Ian T. Martin
Name: Ian T. Martin
Public Office Sought: Hastings City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 651-307-4024
Website: n/a
Twitter handle: n/a
Facebook page:www.facebook.com/martinforcouncil
Candidate Bio
I hold a B.S. in Law Enforcement from Metropolitan State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Metropolitan State University. I most recently served as Vice-Chair of the Planning Commission and prior to that served as a Commissioner on the Heritage Preservation Commission. Professionally, I chair the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Safety Committee in my role as an Operations Agent for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). Prior to being at MAC, I was a Police Officer and have worked for public agencies for over a decade. I have demonstrated experience leading large-scale projects while remaining fiscally responsible. I have a history of thoughtful and compassionate decision-making and wish to leverage these traits if elected to City Council.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Hastings needs to strengthen its public safety departments. I would do this by adding Community Service Officers (CSO’s). CSO’s are an excellent resource in a community as they allow sworn officers to maintain a proactive approach by being more visible versus responding to calls for service that a CSO could handle (found property, ordinance violations, found animals). I also would support exploring a full-time firefighter staffing model as it is becoming increasingly more difficult to recruit and maintain paid, on-call firefighter positions in the city.
Next, I would shift my focus to deep diving into the city financials as there has been some questionable spending as of late namely the purchase of a full-size, crew cab pickup for a city employee. With costs skyrocketing, we need to ensure that every decision made has a solid business case justification and if something such as a vehicle needs to be purchased, the vehicle type makes sense for the business use it is intended for.
Lastly, our focus needs to shift away from the riverfront and onto other parts of the city that have been lacking attention namely our parks. We have equipment that is in disrepair and behind on replacement schedules. Our riverfront is a beautiful part of the city and something we should be proud of but it’s time to shift our focus to other parts of town that are lackluster in my opinion.
How would you characterize the business climate in Hastings and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
The business climate in Hastings has seen some momentum lately with development occurring all over town including the industrial park, Fleet Farm, Jersey Mike’s, and others interested in coming to town. Businesses are our lifeblood. They feed us when we’re hungry, give us fuel to commute to our jobs or boat on the river and put clothes on our backs. As leaders, we need to remove as many barriers as possible to let these businesses thrive. Our Land for a Dollar program is one example of something great we’re doing in town to attract businesses to Hastings, but it shouldn’t stop there. As a city, we should be taking an aggressive approach to marketing our great city as a destination for businesses to put down roots in. If elected, I would seek out feedback from business owners and city staff as well to ensure we’re giving them the tools they need to do all they can to thrive and draw more businesses to town.
What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses, and retain existing businesses in Hastings?
I would seek 360-degree feedback from business owners across town from various sectors not limited to just retail and food to hear from them what we’re doing well, and what we could improve on. I would also coordinate another listening session with our economic development coordinator along with neighboring cities to collaborate and hear what ideas they may have in bolstering new business interest in Hastings.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
We need to be proactive and out in our business communities ensuring they know the resources available to them such as SBA loans. We could also look at expanding “To-go” alcohol sales to promote retail which could in turn boost revenues and drive higher wages. From a development standpoint, we need to be strategic and fluid in our zoning and permitting processes to ensure they are as welcoming and streamlined as possible.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Hastings (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 Hastings and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I do not. It is my opinion that business owners know their business better than I or anyone else in city hall and that is for them to decide and manage. The present labor shortage is causing minimum wage arguments to be a thing of the past as employers are paying far more to recruit and retain employees than minimum wage anyway.
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?
As a former cop who comes from a family of cops, I 100-percent support and will always support law enforcement. I previously mentioned hiring CSO’s but on top of that I would encourage a citizen’s academy to be at least an annual event if not twice a year to break down barriers between the public and the police. For our business owners and rental property owners, I would like to see more effort be given to teaching them and providing resources to elevate security of their properties and reducing problem tenants and issues in our rental housing. To entice business owners and rental property owners to participate, the city could explore possible tax credits for these folks.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
I think our economic development coordinator along with our community development department do a great job here already so my focus would be on partnering with them to make sure they have all the tools and resources they need from the city to succeed in their roles. We’re already seeing the fruits of their labor with full lifecycle living being built at breakneck speed across town. By building housing that caters to all ages, it frees up homes for younger first time homebuyers to get into and will encourage over time, families to move to Hastings and call it home.
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?
