Mark J. Westpfahl
Name: Mark J. Westpfahl
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-246-8574
Campaign Website: markformayorssp.com
Twitter handle: @markjwestpfahl
Facebook Page:
Candidate Bio
My vision, “Embracing the Past, Envisioning the Future,” focuses on building a prosperous future while honoring our heritage. I bring civic pride, an eagerness to engage multiple perspectives, and governmental experience which I believe will enhance city strengths and address challenges. I aim to foster a vibrant, thriving community where people want to live, work and play. I aim to bring more transparency, collaboration and creativity to city government.
With more than a decade of political and organizational experience, I understand the political process. I’ve served on various boards and committees, including President of the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies, Inver Grove Heights Board of Education, and the Minnesota State Capitol Preservation Commission. As a 15+ year educator and a three-time Minnesota Teacher of the Year Semifinalist, I integrate civic lessons into my curriculum. I’ll advocate for a more inclusive community approach and aim to enhance South St. Paul's growth and residents' quality of life through collaborative leadership.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Collaborating with local partners, including business leaders, organizations, and elected officials at all levels, is crucial for advancing our collective progress. By leveraging these partnerships, we can equip ourselves with the tools needed to drive our community forward.
We need to actively and effectively work with residents to solicit feedback and ideas for initiatives, through more town halls, comprehensive community surveys, and by inviting stakeholders - coalitions, organizations and businesses - to round tables. Doing this will allow us to better identify gaps and possibilities when reevaluating our goals regarding economic development, public safety, infrastructure, housing, energy and the environment, education, budgets, and more.
I will advocate for a more inclusive community approach to enhance residents' quality of life through more openness and transparency. Recording city council work sessions and having minutes available is an easy first step towards transparency as it allows our residents to better understand the factors that are considered during decision making.
What would be your top three priorities if elected? How might these priorities be affected by the state's projected economic outlook?
If elected, three of my top priorities would be introducing new measures of government transparency and accessibility for residents, reducing our instances of domestic violence and opioid use, and maintenance/repair of our infrastructure.
While some of these items can be budgeted for through our capital improvement plan and long term strategic outlook, there are times in which we do need the support of our elected counterparts at the county, state and federal levels. However, We need to acknowledge that our needs and projects are going to be stacked up against other state legislative needs and we may not be a priority to other legislators that also need to sign off on funding. We can not become dependent on the state to help us fund projects like a new water treatment facility or a new maintenance facility, but we do need to be proactive in our approach and advocacy and we must be prepared to provide a compelling “why this is important for our community” explanation. We must continue to look for creative ways to fund and finance projects that are deemed priorities.
With that said, we need to work with community partners, such as Dakota County, to develop new strategies for how to combat issues like lowering our incidence of domestic violence and opioid use which is the second highest in Dakota County.
South St. Paul and West St. Paul have the highest per-capita rate of opioid overdose in Dakota County and one of the highest per-capita rates of opioid overdose in the State of Minnesota. Not only do we need to work with our state legislators and partners at the Minnesota Department of Human Service and their recently formed Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council, but we need to work with our federal partners as well to advocate for more money to be allocated in targeted areas such as South St. Paul who are disproportionately affected at alarming levels.
We need to maintain and repair important infrastructure while finding a balance between taxes and spending. I believe we can be more proactive, rather than reactive, in our decision making and planning processes.
Our United States Representative was able to secure more than $1,000,000 in Community Project Funding for Prior Lake recently for their trail system. Woodbury was granted $1,500,000 for an Emergency Operations Center Equipment Project. Hastings was awarded $10,500,000 for PFAS and Nitrates Treatment, a problem that we will also be dealing with in South St. Paul.
We should actively and routinely be working with the Congresswoman’s office to advocate for funding for projects that could help secure money for infrastructure repair, maintenance and building of new city facilities, etc.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in South St. Paul?
There are several things that will challenge us over the next decade. Aging infrastructure, such as roads, sewer and water treatment facilities, will need to be continuously monitored and evaluated. We need to be proactive and start strategic planning with our county, state and national leaders on crafting letters of advocacy and requests for state &/or federal bonding money, along with working towards applying for grants to reduce the potential tax burden on residents. We can not afford to let amenities, such as the Northview Pool, the Armour Gates, and the old South St. Paul Public Library, continue to fall into disrepair, causing emergency situations that are often deemed too dire for the city to rehabilitate.
