Danna Elling Schultz
Name: Danna Elling Schultz
Public Office Sought: Hastings Mayor
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 651-270-1655
Website: dannaformayor2018.org
Twitter Handle: @Dannaelling
Facebook: Danna for Mayor
Candidate Bio
Graduate, University of Minnesota, B.A journalism.
31 year resident of Hastings.
16-year member of the Hastings City Council, served as Acting Mayor; former member of Hastings Economic Development and Rehabilitation Authority; served as chair of Planning Commission, member Parks and Recreation Commission. Current member, Vermillion Street Corridor Commission. During my tenure, the mayor and Council oversaw the creation/addition or development of:
21-year staff member of MN Senate, work with legislators on E-12 and higher education legislation and research
Recreational interests: hiking, biking, skiing, reading, dancing, movies and dinner with friends.
Business climate
1. How would you characterize the business climate in Hastings?
Things are on an upswing since the end of the Great Recession and the opening of the new Hastings Bridge. We have added new businesses downtown, including restaurants and a brewery and saw others expand. However, more needs to be done. Our Target closed in February and that vacant space on the west entrance to our city needs to be filled. We need to provide more shopping options for residents, and encourage businesses to locate in our city or expand.
I’m very excited to be a part of the Vermillion Street Corridor Commission, which includes city staff, business and lay community members. We have been discussing and studying how to update the corridor, and provide ways to slow traffic (this is also Highway 61) and get people to stop and visit our city and spend money at our local businesses. I have received positive feedback and hope we can move forward with our consultants soon.
2. What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and how would your administration actively solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in, Hastings?
First, I think we need incentives to bring more businesses to Hastings. We lowered our WAC/SAC fees by 25 percent in 2017. The Met Council brought new recommendations on SAC that will make determinations easier, faster and simpler; determinations on remodels will have fewer “surprise” charges, SAC credits will be simpler to obtain and restaurants will receive twice the amount of free outdoor space for patio and sidewalk seating. These are major changes for our city.
We already host an “open for business” opportunity at city hall regularly and I also believe we should conduct Business Fairs with the Chamber to provide information and incentives for businesses interested in our city.
A Tourism Committee with council/chamber/business representation already exists, but I would like to convene a Task Force that includes school district and county officials, citizens and businesses to promote the great opportunities we have to offer (we were recently named the Number 1 city in the metro for day trips!) Besides bringing in tourism dollars, promoting our city will also help bring in businesses, and also more families that will help the school district and create demand for the products and services businesses have to offer. Seventy-five percent of Hastings residents are commuters; I believe we should promote the fact that Hastings is close to the metro, that the commute is not a traffic snarl and that we provide opportunities for people to work from home easily (we have a joint agreement with Dakota County on Broadband/Fiber Optic Internet infrastructure). I want to make our city appealing to consumers: a safe and inviting community with parks, trails/ other recreational offerings, good schools and quality housing. These are the things that are most likely to entice businesses to locate or expand in our great city.
As Mayor, I will attend, along with economic development officials, business fairs/economic development conferences to speak one-on-one with potential businesses.
3. Will you commit to hiring a business advocate as a member of your senior staff, to concentrate on business retention and expansion; new business recruitment; and business impact of proposed regulations on the business climate in Hastings?
Yes. The city’s economic development director just changed jobs, and a search is on for a replacement. When I served on the council I was instrumental in setting up our economic development authority and advocated for a development director. It is a necessary staff position.
4. Do you support an increase to the minimum wage in Hastings? If so, what specific steps would you take to understand the impact of an increase on the many types of businesses in Hastings and do you support proposals to mitigate the effects on businesses like a tip credit, a youth wage, a training wage, and/or a phase-in?
At this time, I don’t believe that this would be a benefit to Hastings overall. We border Prescott, WI and I feel we would lose businesses and potentially close some if an increase were put in place now. Because of our location (proximity to WI and Red Wing/Goodhue County) this would put a damper on business expansion/start-up right now.
