Fran Holmes
Name: Fran Holmes
Public Office Sought: Arden Hills City Council
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-599-2457
Campaign Website: franholmesforardenhills
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page:
Candidate Bio
Since 2007, I have had the privilege of representing the residents on the Arden Hills City Council. Transparency and community involvement are key to understanding residents and their concerns. My years of experience on the Council have resulted in proactive planning decisions that have led to dynamic retail corridors along Lexington and County Road E, while still maintaining our safe tree-lined streets and vibrant neighborhoods.
As a member of the Arden Hills City Council for 16 years, I am very aware of the issues confronting the city and have a great deal of experience in resolving these issues and addressing residents’ concerns. I am a graduate of Northwestern University (Chicago, IL), hold a law degree (J.D.) from Indiana University and an advanced tax law degree (LLM) from New York University. I am a retired attorney and now work part-time for a local business. My background as an attorney provides me with negotiating skills and experience in understanding City contracts and ordinances. As a resident for 30 years, I understand Arden Hills as a community with an outstanding school district and thriving neighborhoods where individuals have great pride in their city.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
My continuing goals are: keeping City taxes one of the lowest in the metropolitan area, advancing business development, protecting our community with the Ramsey County Sheriff and Lake Johanna Fire Department.
How would you characterize the business climate in Arden Hills and what is the role of business supporting quality of life issues in the community?
The business climate in Arden Hills is extremely healthy. In the past several years, Arden Hills has seen the following business, retail, and residential growth: Boston Scientific expansion, Delkor/CPC manufacturing, Saltbox warehouses, redevelopment of the Pace Industry site with a carwash and a restaurant, dental office and bank building, Lexington Station Phase III, Chick-Fil-A, Crumbl Cookie, New Perspective Senior Facility, and Trident Development Senior Facility.
In addition, Arden Hills has negotiated a term sheet with Alatus the developer, to develop the Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP 400 acre development, which will bring tremendous growth to our City in terms of commercial, retail, office, and corporate space. As Ramsey County continues to negotiate with the City and the Developer, this project will move forward.
Business has a tremendous impact on quality of life issues in Arden Hills. Our businesses provide well-paying jobs for our community. Our vibrant retail businesses – restaurants and shops –provide welcome amenities for the area and add to our diverse culture. Businesses contribute to our community through the volunteer work of their employees and contribution of funds through the Arden Hills Foundation for parks, trails and sidewalks, among many other things. The tax base in Arden Hills is enhanced by all our strong and profitable businesses.
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, Arden Hills?
In Arden Hills, the Community Development Director is our business advocate, and we are well-served by the employee who was recently promoted to this position. This position is crucial both for soliciting new businesses to our community and as a liaison to retain existing businesses in our current business areas. Once the Rice Creek Commons property begins development, Arden Hills will see tremendous business expansion.
In addition, I am a strong proponent for city business regulations and procedures to be streamlined to assist business activity and growth.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
Arden Hills is fortunate to have top-rated Mounds View High School, which has many excellent programs including technical training, two year college degree programs, and a significant college prep focus. Many of the Mounds View students look to the excellent employers in Arden Hill for employment opportunities, which help our local businesses with the labor shortage.
In addition, Arden Hills has two outstanding colleges in our City, Bethel University and the University of Northwestern (which we share with Roseville). Arden Hills’ employers recognize the quality of these students and recruit from these schools.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals in Arden Hills (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 Arden Hills and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
Since Arden Hills is a smaller city (population 10,000), it is my view that these types of initiatives should be implemented on a more region-wide basis. I would take a balanced approach to any regional proposals and considered all perspectives to make sensible decisions.
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?
First of all, Arden Hills has never been part of the defund the police initiative. Arden Hills City Council and its residents support a strong and well-funded police department. We also recognize that the use of social services and other community support groups can be essential in addressing and deterring crime.
The businesses and residents of Arden Hills are well served with public service protection from the Ramsey County Sheriff and Lake Johanna Fire Department. Both organizations serve their communities on a regional basis which allows for extremely professional organizations. They both are funded by a number of Cities, spreading out the costs and providing budgets for the organizations to have extensive training and to provide multiple specialized services.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
Most cities in the metro area have continuing concern about the amount of affordable housing in their community and their goals in this area. The Met Council’s most recent affordable housing study is based on 2019 data. At that time, approximately 40% of the houses in Arden Hills were considered affordable. Arden Hills had 3,277 housing units, 1,298 of which fell within the category of affordable housing. Of those 1,298 affordable units, 347 units (27%) were affordable at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), 468 (36%) were affordable for AMIs between 60% and 31%, and 483 units (37%) were affordable at AMIs less than 30%.