I would look to see if there’s more we could do to promote and partner with local services such as Smart Ride, Five Ride, and Metro Mobility along with Dakota County to ensure that residents that may be elderly, low-income, or non-English speaking know about these options and the possibility of them being subsidized so that they may remain able to go to the grocery store, doctor, church etc. and not feel like they don’t have an option.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
Stop the wasteful spending. Instead of new pickup trucks, recycle old squads into city hall pool vehicles that are shared by all. I would also investigate a leasing program for our city fleet of vehicles as I think there could be a cost savings there. On a broader level, creating a streetlight utility would reduce our city budget and associated tax burden by approximately $300,000/year that gets passed on to residents. By doing this, every parcel of land in the city tax exempt or not pays for streetlights just like they do for water and sewer services. The way it is now, churches, schools, and any other tax-exempt properties do not pay for streetlight operations. I would also push to put more burden for costs of county roads back on the county. Dakota County loves to praise low tax rates; it’s because they push a lot of their costs onto cities whereas most other counties bear the cost themselves to maintain county roads.
What will you do to expand Hastings tax base?
Streamline the process from start to finish for businesses and housing developments. Partner with groups like the Chamber, Rotary, local homebuilders and DBA to hear from them what ideas they may have and then put those ideas into action.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
Our schools contrary to what may be in the news or on social media are some of the best. Let’s get back to the basics and let our parents parent and teachers teach. A City Council Member’s job is to provide essential services that all residents demand and expect at the lowest cost possible.
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?
No.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Hastings?
The role of council should be to partner with groups such as chambers, business associations and so on and leave it at that is they are the subject matter experts in those arenas. Should we make it known that Hastings is an excellent place to establish a business? Absolutely, but it needs to stop there. The role of Council is to ensure zoning ordinances and process is followed as we cannot cherry pick or decide what business is going where.
What further policies can Hastings adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Nothing. The city needs to stay out of business decisions and let businesses conduct business however they see fit. Capitalism in my definition is the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail. I will never interfere with a business that isn’t my own. That is not city government, that’s government overreach. We all lived through the devastating impacts mandates had on small businesses and it is my hope that we never repeat that portion of our history ever again.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
If you want head in the clouds ideas, I am not your candidate but I appreciate your engagement in the process of becoming informed of who you’ll be electing to City Council. If you want someone with the courage to say what needs to be said no matter how difficult it may be, vote for me. I have demonstrated leadership experience not only professionally but also locally as a volunteer on several city commissions. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions and, in some instances, vote against staff recommendations if I felt it was for the greater good. As a council member, I will have no hesitation doing the same thing. Public service is in my blood and if elected, I will get to work to get Hastings back on track to where I think it needs to be. I would appreciate your support and vote in August and November!
Public Office Sought: Hastings City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 651-307-4024
Website: n/a
Twitter handle: n/a
Facebook page:www.facebook.com/martinforcouncil
Candidate Bio
I hold a B.S. in Law Enforcement from Metropolitan State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Metropolitan State University. I most recently served as Vice-Chair of the Planning Commission and prior to that served as a Commissioner on the Heritage Preservation Commission. Professionally, I chair the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Safety Committee in my role as an Operations Agent for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). Prior to being at MAC, I was a Police Officer and have worked for public agencies for over a decade. I have demonstrated experience leading large-scale projects while remaining fiscally responsible. I have a history of thoughtful and compassionate decision-making and wish to leverage these traits if elected to City Council.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Hastings needs to strengthen its public safety departments. I would do this by adding Community Service Officers (CSO’s). CSO’s are an excellent resource in a community as they allow sworn officers to maintain a proactive approach by being more visible versus responding to calls for service that a CSO could handle (found property, ordinance violations, found animals). I also would support exploring a full-time firefighter staffing model as it is becoming increasingly more difficult to recruit and maintain paid, on-call firefighter positions in the city.
Next, I would shift my focus to deep diving into the city financials as there has been some questionable spending as of late namely the purchase of a full-size, crew cab pickup for a city employee. With costs skyrocketing, we need to ensure that every decision made has a solid business case justification and if something such as a vehicle needs to be purchased, the vehicle type makes sense for the business use it is intended for.
Lastly, our focus needs to shift away from the riverfront and onto other parts of the city that have been lacking attention namely our parks. We have equipment that is in disrepair and behind on replacement schedules. Our riverfront is a beautiful part of the city and something we should be proud of but it’s time to shift our focus to other parts of town that are lackluster in my opinion.
How would you characterize the business climate in Hastings and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
The business climate in Hastings has seen some momentum lately with development occurring all over town including the industrial park, Fleet Farm, Jersey Mike’s, and others interested in coming to town. Businesses are our lifeblood. They feed us when we’re hungry, give us fuel to commute to our jobs or boat on the river and put clothes on our backs. As leaders, we need to remove as many barriers as possible to let these businesses thrive. Our Land for a Dollar program is one example of something great we’re doing in town to attract businesses to Hastings, but it shouldn’t stop there. As a city, we should be taking an aggressive approach to marketing our great city as a destination for businesses to put down roots in. If elected, I would seek out feedback from business owners and city staff as well to ensure we’re giving them the tools they need to do all they can to thrive and draw more businesses to town.