Increasing our tax base, while minimizing the rising costs of taxes on residents, when there is little land available for growth may be a challenge, especially in comparison to our neighboring communities. We need to think creatively on how to maximize our current spaces and encourage businesses to start up or relocate here.
Cost of living continues to increase and we will need to work with partners to keep the cost of renting or owning a house low. South St. Paul should be a welcoming and easy community to move to with as few limitations in place as possible.
We also need to strengthen our relationship with our school district and help identify and create an educational experience that will become a draw for families outside of our city and incentivize families that are currently here to not leave for other communities. We have a great opportunity to work with business and industry in our community to develop mentorship and internship programs and invite business leaders into our classrooms to showcase different skills and career opportunities.
With that said, South St. Paul has numerous opportunities and areas that our residents should be excited about. We have quality parks and our community is looking forward to the new amenities that many of them will have to offer over the next several years as part of a new parks master plan.
We have an opportunity to reenvision what our city looks like and have the opportunities to create a walkable downtown district that residents feel drawn to. I love how our community is coalescing over the idea of being an arts community, which brings new ideas and possibilities to draw people to our city.
I love that our community is becoming more diverse. I want to help new residents feel comfortable moving to our city, just as my family was welcomed when we chose to move here. I want residents to feel comfortable participating not only in civic engagement, but also in community events and endeavors. We have so much potential to be an inviting and inclusive city, if we allow others to come to the table to share their story and help share our future.
We have a deep history in South St. Paul, rooted in the founding of the once largest stockyards in the world. But that is not, and should not be, the only thing South St. Paul is known for.
Our collective stories are still being written today and I want to be a part of helping shape that future… and that future’s past!
Please characterize your perspective on the ideal collaboration between government and the business community when it comes to tackling challenges whether they be education, housing, or workforce development. Do you feel the outcomes of the 2023-2024 legislative session positively or negatively impacted that collaboration and our state's business climate?
Our current State Representative and State Senator have shown great desire to partner with South St. Paul to advocate for projects such as historic preservation, environmental issues and more. We need to continue to build upon those relationships rather than isolate ourselves from asking for assistance. Doing so has the potential to reduce the burden to our tax base, including our business community.
South St. Paul has the 2nd highest city property tax rate in the state, for cities of 20,000 people or more. In fact, city taxes and spending since 2016 have increased at twice the rate of inflation. South St. Paul does not have the growth opportunities in regard to increased tax base as many of our neighbors do. We need to do a better job of fiscal planning, and working on creative and collaborative solutions so our first instinct is not to automatically raise taxes or ask the public to endorse a referendum.
As a city, we need to leverage that our current State Representative is on the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), a vital position in allocating funding for projects at the state level. We were able to receive more than $600,000 for replanting trees after the devastating loss of canopy due to the emerald ash borer and more than $195,000 in cultural heritage funds to restore Croatian Hall.
Our current State Senator is the Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. We need to work with him to help deliver state money to South St. Paul, much as our city official did when former Senator Jim Metzen was able to secure DEED and other grants for our residents.
We also need to work more with our county partners for aid and support. We need to push Dakota County to take over the $541,253 the City is spending for Dakota911 emergency dispatching each year.
We have partnered with our elected county officials on parks, road repairs, the new Kaposia library and more. There is more that the county is willing to partner with us on, if we are willing to not isolate ourselves.
As for the 2023-2024 session, I know that our state representative and state senator were working hard to allocate funding for key engineering projects such as our public works facility.
However, the state did not pass a bonding bill, which is usually done in the second session of a two-year cycle. This meant that there was no state funding available for that project, and for projects like the rehabilitation/reconstruction of the Northview Pool.
Ultimately, this means we will either need to find the financing in other places, or work harder to advocate that more resources are provided in the next legislative session. These discussions should be happening right now with our elected partners, rather than waiting for the 2025 legislative session to begin.
How would you characterize the business climate in South St. Paul and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in South St. Paul?
South St. Paul is home to many great businesses and we should continue to strive to ensure our community is a place where small business owners want to start a business and grow and expand their existing businesses. Like other communities, the pandemic hit our businesses hard and many businesses are still working their way back.
As we continue the long generational transition from the meat packing industry, we must continue to work to ensure our business park is meeting its potential in creating family sustaining jobs for our residents and growing our tax base.
