Dave Colling
Name: Dave Colling
Public Office Sought: St. Anthony City Council
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-501-6489
Campaign Website: davecolling.com
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: davecollingforstanthony
Candidate Bio
For the past 23 years, I have lived in and around St. Anthony, my wife and I bought our current home on 27th Ave NE seven and half years ago. My son, George is an eighth grader at SAMS and my wife Sarah is a small business owner.
I have been involved in community organizing since 1990 when I volunteered on my first political campaign as a student at The University of Michigan. I grew up in an economically challenged area of southwest Detroit where I saw the positive impact that can be made in the lives of others when a community comes together.
About 10 years ago I pivoted my career path from politics to nonprofits. I earned my Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University, I currently work for Metro Meals on Wheels developing community partnerships and managing government contracts. Since 2019 I have owned a small cottage food business called Rouge Smoked Foods.
I began working with the St. Anthony Chamber of Commerce this year, eventually joining the board in June. One of my favorite activities in St. Anthony has been playing outfield for the St. Anthony Codgers for the past 3 seasons.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
The best way to describe my leadership style is open and collaborative. I have been the Executive Director for several community-based nonprofit organizations, and through those positions, I have always made it a priority to include not only the decision-makers but also those who would be affected by the decisions being made. It's been my experience that greater inclusion in the process can sometimes be more difficult to manage but the better results are worth it.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Community engagement
Our city’s greatest asset is our people. We should engage our community to create an environment where policy is driven by the people most affected by it. I will use my years of experience developing community engagement programs to empower Villagers to create the future of our city together.
Open dialogue
The citizens of St. Anthony deserve to hear from their elected officials regularly, and even more importantly those leaders need to hear from the people they represent. True dialogue can only happen in an atmosphere of trust and honesty. That can happen when elected officials participate and engage regularly with the community.
Proactive policies
For decades, our city has been a leader throughout the Twin Cities. I will work with people in our community and leaders around the metro to identify the best, most innovative, and proven policies to move our community forward.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in Saint Anthony Village?
Our biggest challenge is continuing to meet the demands of a growing suburb while maintaining the high quality of life that Villagers expect. It's our great location, convenient access to area businesses, and our schools that drive our growth, character, and quality of life. But maintaining that without driving out businesses, pushing home ownership beyond what Villagers can afford, and making St. Anthony a destination for home ownership will continue to be a challenge.
Our biggest asset is our community, a community that is growing more diverse and becoming more involved. Our community is made up of so many Villagers who have called this area home their whole lives, and others, like my family, who moved here over the past several decades to take advantage of the great things those before us have built.
How would you characterize the business climate in Saint Anthony Village and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in Saint Anthony Village?
Much of the metro is still in recovery mode when it comes to commercial, brick-and-mortar business since COVID and St. Anthony is no different. The 2 commercial business districts to the north and south of the city make up the bulk of the storefront business in St. Anthony, and vacancies have increased. Like much of my campaign, I am focused on community involvement and community outreach, which includes businesses. In early 2023 I was asked to help reboot the St. Anthony Chamber of Commerce which had been reduced to only one active board member and no activities. Since joining the board this spring we have started to address those issues. We now have a full board, an Executive Director, and a calendar of events to help existing businesses and those looking to start. I believe working with our partners at Ramsey County, Hennepin County’s Elevate Hennepin, and MCCD’s Open for Bussiness Program, we can find and promote new businesses to take advantage of the great location and our resident’s purchasing power to fill those spaces. But like my own small home-based business, we can help people expand their reach and fulfill their entrepreneurship dreams.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
I believe our public safety officers in St. Anthony do a good job, and over the past few years, there have been changes that have made the department better.
