Eric Michael Langness
Name: Eric Michael Langness
Public Office Sought: Forest Lake City Council
Email: Eric@EricLangness.com
Phone: 612-978-3370
Website: www.EricLangness.com
Twitter handle:
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ElectEricLangness
Candidate Bio
I have been an active participant with local government for almost 20 years regularly attending meetings, participating in dialogue, serving in appointed roles and making our community a better place to live, play and work. Currently I am the chairman of the Forest Lake Planning Commission and am a member of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Committee. In these roles opportunity to dig into much of the minutia of city business and long-term planning has occurred. As chairman, I have taken an active role to listen to our community and mitigated concerns as best possible when developments have been proposed in pursuit of advocating for both our residents and business community. I promise to take a similar approach with regard to the wider scope of business that council is presented.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
The first priority at this time is to mitigate assistance where possible to those that have been affected by coronavirus. We need to be assured that our business community will thrive in future years and that we can minimize the amount of empty storefronts we have when this challenge has passed.
Secondly, a balanced conservative and forward-thinking budget. Planning for large expenditures in future years (emergency vehicles, sewer/water infrastructure, facilities) by building funding mechanisms over time to support those on a pay-as-you-go plan is good for both administration management and fiscal responsibility. In many ways current and past councils have done this in some areas but I’d like to expand and prioritize some areas, such as city road and trail improvements.
Third, to listen to our public with an open-mind. I have a consistent history of doing this on our planning commission and it includes being responsive to those that reach out, listening without taking a position until after public comment period has ended and then working to mitigate concerns brought forward by those whom are on the side you ultimately disagree.
How would you characterize the business climate in Forest Lake and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
We are incredibly fortunate to have a variation in our business community. We have a freeway corridor along I35, Broadway Avenue, downtown, Goodview Circle, Highway 61 corridor, Headwaters area and then some businesses scattered elsewhere. It means that we have some opportunity for redevelopment and other areas that are still initially developing. The future of our business community is even more exciting than what we have today. I commit to making certain that we remain the regional business hub.
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, Forest Lake?
It varies for each business community. In initial development, we can foster opportunity such as with studies and planning infrastructure as we are doing in Headwaters. In the downtown area we can work with businesses on redevelopment and beautification. I have long supported these efforts and will continue to do so moving forward.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Forest Lake (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 Forest Lake and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
If such a proposal came forward, I certainly would listen to all interested parties but philosophically believe these are issues that should be decided at the state level vs municipal ordinances. Having worked in a human resources role for over 5 years the complexities of rule variations by municipality often leads to additional constraints for businesses and rarely leads to a net gain for employees. It may make us a less competitive place to choose to locate a new business if our neighboring cities choose less regulation.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
Public safety is outlined quite well in the short-term on an annual budget for ongoing costs such as staffing, benefits and consumables while its long-term costs are outlined in a plan to pay-as-you-go for equipment and facilities. In general, I am supportive of the current plans although I would like to see a priority placed on reviewing adding a fire station on the east end of the city.
Housing is outlined in our comprehensive plan and I actively participated on the committee that laid the groundwork for adequately zoning future growth in these areas. We have a wide variety of new housing zoning and developments from low-income high-density housing to high-value single-family homes have recently been proposed and are currently being built. There’s always room to look at alterations in this, but in general what we currently have is demonstrated as working with the development currently occurring.
Transportation has many opportunities. We need to work closely with the county to improve numerous roads they have right-of-way in our city and those plans are moving forward adequately. MN-DOT highway corridors, particularly highway 97 and 61 have many outright dangerous intersections and need significant investment to improve from both a safety and functionality standpoint. I have built relationships with numerous legislative members and will continue to work with them on prioritizing these projects from the state level so that our local taxpayers are less burdened with what truly are regional or state impacting corridors. Our city roads in many areas need improvement and priority placed on them as well and I’d like to see additional funding dedicated in this area. When I hear that North Shore Trail, as example, is slated for reconstruction in 2030 it tells me we are way behind if that’s where we are at.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
I commit to having a fiscally responsible and forward-thinking budget that both wisely takes into account ongoing expenses and plans for long-term costs.
What will you do to expand Forest Lake tax base?
The greatest impact we can have to create a larger tax base without negatively impacting residential property taxes is to create a vibrant and valuable business community.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
A decade ago I served on our public school board and have worked in higher education for over 15 years. Education is something I am passionate about on a personal level. Our community has numerous options for schools both in our public system, but also several high quality public charter schools. All of these schools have had plans brought forward while I’ve been a planning commissioner and in all of those regards I have supported their expansion efforts. I also see them as external organizations that have their own elected officials to make decisions what is best for them but where partnerships make sense for both, I’m ready to do so.
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?
I am absent a specific agenda to ‘cut back’ on any specific department or service and certainly would welcome areas we could partner with other entities for cost-saving and/or service improvement. We currently partner with Columbus with fire services, with Roseville as the lead with numerous other cities on technology services and have had a cable commission that has had partnerships with neighboring cities as well. When these efforts benefit all, they tend to be a net benefit and something I widely support.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Forest Lake?
Welcoming and celebrating successes where they do occur. I am absent information on what a city can do by ordinance or zoning to impact either and would welcome ideas that others might have for consideration.
What further policies can Forest Lake adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
We have received significant federal funding to mitigate impacts and at this point much of it has yet to be specifically allocated. What isn’t spent on city-specific items could be dedicated to retaining a vibrant business community and I would welcome ideas from our local Chamber of Commerce, Lakes Area Business Association and business owners for ways that we could best assist. In addition, reviewing what other municipalities and counties are doing will help foster ideas that could be considered here.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Thank you for consideration to be a council member.
