Fran Holmes
Name: Fran Holmes
Public Office Sought: Arden Hills City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 612-599-2457
Candidate Bio
Since 2007, I have had the privilege of representing the residents on the Arden Hills City Council. As a member of the Arden Hills City Council for 12 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. Prior to being a member of the City Council, I was a member of various City committees, including the Planning Commission, the Communications Committee, and was Editor of the City’s newsletter, Arden Hills Notes for many years. I was also instrumental in the formation of the Arden Hills Foundation to improve the City’s quality of life. I am a graduate of Northwestern University (Chicago, IL), hold a law degree (J.D.) from Indiana University and an advanced law degree (LLM) from New York University. I recently retired as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Treasury in downtown St. Paul. 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.
Business climate
1. How would you characterize the business climate in Arden Hills?
The business climate in Arden Hills is extremely healthy. In the past several years, while I was on the City Council, Arden Hills has seen the following business and retail growth: Land O’ Lakes expansion, Heath Partners expansion, Lexington Station, Walgreens, Tavern Grill, Nutmeg Brew-House, Marriott Springhill Suites, Alpine Factory, Goodwill. In addition, Arden Hills in the process of working with Alatus the developer, and Ramsey County the property owner, 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.
2. 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?
The Arden Hills City Council, along with our Economic Development Commission engaged the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce (SPACC) to design and implement a Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program. A total of 24 local businesses were interviewed as part of the program, and SPACC completed an analysis of the business survey results. These results along with a program overview, profile of the business community, and priority areas were included in the BRE Program Report. The City and the Economic Development Commission use this BRE information as ongoing guidance to solicit new businesses to and retain existing businesses in Arden Hills.
3. Would you support hiring a business advocate as a member of the city senior staff, to concentrate on business retention and expansion; new business recruitment; and business impact of proposed regulations on the business climate in Arden Hills?
In Arden Hills, the Community Development Director is our business advocate. Currently this position is vacant and the City is recruiting for this position. This position is crucial both as a liaison to retain existing businesses as well as to solicit new opportunities for our current business areas and once the Rice Creek Commons property begins development. I am a strong proponent for city business regulations and procedures to be streamlined to assist business activity and growth.
4. Do you support an increase to the minimum wage in Arden Hills? If so, what specific steps would you take to understand the impact of an increase on the many types of businesses in Arden Hills 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?
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.
5. Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Arden Hills (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 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
6. What is your strategy to address public safety concerns?
The 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.
Budget
7. 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.
8. How do you view the relationship between commercial and residential property taxes?
Arden Hills is very fortunate to have a number of large and small commercial businesses within the City limits. The contribution of both commercial and residential properties to the tax base has kept taxes low both for our business residents and individual residents.
9. What will you do to expand Arden Hills’ tax base?
The biggest driver to expand Arden Hills’ tax base is the Rice Creek Commons development. However, with a large 400 acre development, the increase in the tax base will be offset to a great extent by the expenses to provide services to this area. I am watching the financials for tax income and expenses carefully for fiscally sound planning.
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?
Based on the results of the SPACC Business Retention Report, referenced above, one suggestion from that Report was for the City to be a facilitator to bring our Arden Hills businesses together with our local schools and educational institutions to provide synergies for graduates to find jobs and for businesses to recruit and retain the employees they are seeking. Both Bethel University and the University of Northwestern (with its campus in both Arden Hills and Roseville) are in our city, and they are tremendous assets for our community and our businesses.
In addition, the Mounds View School District has outstanding educational and training programs, which include comprehensive early college high school programs allowing students the opportunity to earn a two-year associate degree while enrolled in high school. Our city should also take a role with regard to Mounds View High School to facilitate between the school and businesses to develop and retain an educated workforce.
11. What do you see as the city council’s role with regard to public schools in Arden Hills?
Arden Hills is very fortunate to have the Mounds View Public School District serving its residents. As a high quality school district, many residents move to our City because of the school district. I believe the City Council’s role is to support the Mounds View School District's public school community by providing a great environment for the school district to thrive.
Other
12. What is the biggest challenge facing the city and how would you address it?
The biggest challenge to Arden Hills is to develop the Rice Creek Commons 400 acre development, which will bring tremendous growth to our City in terms of commercial, retail, office, and corporate space. It is beyond doubt that Arden Hills and Ramsey County have been diligently pursuing negotiations and are truly committed to a development that will be first class and a true asset for both Arden Hills and Ramsey County.
13. What would be your top three priorities if elected?
• Keeping City taxes one of the lowest in the metropolitan area
• Planning fiscally responsible and sustainable goals for TCAPP/Rice Creek Commons
• Enhancing the business climate for new and expanding businesses
14. What do you think should be the city’s top transportation related priority?
Working with the Met Council and Ramsey County to bring increased public transportation to this area should be the City’s top transportation priority. There are plans to extend bus rapid transit (BRT) to Arden Hills, including Rice Creek Commons. Our current and proposed businesses see this as a benefit to businesses for recruitment of their workforce and to give their employees more transportation options.
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?
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 and we also use the resources of Roseville for information technology. For recording our City Council meetings, we use the local cable service CTV-15.
16. 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: Trials on County Road E2, County Road E and Old Snelling and to Tony Schmidt Park; Perry Park and Hazelnut Park dog parks; renovations at Johanna Marsh and Valentine Park.