But one of the biggest challenges is how often our police in St. Anthony, and elsewhere, are dealing with issues of mental health. When someone is having a mental health issue it can easily manifest in a way that ends up with a call to law enforcement, and as long as we continue to stigmatize mental health issues as a society and close facilities that deal with these issues in and around our region, our police and going to have to continue to deal with this. We need more training to deal with these kinds of situations and our public safety departments need the resources to more effectively handle these types of calls.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
St. Anthony is not reaching the goals for affordable housing set for our region. In the past decade, our city has missed opportunities to develop more affordable housing with multi-family units that have been built, primarily in the northern part of the city. The very little naturally occurring affordable housing, such as in the Urban Grove mobile home park is underutilized. New housing units, especially multi-family units, must be built with affordability in mind. Developers must be held to a higher standard of building those units in St. Anthony through incentive programs and those not willing to do so should be held accountable. Our school system is one of the best in the state and should be accessible to everyone, not just those with the financial means. Better education equates to a better quality of life. Affordable housing in our city will create a future generation of Villagers that will ensure our quality of life continues for more than just those privileged enough to take advantage of our schools today.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
As someone who likes to think of myself as a casual biker, I try to bike to work downtown at least once a week, weather permitting, sharing the road is very important to me. Our city was built in the 1950’s when the only thought of transportation was driving a car, retrofitting those designs has been and will continue to be a challenge. I would like to see better and more streets through the city marked for bikes, and where possible, dedicated bike lanes to provide more safe biking areas. I would like to see those improved biking spaces connected to our city’s commercial areas and to the larger dedicated biking trails throughout the metro. I would like to see the proposed Route 32 Bus Rapid Transit plan implemented connecting Roseville and Robbinsdale traveling down Lowery Ave and across Kenzie Terrance, to both bring potential shoppers to the St. Anthony Shopping Center and make it easier for those in St. Anthony to reach commercial areas in Roseville such as the Mall.
What will you do to expand Saint Anthony Village’s tax base?
There is very little land to build on across the city, but working with commercial developers and current property owners in our community to find ways to either expand or renew properties to create new revue streams for them would increase those property values and taxes also working to fill in the vacant storefronts across the city will increase property values and tax revenue as well.
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?
Residents and businesses of St. Anthony pay a higher-than-average tax rate, and they expect better-than-average services in return, and I believe the city has met that expectation. The services our city provides are part of what makes living here special, I do not want to eliminate or cut any current services. Our city has several areas of shared services that benefit Villagers with the revenue created, I would love to partner with other government agencies or organizations but only if those partnerships are beneficial to our community.
Public Office Sought: St. Anthony City Council
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-501-6489
Campaign Website: davecolling.com
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: davecollingforstanthony
Candidate Bio
For the past 23 years, I have lived in and around St. Anthony, my wife and I bought our current home on 27th Ave NE seven and half years ago. My son, George is an eighth grader at SAMS and my wife Sarah is a small business owner.
I have been involved in community organizing since 1990 when I volunteered on my first political campaign as a student at The University of Michigan. I grew up in an economically challenged area of southwest Detroit where I saw the positive impact that can be made in the lives of others when a community comes together.
About 10 years ago I pivoted my career path from politics to nonprofits. I earned my Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University, I currently work for Metro Meals on Wheels developing community partnerships and managing government contracts. Since 2019 I have owned a small cottage food business called Rouge Smoked Foods.
I began working with the St. Anthony Chamber of Commerce this year, eventually joining the board in June. One of my favorite activities in St. Anthony has been playing outfield for the St. Anthony Codgers for the past 3 seasons.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
The best way to describe my leadership style is open and collaborative. I have been the Executive Director for several community-based nonprofit organizations, and through those positions, I have always made it a priority to include not only the decision-makers but also those who would be affected by the decisions being made. It's been my experience that greater inclusion in the process can sometimes be more difficult to manage but the better results are worth it.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Community engagement
Our city’s greatest asset is our people. We should engage our community to create an environment where policy is driven by the people most affected by it. I will use my years of experience developing community engagement programs to empower Villagers to create the future of our city together.
Open dialogue
The citizens of St. Anthony deserve to hear from their elected officials regularly, and even more importantly those leaders need to hear from the people they represent. True dialogue can only happen in an atmosphere of trust and honesty. That can happen when elected officials participate and engage regularly with the community.
Proactive policies
For decades, our city has been a leader throughout the Twin Cities. I will work with people in our community and leaders around the metro to identify the best, most innovative, and proven policies to move our community forward.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in Saint Anthony Village?
