Eric Meyer
Name: Eric Meyer
Public Office Sought: Falcon Heights City Council
Campaign Phone: (651) 356-8767
Campaign Website: www.VoteEricMeyer.com
Twitter Handle: @ericgmeyer
Facebook: Facebook.com/VoteEricMeyer
Candidate Bio
I grew up in southwestern Minnesota and, being surrounded by wind turbines, started thinking about how we could power our world more sustainably. I attended University of Minnesota Duluth, majoring in vocal music, until a five-hundred year flood swept my car away. I decided then that there were probably enough opera singers in the world, but not enough people fighting climate change, and specifically for one of the most important tools in addressing it, nuclear energy. I applied for graduate school. While earning my Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership, I worked for TakeAction MN, organizing to fight for paid family leave and a living wage, and upon graduation, fought to protect the healthcare of nurses as an organizer with the Minnesota Nurses Association. While I loved that job, I couldn’t deny my passion for the environment, taking vacation days to attend the Paris Climate Talks in 2015. It was there that I began the pro-nuclear environmental organizing that became Generation Atomic, the non-profit I run as Executive Director. Leading this organization has given me a bird’s eye view of the interplay between communities, businesses, and politicians, and I’m excited to leverage that perspective to the benefit of Falcon Heights
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
a. Ensuring our residential streets have sensible speed limits (20 is plenty), and law enforcement is trained and equipped to respond to any situation in a safe and equitable manner for all citizens
b. Growing the Falcon Heights economy by ensuring we have common sense ordinances that allow business to thrive
c. Fighting for Falcon Heights to receive financial compensation for hosting the state fair in our backyard
How would you characterize the business climate in Falcon Heights and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
We need to support our existing businesses while creating new opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, and I believe that should go hand in hand with creating opportunities for workers. If someone works full time, they should be able to afford a roof over their head and food on the table, and we should push towards a future where businesses are supported in providing that.
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, Falcon Heights?
Facilitating affordable housing while keeping taxes low will bring new customers to our community while allowing businesses to keep more of the revenue they earn.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Falcon Heights (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 Falcon Heights and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
Any decision that can affect a large group of people must be made with careful consideration of well-sourced evidence. A combination of academic literature on the impacts of these policies, along with input from the business community and Falcon Heights residents is what will guide my decision making process on any of those policies. If evidence is not available, I would support pilot studies on potential economic policies before implementing them city-wide.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
I plan to read as much as possible about success stories in other communities, and solicit input from our businesses and residents to ensure the direction we’re considering will fit their needs.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
My priority is to maintain what Falcon Heights already has, while fostering new ideas to make our spending more efficient and growing the tax base by attracting new businesses and customers.
What will you do to expand Falcon Heights’ tax base?
On top of supporting smart redevelopment projects, like Amber Union, I will fight for a small tax on state fair tickets to help fund city services and economic development initiatives.
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 will work to open dialogues with PTA’s, the school board, and University of MN leadership to better understand the needs they have that we can fulfill on a city level.
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?
In order to reduce the amount of large trucks on our residential streets, I would like to investigate organized trash pickup services for the city. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to have three different companies running the same routes, from an environmental or public safety perspective.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Falcon Heights?
One of the ways we can foster the growth of minority and women-owned businesses is by procuring the goods and services our city needs from them.
What further policies can Falcon Heights adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Continue to follow guidelines from public health professionals and the CDC, and make the inevitable booster shot available with additional vaccination clinics at city events.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
I hadn’t considered running for office until a year ago, when Falcon Heights residents were receiving death threats simply for displaying a Black Lives Matter sign in their yard. Within a week, I had made a large order of signs and close to a hundred had been distributed off my doorstep. It was then that I realized that we have something special in Falcon Heights, a community that truly has each other's backs, and that I could help broaden and strengthen that solidarity with my experience as a community organizer and non-profit director. With your support, I’d be honored for the privilege of doing that for the next four years as your city councilor.
