxed to meet the changing needs of our growing community, including new calls for behavioral health response.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
We have an unusually high number of apartments that are affordable based on the age of the inventory, however we are enhancing the selection our residents have with many new amenity rich apartment options being built, as well as programs to help people invest in their homes to maintain and update them.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address transportation issues facing your community? Have your strategies or views changed on transportation since we’ve seen shifts in road use, public transportation use, work from home models, etc. due to the pandemic?
I serve on several transportation committees and boards: MVTA, Metro Cities Transportation and General Government Committee, Met Council’s Transportation Advisory Board, MNDOT/NASA Advanced Air Mobility, and National League of Cities Transportation Infrastructure & Services Federal Advocacy Committee and WEF Advanced Air Mobility Cities and Regional Coalition. These assignments are demanding of time however they have given me a deep perspective of the challenges of muti-modal changes and trends and we are discussing post pandemic transit needs and transportation opportunities as things change almost monthly on how people are returning to work. We see likely permanent change of express serve demands, yet suburb to suburb transit is already back to pre-pandemic levels and growing. Our greatest growth is on On-Demand ride services, MVTA Connect (Southwest Transit is “SW Prime”). Suburban Transit providers innovated this concept which is now being copied by Metro Transit. Public Transit is being used by not only those who cannot afford a car, but by many millennials who choose not to own a car. This demand for transit will continue to grow as we exit the pandemic.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
We have a post pandemic challenge in the levy as we have kept our tax levy increase small by comparison to many cities, by using one-time federal CARES and ARPA funds. However, we have to catch that up while at the same time adding more police and paramedic fire fighters to our staff. This is the largest levy challenge we have ever faced as a city and we are looking for efficiency, consolidation, priorities and deferral of capital improvements where we can to continue to keep the levy as low as possible.
What will you do to expand Burnsville’s tax base?
Thanks to my efforts in leading this idea of allowing more new market rate amenity rich apartments, we are already expanding our tax base after decades of rejecting developer projects. We are in a building boom right now and along with redevelopment projects also happening, our tax base is growing in a very healthy way. We expect this to continue for years to come as we have new development areas in our MN River Quadrant that are being prepared for building with soil remediation.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce? We currently work with our ISD191 Pathways program along with the Chamber to guide student to career opportunities right out of high school with 2 year college degree credits. Burnsville has one of if not the highest PSEO credits in the state and we are an example for other school districts to follow. One example is our Culinary Pathways where graduating Seniors are going right into good paying chef jobs with all the training and experience the restaurants are looking for.
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?
As noted in other questions, I am constantly asking for efficiencies and areas of City government we can reduce or cut. In fact since I have been on City Council we have cut or restructured so many programs and reduced so many expenses that our Tax Rate is low and very attractive to folks considering where to live in the metro. During the great recession when nearly all cities kept their existing staff, Burnsville cut 20 FTE and passed a zero-budget levy when people needed lower cost government the most. We were pretty much alone in that decision, and I lead the way on City Council through difficult policy setting levy changes. 20 FTE was more than a 2 million dollar permanent cut to the budget. In Burnsville we operate on philosophy of efficiency and controlling costs and we have for the 16 years I have been serving on Council. Today for Burnsville it’s now a question of what can we stop doing, rather than what we can trim around the edges. This is a great place to be as we are an attractive low cost city to locate in.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Burnsville?
We work with agencies and our County CDA and also its Workforce development departments on fostering opportunities for minority business ownership. These other agencies are tasked with these areas, however have always wanted a seat at the table to ensure the city was participating in the solution wherever we could.
What further policies can Burnsville adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
I recently tried unsuccessfully to win a 3rd Council member vote to join Council member Shulz and I to carve out some of the ARPA funds to help small businesses with another Grant like we did with CARES funds in 2020. Many small businesses are still struggling badly and are left behind and no one is advocating for them as loud as I have and either the County or the Feds need to provide circuit breaker funding assistance to help these businesses survive the tails of the pandemic. We have loosened ordinances to allow businesses to create more opportunities for marketing themselves and worked with our Chamber of Commerce to ensure they all were updated on flexible options during the pandemic and we still have these allowances in place today.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Being on City Council is a serious commitment of time and some weeks can be nearly a fulltime job with all the committee assignments and Council meetings with hundreds of pages of reading nearly every week. I am committed to do whatever it takes to deliver on the taxpayers expectations and keep Burnsville safe for everyone, while keeping it a lower cost city to locate in. I draw upon my decades of business ownership and deep appreciation for the value of our folks in Burnsville to share there stories and so that I can make solid, well thought out decisions on their behalf. I have been on our local Chamber’s Public Policy Committee to stay plugged in to local businesses as they share their stories. Finally, this is a privilege the voters have given me and I have never forgotten this. Its an honor to serve them and I ask for their support to return for another term to continue the work I have done and offer new ideas for opportunities in the future to keep Business a great place where everyone belongs.