The TCAAP/Rice Creek Commons project will bring additional affordable housing to the City. The recently approved term sheet between the City and the developer, Alatus, calls for 1,460 new housing units, of which 326 (22%) will be affordable. Of the 326 units, 180 units are planned to be affordable at 50% and 60% of the AMI for Ramsey County. These affordable units will become a reality when the County and developer reach an agreement and the County begins to sell the vacant land to the developer to begin construction.
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?
Arden Hills has set policies for road improvements, where we regularly schedule to keep our roads well-maintained and avoid costly repairs from lack of proper infrastructure improvements. With regard to public transportation, our City continues to keep the dialog open with the Metropolitan Council in an attempt to bring BRT bus rapid transit to serve Arden Hills. Although at this time there is less traffic on our roads due to the pandemic, Arden Hills’ strategies have not changed due to the pandemic, since our Council looks to the future, where the population in the metro area will increase.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
As a fiscal conservative, I have always set priorities for City expenditures that are well-planned, cost-effective, and wisely spend residents’ tax dollars. I believe in thoughtful long-range planning, developed with input from both individual residents and the business community, to address the many issues facing Arden Hills. My goal in the planning process has always been to put the interests of our residents first; I believe that Arden Hills will remain a vibrant and attractive community if my decisions reflect the values of the residents.
I am committed to a Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP development that will be first class and a true asset for Arden Hills. With the rest of the City Council, I am working hard to keep expenses for the development and on-going maintenance low to minimize any tax impact for Arden Hills’ residents.
What will you do to expand Arden Hills’s tax base?
For Arden Hills, the optimal way to expand the tax base is to attract more business. An increased tax base due to a thriving business community helps keep the tax rate down for all taxpayers. Although the addition of the TCAAP/Rice Creek Commons development will increase the tax base for Arden Hills, it will also result in increased expenses for the City to serve the residents and businesses. Consequently, the net result will not significantly expand the Arden Hill’s tax base.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
As stated above, Arden Hills is fortunate to have top-rated Mounds View High School, which has many excellent programs including technical training, two year college degree programs, and a significant college prep focus. Many of the Mounds View students look to the excellent employers in Arden Hill for employment opportunities, which help our local businesses with the labor shortage.
In addition, Arden Hills has two excellent colleges in our City, Bethel University and the University of Northwestern (which we share with Roseville). Arden Hills’ employers recognize the quality of these students and recruit from these schools.
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?
Arden Hills strives to meet the needs of its residents in terms of public safety, essential services, and amenities. I work hard to keep tax dollars down without undue burden on the taxpayers while providing the services that individuals and businesses want and need. As such, I review our services very carefully and I do not believe there are any services that should be cut back or eliminated.
Arden Hills has taken the opportunity to share many services, primarily with other cities. As noted above, we share public service costs of police and fire services using contracts with Ramsey County Sheriff and Lake Johanna Fire Department. We also have a joint maintenance facility that we share with Ramsey County and the Mounds View School District. Our city water is provided by Roseville. We use the resources of Metro-INet IT for information technology. For recording our City Council meetings, we use the local cable service CTV-15.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Arden Hills?
Since Arden Hills is a smaller city (population 10,000), it is my view that these types of initiatives should be implemented on a more region-wide basis. I would enthusiastically support regional proposals to increase minority- and women-owned businesses.
What further policies can Arden Hills adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
At the beginning of the pandemic, Arden Hills used federal Covid dollars to help subsidize businesses that had a downturn in income due to the pandemic. This included restaurants, hair salons, physical fitness businesses, and other retailers.
By wisely spending federal Covid funds on costly but much-needed infrastructure improvements, the City avoided tax increases for these projects for our taxpayers, which keeps the business environment favorable.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Of my accomplishments on City Council, I am very passionate about the improvements to the bike and walking trails in Arden Hills. Both our individual residents and our commercial businesses see the benefits of our City promoting active lifestyles with a walkable/bike friendly community. In the past few years I have worked to see extensive trail expansion and playground improvements: trails on County Road E2, County Road E and Old Snelling; improvements to Perry Park and Hazelnut Park dog parks; and play structure renovations throughout the City.
In addition, business and residents alike are concerned about climate change issues. One of my priorities is focusing on environmentally sound practices with City participation in the Minnesota GreenStep Program.