Public Office Sought: Falcon Heights City Council
Campaign Phone: (651) 356-8767
Campaign Website: www.VoteEricMeyer.com
Twitter Handle: @ericgmeyer
Facebook: Facebook.com/VoteEricMeyer
Candidate Bio
I grew up in southwestern Minnesota and, being surrounded by wind turbines, started thinking about how we could power our world more sustainably. I attended University of Minnesota Duluth, majoring in vocal music, until a five-hundred year flood swept my car away. I decided then that there were probably enough opera singers in the world, but not enough people fighting climate change, and specifically for one of the most important tools in addressing it, nuclear energy. I applied for graduate school. While earning my Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership, I worked for TakeAction MN, organizing to fight for paid family leave and a living wage, and upon graduation, fought to protect the healthcare of nurses as an organizer with the Minnesota Nurses Association. While I loved that job, I couldn’t deny my passion for the environment, taking vacation days to attend the Paris Climate Talks in 2015. It was there that I began the pro-nuclear environmental organizing that became Generation Atomic, the non-profit I run as Executive Director. Leading this organization has given me a bird’s eye view of the interplay between communities, businesses, and politicians, and I’m excited to leverage that perspective to the benefit of Falcon Heights
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
a. Ensuring our residential streets have sensible speed limits (20 is plenty), and law enforcement is trained and equipped to respond to any situation in a safe and equitable manner for all citizens
b. Growing the Falcon Heights economy by ensuring we have common sense ordinances that allow business to thrive
c. Fighting for Falcon Heights to receive financial compensation for hosting the state fair in our backyard
How would you characterize the business climate in Falcon Heights and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
We need to support our existing businesses while creating new opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, and I believe that should go hand in hand with creating opportunities for workers. If someone works full time, they should be able to afford a roof over their head and food on the table, and we should push towards a future where businesses are supported in providing that.
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, Falcon Heights?
Facilitating affordable housing while keeping taxes low will bring new customers to our community while allowing businesses to keep more of the revenue they earn.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Falcon Heights (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 Falcon Heights and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
Any decision that can affect a large group of people must be made with careful consideration of well-sourced evidence. A combination of academic literature on the impacts of these policies, along with input from the business community and Falcon Heights residents is what will guide my decision making process on any of those policies. If evidence is not available, I would support pilot studies on potential economic policies before implementing them city-wide.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
I plan to read as much as possible about success stories in other communities, and solicit input from our businesses and residents to ensure the direction we’re considering will fit their needs.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
My priority is to maintain what Falcon Heights already has, while fostering new ideas to make our spending more efficient and growing the tax base by attracting new businesses and customers.
What will you do to expand Falcon Heights’ tax base?
On top of supporting smart redevelopment projects, like Amber Union, I will fight for a small tax on state fair tickets to help fund city services and economic development initiatives.
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 will work to open dialogues with PTA’s, the school board, and University of MN leadership to better understand the needs they have that we can fulfill on a city level.
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?
In order to reduce the amount of large trucks on our residential streets, I would like to investigate organized trash pickup services for the city. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to have three different companies running the same routes, from an environmental or public safety perspective.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Falcon Heights?
One of the ways we can foster the growth of minority and women-owned businesses is by procuring the goods and services our city needs from them.
What further policies can Falcon Heights adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Continue to follow guidelines from public health professionals and the CDC, and make the inevitable booster shot available with additional vaccination clinics at city events.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
I hadn’t considered running for office until a year ago, when Falcon Heights residents were receiving death threats simply for displaying a Black Lives Matter sign in their yard. Within a week, I had made a large order of signs and close to a hundred had been distributed off my doorstep. It was then that I realized that we have something special in Falcon Heights, a community that truly has each other's backs, and that I could help broaden and strengthen that solidarity with my experience as a community organizer and non-profit director. With your support, I’d be honored for the privilege of doing that for the next four years as your city councilor.