Because of workforce shortages, local business owners tell me they are paying well above the statewide minimum wage in order to keep quality employees.
5. Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Hastings (such as mandatory sick time or scheduling notice)? If so, what specific steps would you take to understand the impact of an increase on the many types of businesses in Hastings and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
Please see answer above. As Mayor, I would make sure to hold extensive public hearings, and business/community roundtables to ensure information could be provided in a non-biased and organized manner. I have pledged to have an open-door office policy, and I will carry that forward if I am elected. I will also reach out to the community to get their input and feedback.
Public safety
6. What is your strategy to address public safety concerns?
The Hastings Police Department faces numerous retirements soon. We need to prepare for that so we are able to fill soon-to-be open spots, and help train new personnel using the experience and expertise of our retiring staff. We need to provide incentives for employees to give early notice so we can keep a rolling schedule of potential new hires who can benefit from the expertise of our retiring staff.
Budget
7. What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
8. How do you view the relationship between commercial and residential property taxes?
Hastings is primarily “residential rooftops”, so our tax base is affected by decreasing or increasing home values. Tax capacity for 2019 is expected to increase by 8 percent for homes, and increase slightly for small businesses. Large “big box” commercial valuations declined. Sadly, this is our reality as online shopping increases, cutting into big box sales. We need to do what we can to expand shopping opportunities and encourage Hastings residents to shop in town and in our stores. It appears that the city could keep the tax rate at .58 in 2019, if not lower.
As we set our budget, we need to keep a balance between our residential and commercial tax bases. As former chair of the Finance Committee, I have been deeply involved in striking this balance. During the recession, we worked hard to keep our levy in check so residents and businesses weren’t hit with increasing taxes.
Hastings has not been a “fee” city--sometimes our tax rate is higher, but we don’t charge a street light fee, etc like some other communities.
9. What will you do to expand Hastings’s tax base?
Please see answers to many of the above questions: WAC/SAC changes, business incentives, tourism, residential development, etc.
We need keep the momentum for the River Confluence Project (redevelopment of Hudson Sprayers property) moving forward.
Workforce development
10. How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
This is vitally important and business leaders/small business owners in the community have spoken to me about workforce needs. We have numerous opportunities to make necessary changes:
We have a strong school district that is known throughout the metro area as providing an excellent education. We can use that to our advantage in getting well-educated workers to our community. I would like to discuss with MinnState leaders the possibility of a community or technical college campus satellite in Hastings. This could jumpstart business development, encourage students to stay in Hastings, and create jobs.
We are strategically located near Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College, so I would encourage and provide incentives to business that will offer a career-pathways program that will provide on-the-job training for students before and after they graduate.
11. What do you see as the mayor’s role with regard to public schools in Hastings?
I believe it is in our community’s best interest to have a strong city/school connection. I would convene a task force with city and district officials, residents and students to design a plan to bring more students/families into Hastings, boost tourism and jump-start new residential building.
Other
12. What is the biggest challenge facing the city and how would you address it?
Creating business and employment opportunities through improved workforce development, housing and transportation options. Helping businesses find and attract the workers they need so they can continue to thrive or expand is key. This, in turn, will lead to more employment opportunities for residents. But we will need to maintain quality housing, shopping, recreational and educational opportunities to keep those new employees in town.
13. What would be your top three priorities if elected?
14. What do you think should be the city’s top transportation related priority?
I will work with the Met Council to get a Memorandum of Understanding to get a bus to Hastings. This is a great workforce development tool for us.
Circulator transportation enhancements around the city; potential commuter bus. Hastings is not part of the Transit taxing district. Even if we were part of the taxing district, we are not assured we would get bus service anytime soon. Many people have spoken to me about the need for some sort of bus route to take people not only to St. Paul, but also to other parts of Dakota County. This also plays into the workforce development issue.
15. Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Or, are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
As the recession hit, we cut 20 city staff positions. We also cut back some positions to part-time (30 hours/week). So we are currently operating with bare bones staffing in many departments and may be understaffed in some key areas. Hastings has a long tradition of providing those core services that are essential for a city our size to thrive.
It is difficult for Hastings to share services with other entities because we are almost an “island”, cut off from Cottage Grove by the river, and over 15 miles to Rosemount. We do have a fire/EMS agreement with surrounding small towns, but WE provide service to them!
And, Hastings is very proud of its police and fire departments. They provide excellent service to our community.
I would certainly entertain the idea of having regular, broader discussions with department heads about their needs and opportunities and the services they provide.
16. Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Married to Doug Schultz for 33 years; Doug is former editor of the Hastings Star Gazette.
We have two daughters Libby (27) and Abigail (23), both Hastings High School graduates; Abigail currently teaches part-time at HHS; Libby is a communications staff member at MnDOT; one dog, Maggie and two cats, Ringo and Tux.
I have lived with my family in Hastings for over 31 years; it is our home. Hastings appealed to us not just because of the small-town friendliness, but also because of the great natural amenities (we have three rivers, a regional park and a state park near by…!), and its proximity to the metro area.
As our daughters got older, we appreciated the great school district and its many opportunities, recreational offerings and safe neighborhoods. Hastings was really moving forward until the Great Recession; I hope we can work together to revive residential investment and encourage and provide more incentives for new businesses.
Public Office Sought: Hastings Mayor
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 651-270-1655
Website: dannaformayor2018.org
Twitter Handle: @Dannaelling
Facebook: Danna for Mayor
Candidate Bio
Graduate, University of Minnesota, B.A journalism.
31 year resident of Hastings.
16-year member of the Hastings City Council, served as Acting Mayor; former member of Hastings Economic Development and Rehabilitation Authority; served as chair of Planning Commission, member Parks and Recreation Commission. Current member, Vermillion Street Corridor Commission. During my tenure, the mayor and Council oversaw the creation/addition or development of:
- At least five new neighborhoods, each with its own park
- Completion of the 25-mile loop bicycle trail system
- Riverfront Renaissance
- Reinvestment in many of the city’s older parks
- Improvements to infrastructure in aging neighborhoods
- Worked with national, state and local officials for the construction of the new Hastings Bridge.
21-year staff member of MN Senate, work with legislators on E-12 and higher education legislation and research
Recreational interests: hiking, biking, skiing, reading, dancing, movies and dinner with friends.
Business climate
1. How would you characterize the business climate in Hastings?
Things are on an upswing since the end of the Great Recession and the opening of the new Hastings Bridge. We have added new businesses downtown, including restaurants and a brewery and saw others expand. However, more needs to be done. Our Target closed in February and that vacant space on the west entrance to our city needs to be filled. We need to provide more shopping options for residents, and encourage businesses to locate in our city or expand.
I’m very excited to be a part of the Vermillion Street Corridor Commission, which includes city staff, business and lay community members. We have been discussing and studying how to update the corridor, and provide ways to slow traffic (this is also Highway 61) and get people to stop and visit our city and spend money at our local businesses. I have received positive feedback and hope we can move forward with our consultants soon.
2. What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and how would your administration actively solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in, Hastings?
First, I think we need incentives to bring more businesses to Hastings. We lowered our WAC/SAC fees by 25 percent in 2017. The Met Council brought new recommendations on SAC that will make determinations easier, faster and simpler; determinations on remodels will have fewer “surprise” charges, SAC credits will be simpler to obtain and restaurants will receive twice the amount of free outdoor space for patio and sidewalk seating. These are major changes for our city.
We already host an “open for business” opportunity at city hall regularly and I also believe we should conduct Business Fairs with the Chamber to provide information and incentives for businesses interested in our city.