Public Office Sought: Arden Hills City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 612-599-2457
Candidate Bio
Since 2007, I have had the privilege of representing the residents on the Arden Hills City Council. As a member of the Arden Hills City Council for 12 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. Prior to being a member of the City Council, I was a member of various City committees, including the Planning Commission, the Communications Committee, and was Editor of the City’s newsletter, Arden Hills Notes for many years. I was also instrumental in the formation of the Arden Hills Foundation to improve the City’s quality of life. I am a graduate of Northwestern University (Chicago, IL), hold a law degree (J.D.) from Indiana University and an advanced law degree (LLM) from New York University. I recently retired as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Treasury in downtown St. Paul. 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.
Business climate
1. How would you characterize the business climate in Arden Hills?
The business climate in Arden Hills is extremely healthy. In the past several years, while I was on the City Council, Arden Hills has seen the following business and retail growth: Land O’ Lakes expansion, Heath Partners expansion, Lexington Station, Walgreens, Tavern Grill, Nutmeg Brew-House, Marriott Springhill Suites, Alpine Factory, Goodwill. In addition, Arden Hills in the process of working with Alatus the developer, and Ramsey County the property owner, 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.
2. 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?
The Arden Hills City Council, along with our Economic Development Commission engaged the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce (SPACC) to design and implement a Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program. A total of 24 local businesses were interviewed as part of the program, and SPACC completed an analysis of the business survey results. These results along with a program overview, profile of the business community, and priority areas were included in the BRE Program Report. The City and the Economic Development Commission use this BRE information as ongoing guidance to solicit new businesses to and retain existing businesses in Arden Hills.
3. Would you support hiring a business advocate as a member of the city senior staff, to concentrate on business retention and expansion; new business recruitment; and business impact of proposed regulations on the business climate in Arden Hills?
In Arden Hills, the Community Development Director is our business advocate. Currently this position is vacant and the City is recruiting for this position. This position is crucial both as a liaison to retain existing businesses as well as to solicit new opportunities for our current business areas and once the Rice Creek Commons property begins development. I am a strong proponent for city business regulations and procedures to be streamlined to assist business activity and growth.
4. Do you support an increase to the minimum wage in Arden Hills? If so, what specific steps would you take to understand the impact of an increase on the many types of businesses in Arden Hills 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?
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.
5. Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Arden Hills (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 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
6. What is your strategy to address public safety concerns?
The 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.
Budget
7. 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.
8. How do you view the relationship between commercial and residential property taxes?
Arden Hills is very fortunate to have a number of large and small commercial businesses within the City limits. The contribution of both commercial and residential properties to the tax base has kept taxes low both for our business residents and individual residents.
9. What will you do to expand Arden Hills’ tax base?
The biggest driver to expand Arden Hills’ tax base is the Rice Creek Commons development. However, with a large 400 acre development, the increase in the tax base will be offset to a great extent by the expenses to provide services to this area. I am watching the financials for tax income and expenses carefully for fiscally sound planning.
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?
Based on the results of the SPACC Business Retention Report, referenced above, one suggestion from that Report was for the City to be a facilitator to bring our Arden Hills businesses together with our local schools and educational institutions to provide synergies for graduates to find jobs and for businesses to recruit and retain the employees they are seeking. Both Bethel University and the University of Northwestern (with its campus in both Arden Hills and Roseville) are in our city, and they are tremendous assets for our community and our businesses.
In addition, the Mounds View School District has outstanding educational and training programs, which include comprehensive early college high school programs allowing students the opportunity to earn a two-year associate degree while enrolled in high school. Our city should also take a role with regard to Mounds View High School to facilitate between the school and businesses to develop and retain an educated workforce.
11. What do you see as the city council’s role with regard to public schools in Arden Hills?
Arden Hills is very fortunate to have the Mounds View Public School District serving its residents. As a high quality school district, many residents move to our City because of the school district. I believe the City Council’s role is to support the Mounds View School District's public school community by providing a great environment for the school district to thrive.
Other
12. What is the biggest challenge facing the city and how would you address it?
The biggest challenge to Arden Hills is to develop the Rice Creek Commons 400 acre development, which will bring tremendous growth to our City in terms of commercial, retail, office, and corporate space. It is beyond doubt that Arden Hills and Ramsey County have been diligently pursuing negotiations and are truly committed to a development that will be first class and a true asset for both Arden Hills and Ramsey County.
13. What would be your top three priorities if elected?
• Keeping City taxes one of the lowest in the metropolitan area
• Planning fiscally responsible and sustainable goals for TCAPP/Rice Creek Commons
• Enhancing the business climate for new and expanding businesses
14. What do you think should be the city’s top transportation related priority?
Working with the Met Council and Ramsey County to bring increased public transportation to this area should be the City’s top transportation priority. There are plans to extend bus rapid transit (BRT) to Arden Hills, including Rice Creek Commons. Our current and proposed businesses see this as a benefit to businesses for recruitment of their workforce and to give their employees more transportation options.
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?
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 and we also use the resources of Roseville for information technology. For recording our City Council meetings, we use the local cable service CTV-15.
16. 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: Trials on County Road E2, County Road E and Old Snelling and to Tony Schmidt Park; Perry Park and Hazelnut Park dog parks; renovations at Johanna Marsh and Valentine Park.