For too long, some have said it is OK that South St. Paul doesn't have a vibrant commercial base because Robert Street is just a short drive away. It has meant a lack of focus and too many missed opportunities to create thriving corridors of commerce. Our city needs to both provide the long term vision that helps small business owners see themselves in South St. Paul and support small business owners where they are at.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
Building strong, trusting relationships between the South St. Paul Police Department and the community is essential for ensuring public safety and effective policing. We need to ensure that our Police Department is operating to its fullest capabilities. We can ensure this by developing a plan to adequate fund the department, hiring additional officers and personnel, and retaining officers by providing growth opportunities.
I’ve met with Chief Wicke and have the utmost respect for how he oversees the department and what his vision is for the future. We need to make sure that his team is well equipped, trained, and has the tools necessary to respond to different situations. The addition of a social worker on the police force has helped tremendously and I would like to see the city consider expanding that program as it has been an asset in crisis situations.
I would also like to see more community forums to address growing concerns in the community, such as our high domestic abuse and opioid use rates and we need to advocate with our state/federal partners for more resources to combat opioid use and domestic violence in our community.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
The rising cost of housing is squeezing the budgets of too many families in South St. Paul and is making it harder for young families to buy their first homes. For other families, they are staying in their homes because of high interest rates and lack of supply of homes that may better suit them.
Last year, the state allocated $1 billion one-time dollars and even more ongoing revenue to begin to deal with the housing crisis. The city should leverage those dollars and build more housing and promote state subsidies to lower the cost of housing for those struggling to stay in their homes.
Many older folks want to stay in South St. Paul but are looking to downsize. Our lack of smaller homes and multi-family housing is making it hard for them to stay in their homes. As we think about the future of our downtown, our main corridors, and on Concord, building more housing will be key to providing options for residents to stay in our community while revitalizing our community. State resources are starting to flood in to help local units of government with building more housing for more people.
At the same time, many young families with children want to buy into our community but are finding the cost of entering the housing market too high. The state recently passed First Time Homebuyer Funds to help people buy their first home and establish themselves in our community. Finding ways to promote efforts to attract and retain young families, like the First Time Homebuyer Grants helps our tax base, our schools, and our civic life.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
As we redevelop streets and corridors, I think we do need to revisit our comprehensive transportation plan to see what best meets the needs of our residents in South St. Paul. Vehicle sizes are drastically different that they were when our streets were first platted and we need to take this into consideration as we develop plans to widen or narrow major thoroughfares.
We need to continue to work with our county partners to provide safety options on busy streets, such as the city/county shared Southview Boulevard. Crossing some of our major roads has become more challenging in recent years as we have seen increasing in traffic. We need to explore options such as blinking pedestrian crossing sings, which alert motorists when pedestrians want to cross streets.
DARTS continues to be a great option for many in our community, as does Metro Transit bussing and I hope to be able to maintain and strengthen those partnerships.
Cities have addressed many ongoing needs with temporary, federal COVID relief dollars, what are your plans to ensure fiscal stability as these federal, one-time funds run out?
While covid relief money was important to South St. Paul during the first years of the pandemic, we need to remember that these are one time, nonrecurring funds that often came with certain specifications for how they could be allocated. Most communities used these funds to strengthen emergency and/or safety services. While these were great uses, we need to make sure that we do not relay on these moneys for future budgeting, as they were a stop gap from the federal government designed for the short term.
As a city, we need to make sure we continue to to develop policy and budget planning processes that look outward and prepare for contingencies and emergencies that may, and often times will, pop up to ensure we are not facing fiscal cliffs that often lead to automatic raising of taxes or budget cuts which could severely limit the services the city provides.
Uber/Lyft wages and proposed childcare subsidies funded by local property taxes are just a few areas where local units of government are wading into policy debates that may be best suited at the state. Please articulate the different scopes of work between state and local government (City/County). Are there specific areas of policy that the city should lead on in lieu of the state or county government?
Certain policy decisions such as these are not always germane to the purview of the city. With that said, city government does establish laws and regulations that shape economic activities whether it’s labor market rules, tax policies, environmental regulations, and zoning laws. Partnering with other entities, such as the local school board, county, or state officials in different situations is within the scope of city government and these decisions often do play a vital role in the community. We need to ensure that we have an open and transparent process for discussions and community input to better understand the proposals that are presented to the city council and to allow businesses, organizations and residents to share their expertise with us, so we can make the most informed decisions on behalf of the community.
As I described in the “Please characterize your perspective on the ideal collaboration between government and the business community…” question, there needs to be a healthy balance between governing at the local level and partnering with our county, state and federal partners to leverage all available resources to help South St. paul thrive.