A Tourism Committee with council/chamber/business representation already exists, but I would like to convene a Task Force that includes school district and county officials, citizens and businesses to promote the great opportunities we have to offer (we were recently named the Number 1 city in the metro for day trips!) Besides bringing in tourism dollars, promoting our city will also help bring in businesses, and also more families that will help the school district and create demand for the products and services businesses have to offer. Seventy-five percent of Hastings residents are commuters; I believe we should promote the fact that Hastings is close to the metro, that the commute is not a traffic snarl and that we provide opportunities for people to work from home easily (we have a joint agreement with Dakota County on Broadband/Fiber Optic Internet infrastructure). I want to make our city appealing to consumers: a safe and inviting community with parks, trails/ other recreational offerings, good schools and quality housing. These are the things that are most likely to entice businesses to locate or expand in our great city.
As Mayor, I will attend, along with economic development officials, business fairs/economic development conferences to speak one-on-one with potential businesses.
3. Will you commit to hiring a business advocate as a member of your senior staff, to concentrate on business retention and expansion; new business recruitment; and business impact of proposed regulations on the business climate in Hastings?
Yes. The city’s economic development director just changed jobs, and a search is on for a replacement. When I served on the council I was instrumental in setting up our economic development authority and advocated for a development director. It is a necessary staff position.
4. Do you support an increase to the minimum wage in Hastings? If so, what specific steps would you take to understand the impact of an increase on the many types of businesses in Hastings and do you support proposals to mitigate the effects on businesses like a tip credit, a youth wage, a training wage, and/or a phase-in?
At this time, I don’t believe that this would be a benefit to Hastings overall. We border Prescott, WI and I feel we would lose businesses and potentially close some if an increase were put in place now. Because of our location (proximity to WI and Red Wing/Goodhue County) this would put a damper on business expansion/start-up right now.
Because of workforce shortages, local business owners tell me they are paying well above the statewide minimum wage in order to keep quality employees.
5. Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Hastings (such as mandatory sick time or scheduling notice)? If so, what specific steps would you take to understand the impact of an increase on the many types of businesses in Hastings and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
Please see answer above. As Mayor, I would make sure to hold extensive public hearings, and business/community roundtables to ensure information could be provided in a non-biased and organized manner. I have pledged to have an open-door office policy, and I will carry that forward if I am elected. I will also reach out to the community to get their input and feedback.
Public safety
6. What is your strategy to address public safety concerns?
The Hastings Police Department faces numerous retirements soon. We need to prepare for that so we are able to fill soon-to-be open spots, and help train new personnel using the experience and expertise of our retiring staff. We need to provide incentives for employees to give early notice so we can keep a rolling schedule of potential new hires who can benefit from the expertise of our retiring staff.
Budget
7. What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
- Hold the tax rate and levy to a reasonable level.
- a. Our tax capacity increased by 8 percent for 2019. This is a great benefit for us, but also an opportunity for us to lower our tax rate.
- B. Invest in incentives for businesses to participate in the Vermillion Street Corridor upgrades and opportunities.
- C. Invest in business incentives/tourism/partner with the school district
- a. Please see my suggestions above on tourism and work with the school district.
- D. Encourage new residential development/quality housing, expand transportation options.
- a. Use these incentives to bolster workforce development in the city.
8. How do you view the relationship between commercial and residential property taxes?
Hastings is primarily “residential rooftops”, so our tax base is affected by decreasing or increasing home values. Tax capacity for 2019 is expected to increase by 8 percent for homes, and increase slightly for small businesses. Large “big box” commercial valuations declined. Sadly, this is our reality as online shopping increases, cutting into big box sales. We need to do what we can to expand shopping opportunities and encourage Hastings residents to shop in town and in our stores. It appears that the city could keep the tax rate at .58 in 2019, if not lower.