Public Office Sought: Arden Hills City Council
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-599-2457
Campaign Website: franholmesforardenhills
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page:
Candidate Bio
Since 2007, I have had the privilege of representing the residents on the Arden Hills City Council. Transparency and community involvement are key to understanding residents and their concerns. My years of experience on the Council have resulted in proactive planning decisions that have led to dynamic retail corridors along Lexington and County Road E, while still maintaining our safe tree-lined streets and vibrant neighborhoods.
As a member of the Arden Hills City Council for 16 years, I am very aware of the issues confronting the city and have a great deal of experience in resolving these issues and addressing residents’ concerns. I am a graduate of Northwestern University (Chicago, IL), hold a law degree (J.D.) from Indiana University and an advanced tax law degree (LLM) from New York University. I am a retired attorney and now work part-time for a local business. My background as an attorney provides me with negotiating skills and experience in understanding City contracts and ordinances. As a resident for 30 years, I understand Arden Hills as a community with an outstanding school district and thriving neighborhoods where individuals have great pride in their city.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
My continuing goals are: keeping City taxes one of the lowest in the metropolitan area, advancing business development, protecting our community with the Ramsey County Sheriff and Lake Johanna Fire Department.
How would you characterize the business climate in Arden Hills and what is the role of business supporting quality of life issues in the community?
The business climate in Arden Hills is extremely healthy. In the past several years, Arden Hills has seen the following business, retail, and residential growth: Boston Scientific expansion, Delkor/CPC manufacturing, Saltbox warehouses, redevelopment of the Pace Industry site with a carwash and a restaurant, dental office and bank building, Lexington Station Phase III, Chick-Fil-A, Crumbl Cookie, New Perspective Senior Facility, and Trident Development Senior Facility.
In addition, Arden Hills has negotiated a term sheet with Alatus the developer, to develop the Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP 400 acre development, which will bring tremendous growth to our City in terms of commercial, retail, office, and corporate space. As Ramsey County continues to negotiate with the City and the Developer, this project will move forward.
Business has a tremendous impact on quality of life issues in Arden Hills. Our businesses provide well-paying jobs for our community. Our vibrant retail businesses – restaurants and shops –provide welcome amenities for the area and add to our diverse culture. Businesses contribute to our community through the volunteer work of their employees and contribution of funds through the Arden Hills Foundation for parks, trails and sidewalks, among many other things. The tax base in Arden Hills is enhanced by all our strong and profitable businesses.
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, Arden Hills?
In Arden Hills, the Community Development Director is our business advocate, and we are well-served by the employee who was recently promoted to this position. This position is crucial both for soliciting new businesses to our community and as a liaison to retain existing businesses in our current business areas. Once the Rice Creek Commons property begins development, Arden Hills will see tremendous business expansion.
In addition, I am a strong proponent for city business regulations and procedures to be streamlined to assist business activity and growth.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
Arden Hills is fortunate to have top-rated Mounds View High School, which has many excellent programs including technical training, two year college degree programs, and a significant college prep focus. Many of the Mounds View students look to the excellent employers in Arden Hill for employment opportunities, which help our local businesses with the labor shortage.
In addition, Arden Hills has two outstanding colleges in our City, Bethel University and the University of Northwestern (which we share with Roseville). Arden Hills’ employers recognize the quality of these students and recruit from these schools.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals in Arden Hills (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 Arden Hills and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
Since Arden Hills is a smaller city (population 10,000), it is my view that these types of initiatives should be implemented on a more region-wide basis. I would take a balanced approach to any regional proposals and considered all perspectives to make sensible decisions.
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?
First of all, Arden Hills has never been part of the defund the police initiative. Arden Hills City Council and its residents support a strong and well-funded police department. We also recognize that the use of social services and other community support groups can be essential in addressing and deterring crime.
The businesses and residents of Arden Hills are well served with public service protection from the Ramsey County Sheriff and Lake Johanna Fire Department. Both organizations serve their communities on a regional basis which allows for extremely professional organizations. They both are funded by a number of Cities, spreading out the costs and providing budgets for the organizations to have extensive training and to provide multiple specialized services.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
Most cities in the metro area have continuing concern about the amount of affordable housing in their community and their goals in this area. The Met Council’s most recent affordable housing study is based on 2019 data. At that time, approximately 40% of the houses in Arden Hills were considered affordable. Arden Hills had 3,277 housing units, 1,298 of which fell within the category of affordable housing. Of those 1,298 affordable units, 347 units (27%) were affordable at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), 468 (36%) were affordable for AMIs between 60% and 31%, and 483 units (37%) were affordable at AMIs less than 30%.