For example, our current State Representative and State Senator have shown great desire to partner with South St. Paul to advocate for projects such as historic preservation, environmental issues and more. As a city, we need to continue to partner with our elected state officials to strengthen environmental laws that repeatedly and purposefully get ignored by businesses such as Sanimax.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-246-8574
Campaign Website: markformayorssp.com
Twitter handle: @markjwestpfahl
Facebook Page:
Candidate Bio
My vision, “Embracing the Past, Envisioning the Future,” focuses on building a prosperous future while honoring our heritage. I bring civic pride, an eagerness to engage multiple perspectives, and governmental experience which I believe will enhance city strengths and address challenges. I aim to foster a vibrant, thriving community where people want to live, work and play. I aim to bring more transparency, collaboration and creativity to city government.
With more than a decade of political and organizational experience, I understand the political process. I’ve served on various boards and committees, including President of the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies, Inver Grove Heights Board of Education, and the Minnesota State Capitol Preservation Commission. As a 15+ year educator and a three-time Minnesota Teacher of the Year Semifinalist, I integrate civic lessons into my curriculum. I’ll advocate for a more inclusive community approach and aim to enhance South St. Paul's growth and residents' quality of life through collaborative leadership.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Collaborating with local partners, including business leaders, organizations, and elected officials at all levels, is crucial for advancing our collective progress. By leveraging these partnerships, we can equip ourselves with the tools needed to drive our community forward.
We need to actively and effectively work with residents to solicit feedback and ideas for initiatives, through more town halls, comprehensive community surveys, and by inviting stakeholders - coalitions, organizations and businesses - to round tables. Doing this will allow us to better identify gaps and possibilities when reevaluating our goals regarding economic development, public safety, infrastructure, housing, energy and the environment, education, budgets, and more.
I will advocate for a more inclusive community approach to enhance residents' quality of life through more openness and transparency. Recording city council work sessions and having minutes available is an easy first step towards transparency as it allows our residents to better understand the factors that are considered during decision making.
What would be your top three priorities if elected? How might these priorities be affected by the state's projected economic outlook?
If elected, three of my top priorities would be introducing new measures of government transparency and accessibility for residents, reducing our instances of domestic violence and opioid use, and maintenance/repair of our infrastructure.
While some of these items can be budgeted for through our capital improvement plan and long term strategic outlook, there are times in which we do need the support of our elected counterparts at the county, state and federal levels. However, We need to acknowledge that our needs and projects are going to be stacked up against other state legislative needs and we may not be a priority to other legislators that also need to sign off on funding. We can not become dependent on the state to help us fund projects like a new water treatment facility or a new maintenance facility, but we do need to be proactive in our approach and advocacy and we must be prepared to provide a compelling “why this is important for our community” explanation. We must continue to look for creative ways to fund and finance projects that are deemed priorities.
With that said, we need to work with community partners, such as Dakota County, to develop new strategies for how to combat issues like lowering our incidence of domestic violence and opioid use which is the second highest in Dakota County.
South St. Paul and West St. Paul have the highest per-capita rate of opioid overdose in Dakota County and one of the highest per-capita rates of opioid overdose in the State of Minnesota. Not only do we need to work with our state legislators and partners at the Minnesota Department of Human Service and their recently formed Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council, but we need to work with our federal partners as well to advocate for more money to be allocated in targeted areas such as South St. Paul who are disproportionately affected at alarming levels.
We need to maintain and repair important infrastructure while finding a balance between taxes and spending. I believe we can be more proactive, rather than reactive, in our decision making and planning processes.
Our United States Representative was able to secure more than $1,000,000 in Community Project Funding for Prior Lake recently for their trail system. Woodbury was granted $1,500,000 for an Emergency Operations Center Equipment Project. Hastings was awarded $10,500,000 for PFAS and Nitrates Treatment, a problem that we will also be dealing with in South St. Paul.
We should actively and routinely be working with the Congresswoman’s office to advocate for funding for projects that could help secure money for infrastructure repair, maintenance and building of new city facilities, etc.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in South St. Paul?
There are several things that will challenge us over the next decade. Aging infrastructure, such as roads, sewer and water treatment facilities, will need to be continuously monitored and evaluated. We need to be proactive and start strategic planning with our county, state and national leaders on crafting letters of advocacy and requests for state &/or federal bonding money, along with working towards applying for grants to reduce the potential tax burden on residents. We can not afford to let amenities, such as the Northview Pool, the Armour Gates, and the old South St. Paul Public Library, continue to fall into disrepair, causing emergency situations that are often deemed too dire for the city to rehabilitate.