Public Office Sought: Forest Lake City Council
Email: Eric@EricLangness.com
Phone: 612-978-3370
Website: www.EricLangness.com
Twitter handle:
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ElectEricLangness
Candidate Bio
I have been an active participant with local government for almost 20 years regularly attending meetings, participating in dialogue, serving in appointed roles and making our community a better place to live, play and work. Currently I am the chairman of the Forest Lake Planning Commission and am a member of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Committee. In these roles opportunity to dig into much of the minutia of city business and long-term planning has occurred. As chairman, I have taken an active role to listen to our community and mitigated concerns as best possible when developments have been proposed in pursuit of advocating for both our residents and business community. I promise to take a similar approach with regard to the wider scope of business that council is presented.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
The first priority at this time is to mitigate assistance where possible to those that have been affected by coronavirus. We need to be assured that our business community will thrive in future years and that we can minimize the amount of empty storefronts we have when this challenge has passed.
Secondly, a balanced conservative and forward-thinking budget. Planning for large expenditures in future years (emergency vehicles, sewer/water infrastructure, facilities) by building funding mechanisms over time to support those on a pay-as-you-go plan is good for both administration management and fiscal responsibility. In many ways current and past councils have done this in some areas but I’d like to expand and prioritize some areas, such as city road and trail improvements.
Third, to listen to our public with an open-mind. I have a consistent history of doing this on our planning commission and it includes being responsive to those that reach out, listening without taking a position until after public comment period has ended and then working to mitigate concerns brought forward by those whom are on the side you ultimately disagree.
How would you characterize the business climate in Forest Lake and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
We are incredibly fortunate to have a variation in our business community. We have a freeway corridor along I35, Broadway Avenue, downtown, Goodview Circle, Highway 61 corridor, Headwaters area and then some businesses scattered elsewhere. It means that we have some opportunity for redevelopment and other areas that are still initially developing. The future of our business community is even more exciting than what we have today. I commit to making certain that we remain the regional business hub.
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, Forest Lake?
It varies for each business community. In initial development, we can foster opportunity such as with studies and planning infrastructure as we are doing in Headwaters. In the downtown area we can work with businesses on redevelopment and beautification. I have long supported these efforts and will continue to do so moving forward.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Forest Lake (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 Forest Lake and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
If such a proposal came forward, I certainly would listen to all interested parties but philosophically believe these are issues that should be decided at the state level vs municipal ordinances. Having worked in a human resources role for over 5 years the complexities of rule variations by municipality often leads to additional constraints for businesses and rarely leads to a net gain for employees. It may make us a less competitive place to choose to locate a new business if our neighboring cities choose less regulation.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
Public safety is outlined quite well in the short-term on an annual budget for ongoing costs such as staffing, benefits and consumables while its long-term costs are outlined in a plan to pay-as-you-go for equipment and facilities. In general, I am supportive of the current plans although I would like to see a priority placed on reviewing adding a fire station on the east end of the city.
Housing is outlined in our comprehensive plan and I actively participated on the committee that laid the groundwork for adequately zoning future growth in these areas. We have a wide variety of new housing zoning and developments from low-income high-density housing to high-value single-family homes have recently been proposed and are currently being built. There’s always room to look at alterations in this, but in general what we currently have is demonstrated as working with the development currently occurring.
Transportation has many opportunities. We need to work closely with the county to improve numerous roads they have right-of-way in our city and those plans are moving forward adequately. MN-DOT highway corridors, particularly highway 97 and 61 have many outright dangerous intersections and need significant investment to improve from both a safety and functionality standpoint. I have built relationships with numerous legislative members and will continue to work with them on prioritizing these projects from the state level so that our local taxpayers are less burdened with what truly are regional or state impacting corridors. Our city roads in many areas need improvement and priority placed on them as well and I’d like to see additional funding dedicated in this area. When I hear that North Shore Trail, as example, is slated for reconstruction in 2030 it tells me we are way behind if that’s where we are at.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
I commit to having a fiscally responsible and forward-thinking budget that both wisely takes into account ongoing expenses and plans for long-term costs.
What will you do to expand Forest Lake tax base?
The greatest impact we can have to create a larger tax base without negatively impacting residential property taxes is to create a vibrant and valuable business community.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
A decade ago I served on our public school board and have worked in higher education for over 15 years. Education is something I am passionate about on a personal level. Our community has numerous options for schools both in our public system, but also several high quality public charter schools. All of these schools have had plans brought forward while I’ve been a planning commissioner and in all of those regards I have supported their expansion efforts. I also see them as external organizations that have their own elected officials to make decisions what is best for them but where partnerships make sense for both, I’m ready to do so.
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?
I am absent a specific agenda to ‘cut back’ on any specific department or service and certainly would welcome areas we could partner with other entities for cost-saving and/or service improvement. We currently partner with Columbus with fire services, with Roseville as the lead with numerous other cities on technology services and have had a cable commission that has had partnerships with neighboring cities as well. When these efforts benefit all, they tend to be a net benefit and something I widely support.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Forest Lake?
Welcoming and celebrating successes where they do occur. I am absent information on what a city can do by ordinance or zoning to impact either and would welcome ideas that others might have for consideration.
What further policies can Forest Lake adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
We have received significant federal funding to mitigate impacts and at this point much of it has yet to be specifically allocated. What isn’t spent on city-specific items could be dedicated to retaining a vibrant business community and I would welcome ideas from our local Chamber of Commerce, Lakes Area Business Association and business owners for ways that we could best assist. In addition, reviewing what other municipalities and counties are doing will help foster ideas that could be considered here.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Thank you for consideration to be a council member.