What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses, and retain existing businesses in Hastings?
I would seek 360-degree feedback from business owners across town from various sectors not limited to just retail and food to hear from them what we’re doing well, and what we could improve on. I would also coordinate another listening session with our economic development coordinator along with neighboring cities to collaborate and hear what ideas they may have in bolstering new business interest in Hastings.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address the labor shortage?
We need to be proactive and out in our business communities ensuring they know the resources available to them such as SBA loans. We could also look at expanding “To-go” alcohol sales to promote retail which could in turn boost revenues and drive higher wages. From a development standpoint, we need to be strategic and fluid in our zoning and permitting processes to ensure they are as welcoming and streamlined as possible.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in Hastings (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 Hastings and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I do not. It is my opinion that business owners know their business better than I or anyone else in city hall and that is for them to decide and manage. The present labor shortage is causing minimum wage arguments to be a thing of the past as employers are paying far more to recruit and retain employees than minimum wage anyway.
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?
As a former cop who comes from a family of cops, I 100-percent support and will always support law enforcement. I previously mentioned hiring CSO’s but on top of that I would encourage a citizen’s academy to be at least an annual event if not twice a year to break down barriers between the public and the police. For our business owners and rental property owners, I would like to see more effort be given to teaching them and providing resources to elevate security of their properties and reducing problem tenants and issues in our rental housing. To entice business owners and rental property owners to participate, the city could explore possible tax credits for these folks.
What strategies or policies would you propose to address housing issues facing your community?
I think our economic development coordinator along with our community development department do a great job here already so my focus would be on partnering with them to make sure they have all the tools and resources they need from the city to succeed in their roles. We’re already seeing the fruits of their labor with full lifecycle living being built at breakneck speed across town. By building housing that caters to all ages, it frees up homes for younger first time homebuyers to get into and will encourage over time, families to move to Hastings and call it home.
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?
I would look to see if there’s more we could do to promote and partner with local services such as Smart Ride, Five Ride, and Metro Mobility along with Dakota County to ensure that residents that may be elderly, low-income, or non-English speaking know about these options and the possibility of them being subsidized so that they may remain able to go to the grocery store, doctor, church etc. and not feel like they don’t have an option.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
Stop the wasteful spending. Instead of new pickup trucks, recycle old squads into city hall pool vehicles that are shared by all. I would also investigate a leasing program for our city fleet of vehicles as I think there could be a cost savings there. On a broader level, creating a streetlight utility would reduce our city budget and associated tax burden by approximately $300,000/year that gets passed on to residents. By doing this, every parcel of land in the city tax exempt or not pays for streetlights just like they do for water and sewer services. The way it is now, churches, schools, and any other tax-exempt properties do not pay for streetlight operations. I would also push to put more burden for costs of county roads back on the county. Dakota County loves to praise low tax rates; it’s because they push a lot of their costs onto cities whereas most other counties bear the cost themselves to maintain county roads.
What will you do to expand Hastings tax base?
Streamline the process from start to finish for businesses and housing developments. Partner with groups like the Chamber, Rotary, local homebuilders and DBA to hear from them what ideas they may have and then put those ideas into action.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
Our schools contrary to what may be in the news or on social media are some of the best. Let’s get back to the basics and let our parents parent and teachers teach. A City Council Member’s job is to provide essential services that all residents demand and expect at the lowest cost possible.
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?
No.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in Hastings?
The role of council should be to partner with groups such as chambers, business associations and so on and leave it at that is they are the subject matter experts in those arenas. Should we make it known that Hastings is an excellent place to establish a business? Absolutely, but it needs to stop there. The role of Council is to ensure zoning ordinances and process is followed as we cannot cherry pick or decide what business is going where.
What further policies can Hastings adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Nothing. The city needs to stay out of business decisions and let businesses conduct business however they see fit. Capitalism in my definition is the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail. I will never interfere with a business that isn’t my own. That is not city government, that’s government overreach. We all lived through the devastating impacts mandates had on small businesses and it is my hope that we never repeat that portion of our history ever again.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
If you want head in the clouds ideas, I am not your candidate but I appreciate your engagement in the process of becoming informed of who you’ll be electing to City Council. If you want someone with the courage to say what needs to be said no matter how difficult it may be, vote for me. I have demonstrated leadership experience not only professionally but also locally as a volunteer on several city commissions. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions and, in some instances, vote against staff recommendations if I felt it was for the greater good. As a council member, I will have no hesitation doing the same thing. Public service is in my blood and if elected, I will get to work to get Hastings back on track to where I think it needs to be. I would appreciate your support and vote in August and November!