The TCAAP/Rice Creek Commons project will bring additional affordable housing to the City. The recently approved term sheet between the City and the developer, Alatus, calls for 1,460 new housing units, of which 326 (22%) will be affordable. Of the 326 units, 180 units are planned to be affordable at 50% and 60% of the AMI for Ramsey County. These affordable units will become a reality when the County and developer reach an agreement and the County begins to sell the vacant land to the developer to begin construction.
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?
Arden Hills has set policies for road improvements, where we regularly schedule to keep our roads well-maintained and avoid costly repairs from lack of proper infrastructure improvements. With regard to public transportation, our City continues to keep the dialog open with the Metropolitan Council in an attempt to bring BRT bus rapid transit to serve Arden Hills. Although at this time there is less traffic on our roads due to the pandemic, Arden Hills’ strategies have not changed due to the pandemic, since our Council looks to the future, where the population in the metro area will increase.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
As a fiscal conservative, I have always set priorities for City expenditures that are well-planned, cost-effective, and wisely spend residents’ tax dollars. I believe in thoughtful long-range planning, developed with input from both individual residents and the business community, to address the many issues facing Arden Hills. My goal in the planning process has always been to put the interests of our residents first; I believe that Arden Hills will remain a vibrant and attractive community if my decisions reflect the values of the residents.
I am committed to a Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP development that will be first class and a true asset for Arden Hills. With the rest of the City Council, I am working hard to keep expenses for the development and on-going maintenance low to minimize any tax impact for Arden Hills’ residents.
What will you do to expand Arden Hills’s tax base?
For Arden Hills, the optimal way to expand the tax base is to attract more business. An increased tax base due to a thriving business community helps keep the tax rate down for all taxpayers. Although the addition of the TCAAP/Rice Creek Commons development will increase the tax base for Arden Hills, it will also result in increased expenses for the City to serve the residents and businesses. Consequently, the net result will not significantly expand the Arden Hill’s tax base.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
As stated above, Arden Hills is fortunate to have top-rated Mounds View High School, which has many excellent programs including technical training, two year college degree programs, and a significant college prep focus. Many of the Mounds View students look to the excellent employers in Arden Hill for employment opportunities, which help our local businesses with the labor shortage.
In addition, Arden Hills has two excellent colleges in our City, Bethel University and the University of Northwestern (which we share with Roseville). Arden Hills’ employers recognize the quality of these students and recruit from these schools.
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?
Arden Hills strives to meet the needs of its residents in terms of public safety, essential services, and amenities. I work hard to keep tax dollars down without undue burden on the taxpayers while providing the services that individuals and businesses want and need. As such, I review our services very carefully and I do not believe there are any services that should be cut back or eliminated.
Arden Hills has taken the opportunity to share many services, primarily with other cities. As noted above, we share public service costs of police and fire services using contracts with Ramsey County Sheriff and Lake Johanna Fire Department. We also have a joint maintenance facility that we share with Ramsey County and the Mounds View School District. Our city water is provided by Roseville. We use the resources of Metro-INet IT for information technology. For recording our City Council meetings, we use the local cable service CTV-15.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Arden Hills?
Since Arden Hills is a smaller city (population 10,000), it is my view that these types of initiatives should be implemented on a more region-wide basis. I would enthusiastically support regional proposals to increase minority- and women-owned businesses.
What further policies can Arden Hills adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
At the beginning of the pandemic, Arden Hills used federal Covid dollars to help subsidize businesses that had a downturn in income due to the pandemic. This included restaurants, hair salons, physical fitness businesses, and other retailers.
By wisely spending federal Covid funds on costly but much-needed infrastructure improvements, the City avoided tax increases for these projects for our taxpayers, which keeps the business environment favorable.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
Of my accomplishments on City Council, I am very passionate about the improvements to the bike and walking trails in Arden Hills. Both our individual residents and our commercial businesses see the benefits of our City promoting active lifestyles with a walkable/bike friendly community. In the past few years I have worked to see extensive trail expansion and playground improvements: trails on County Road E2, County Road E and Old Snelling; improvements to Perry Park and Hazelnut Park dog parks; and play structure renovations throughout the City.
In addition, business and residents alike are concerned about climate change issues. One of my priorities is focusing on environmentally sound practices with City participation in the Minnesota GreenStep Program.