Our biggest challenge is continuing to meet the demands of a growing suburb while maintaining the high quality of life that Villagers expect. It's our great location, convenient access to area businesses, and our schools that drive our growth, character, and quality of life. But maintaining that without driving out businesses, pushing home ownership beyond what Villagers can afford, and making St. Anthony a destination for home ownership will continue to be a challenge.
Our biggest asset is our community, a community that is growing more diverse and becoming more involved. Our community is made up of so many Villagers who have called this area home their whole lives, and others, like my family, who moved here over the past several decades to take advantage of the great things those before us have built.
How would you characterize the business climate in Saint Anthony Village and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in Saint Anthony Village?
Much of the metro is still in recovery mode when it comes to commercial, brick-and-mortar business since COVID and St. Anthony is no different. The 2 commercial business districts to the north and south of the city make up the bulk of the storefront business in St. Anthony, and vacancies have increased. Like much of my campaign, I am focused on community involvement and community outreach, which includes businesses. In early 2023 I was asked to help reboot the St. Anthony Chamber of Commerce which had been reduced to only one active board member and no activities. Since joining the board this spring we have started to address those issues. We now have a full board, an Executive Director, and a calendar of events to help existing businesses and those looking to start. I believe working with our partners at Ramsey County, Hennepin County’s Elevate Hennepin, and MCCD’s Open for Bussiness Program, we can find and promote new businesses to take advantage of the great location and our resident’s purchasing power to fill those spaces. But like my own small home-based business, we can help people expand their reach and fulfill their entrepreneurship dreams.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
I believe our public safety officers in St. Anthony do a good job, and over the past few years, there have been changes that have made the department better.
But one of the biggest challenges is how often our police in St. Anthony, and elsewhere, are dealing with issues of mental health. When someone is having a mental health issue it can easily manifest in a way that ends up with a call to law enforcement, and as long as we continue to stigmatize mental health issues as a society and close facilities that deal with these issues in and around our region, our police and going to have to continue to deal with this. We need more training to deal with these kinds of situations and our public safety departments need the resources to more effectively handle these types of calls.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
St. Anthony is not reaching the goals for affordable housing set for our region. In the past decade, our city has missed opportunities to develop more affordable housing with multi-family units that have been built, primarily in the northern part of the city. The very little naturally occurring affordable housing, such as in the Urban Grove mobile home park is underutilized. New housing units, especially multi-family units, must be built with affordability in mind. Developers must be held to a higher standard of building those units in St. Anthony through incentive programs and those not willing to do so should be held accountable. Our school system is one of the best in the state and should be accessible to everyone, not just those with the financial means. Better education equates to a better quality of life. Affordable housing in our city will create a future generation of Villagers that will ensure our quality of life continues for more than just those privileged enough to take advantage of our schools today.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
As someone who likes to think of myself as a casual biker, I try to bike to work downtown at least once a week, weather permitting, sharing the road is very important to me. Our city was built in the 1950’s when the only thought of transportation was driving a car, retrofitting those designs has been and will continue to be a challenge. I would like to see better and more streets through the city marked for bikes, and where possible, dedicated bike lanes to provide more safe biking areas. I would like to see those improved biking spaces connected to our city’s commercial areas and to the larger dedicated biking trails throughout the metro. I would like to see the proposed Route 32 Bus Rapid Transit plan implemented connecting Roseville and Robbinsdale traveling down Lowery Ave and across Kenzie Terrance, to both bring potential shoppers to the St. Anthony Shopping Center and make it easier for those in St. Anthony to reach commercial areas in Roseville such as the Mall.
What will you do to expand Saint Anthony Village’s tax base?
There is very little land to build on across the city, but working with commercial developers and current property owners in our community to find ways to either expand or renew properties to create new revue streams for them would increase those property values and taxes also working to fill in the vacant storefronts across the city will increase property values and tax revenue as well.
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?
Residents and businesses of St. Anthony pay a higher-than-average tax rate, and they expect better-than-average services in return, and I believe the city has met that expectation. The services our city provides are part of what makes living here special, I do not want to eliminate or cut any current services. Our city has several areas of shared services that benefit Villagers with the revenue created, I would love to partner with other government agencies or organizations but only if those partnerships are beneficial to our community.