As we set our budget, we need to keep a balance between our residential and commercial tax bases. As former chair of the Finance Committee, I have been deeply involved in striking this balance. During the recession, we worked hard to keep our levy in check so residents and businesses weren’t hit with increasing taxes.
Hastings has not been a “fee” city--sometimes our tax rate is higher, but we don’t charge a street light fee, etc like some other communities.
9. What will you do to expand Hastings’s tax base?
Please see answers to many of the above questions: WAC/SAC changes, business incentives, tourism, residential development, etc.
We need keep the momentum for the River Confluence Project (redevelopment of Hudson Sprayers property) moving forward.
Workforce development
10. How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
This is vitally important and business leaders/small business owners in the community have spoken to me about workforce needs. We have numerous opportunities to make necessary changes:
We have a strong school district that is known throughout the metro area as providing an excellent education. We can use that to our advantage in getting well-educated workers to our community. I would like to discuss with MinnState leaders the possibility of a community or technical college campus satellite in Hastings. This could jumpstart business development, encourage students to stay in Hastings, and create jobs.
We are strategically located near Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College, so I would encourage and provide incentives to business that will offer a career-pathways program that will provide on-the-job training for students before and after they graduate.
11. What do you see as the mayor’s role with regard to public schools in Hastings?
I believe it is in our community’s best interest to have a strong city/school connection. I would convene a task force with city and district officials, residents and students to design a plan to bring more students/families into Hastings, boost tourism and jump-start new residential building.
Other
12. What is the biggest challenge facing the city and how would you address it?
Creating business and employment opportunities through improved workforce development, housing and transportation options. Helping businesses find and attract the workers they need so they can continue to thrive or expand is key. This, in turn, will lead to more employment opportunities for residents. But we will need to maintain quality housing, shopping, recreational and educational opportunities to keep those new employees in town.
13. What would be your top three priorities if elected?
- Safeguarding our city departments from upcoming staff retirements.
- Encouraging more businesses to come to Hastings/Workforce development
- Quality housing/transportation opportunities
14. What do you think should be the city’s top transportation related priority?
I will work with the Met Council to get a Memorandum of Understanding to get a bus to Hastings. This is a great workforce development tool for us.
Circulator transportation enhancements around the city; potential commuter bus. Hastings is not part of the Transit taxing district. Even if we were part of the taxing district, we are not assured we would get bus service anytime soon. Many people have spoken to me about the need for some sort of bus route to take people not only to St. Paul, but also to other parts of Dakota County. This also plays into the workforce development issue.
15. Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Or, are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
As the recession hit, we cut 20 city staff positions. We also cut back some positions to part-time (30 hours/week). So we are currently operating with bare bones staffing in many departments and may be understaffed in some key areas. Hastings has a long tradition of providing those core services that are essential for a city our size to thrive.
It is difficult for Hastings to share services with other entities because we are almost an “island”, cut off from Cottage Grove by the river, and over 15 miles to Rosemount. We do have a fire/EMS agreement with surrounding small towns, but WE provide service to them!
And, Hastings is very proud of its police and fire departments. They provide excellent service to our community.
I would certainly entertain the idea of having regular, broader discussions with department heads about their needs and opportunities and the services they provide.
16. Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Married to Doug Schultz for 33 years; Doug is former editor of the Hastings Star Gazette.
We have two daughters Libby (27) and Abigail (23), both Hastings High School graduates; Abigail currently teaches part-time at HHS; Libby is a communications staff member at MnDOT; one dog, Maggie and two cats, Ringo and Tux.
I have lived with my family in Hastings for over 31 years; it is our home. Hastings appealed to us not just because of the small-town friendliness, but also because of the great natural amenities (we have three rivers, a regional park and a state park near by…!), and its proximity to the metro area.
As our daughters got older, we appreciated the great school district and its many opportunities, recreational offerings and safe neighborhoods. Hastings was really moving forward until the Great Recession; I hope we can work together to revive residential investment and encourage and provide more incentives for new businesses.