Increasing our tax base, while minimizing the rising costs of taxes on residents, when there is little land available for growth may be a challenge, especially in comparison to our neighboring communities. We need to think creatively on how to maximize our current spaces and encourage businesses to start up or relocate here.
Cost of living continues to increase and we will need to work with partners to keep the cost of renting or owning a house low. South St. Paul should be a welcoming and easy community to move to with as few limitations in place as possible.
We also need to strengthen our relationship with our school district and help identify and create an educational experience that will become a draw for families outside of our city and incentivize families that are currently here to not leave for other communities. We have a great opportunity to work with business and industry in our community to develop mentorship and internship programs and invite business leaders into our classrooms to showcase different skills and career opportunities.
With that said, South St. Paul has numerous opportunities and areas that our residents should be excited about. We have quality parks and our community is looking forward to the new amenities that many of them will have to offer over the next several years as part of a new parks master plan.
We have an opportunity to reenvision what our city looks like and have the opportunities to create a walkable downtown district that residents feel drawn to. I love how our community is coalescing over the idea of being an arts community, which brings new ideas and possibilities to draw people to our city.
I love that our community is becoming more diverse. I want to help new residents feel comfortable moving to our city, just as my family was welcomed when we chose to move here. I want residents to feel comfortable participating not only in civic engagement, but also in community events and endeavors. We have so much potential to be an inviting and inclusive city, if we allow others to come to the table to share their story and help share our future.
We have a deep history in South St. Paul, rooted in the founding of the once largest stockyards in the world. But that is not, and should not be, the only thing South St. Paul is known for.
Our collective stories are still being written today and I want to be a part of helping shape that future… and that future’s past!
Please characterize your perspective on the ideal collaboration between government and the business community when it comes to tackling challenges whether they be education, housing, or workforce development. Do you feel the outcomes of the 2023-2024 legislative session positively or negatively impacted that collaboration and our state's business climate?
Our current State Representative and State Senator have shown great desire to partner with South St. Paul to advocate for projects such as historic preservation, environmental issues and more. We need to continue to build upon those relationships rather than isolate ourselves from asking for assistance. Doing so has the potential to reduce the burden to our tax base, including our business community.
South St. Paul has the 2nd highest city property tax rate in the state, for cities of 20,000 people or more. In fact, city taxes and spending since 2016 have increased at twice the rate of inflation. South St. Paul does not have the growth opportunities in regard to increased tax base as many of our neighbors do. We need to do a better job of fiscal planning, and working on creative and collaborative solutions so our first instinct is not to automatically raise taxes or ask the public to endorse a referendum.
As a city, we need to leverage that our current State Representative is on the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), a vital position in allocating funding for projects at the state level. We were able to receive more than $600,000 for replanting trees after the devastating loss of canopy due to the emerald ash borer and more than $195,000 in cultural heritage funds to restore Croatian Hall.
Our current State Senator is the Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. We need to work with him to help deliver state money to South St. Paul, much as our city official did when former Senator Jim Metzen was able to secure DEED and other grants for our residents.
We also need to work more with our county partners for aid and support. We need to push Dakota County to take over the $541,253 the City is spending for Dakota911 emergency dispatching each year.
We have partnered with our elected county officials on parks, road repairs, the new Kaposia library and more. There is more that the county is willing to partner with us on, if we are willing to not isolate ourselves.
As for the 2023-2024 session, I know that our state representative and state senator were working hard to allocate funding for key engineering projects such as our public works facility.
However, the state did not pass a bonding bill, which is usually done in the second session of a two-year cycle. This meant that there was no state funding available for that project, and for projects like the rehabilitation/reconstruction of the Northview Pool.
Ultimately, this means we will either need to find the financing in other places, or work harder to advocate that more resources are provided in the next legislative session. These discussions should be happening right now with our elected partners, rather than waiting for the 2025 legislative session to begin.
How would you characterize the business climate in South St. Paul and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in South St. Paul?
South St. Paul is home to many great businesses and we should continue to strive to ensure our community is a place where small business owners want to start a business and grow and expand their existing businesses. Like other communities, the pandemic hit our businesses hard and many businesses are still working their way back.
As we continue the long generational transition from the meat packing industry, we must continue to work to ensure our business park is meeting its potential in creating family sustaining jobs for our residents and growing our tax base.
For too long, some have said it is OK that South St. Paul doesn't have a vibrant commercial base because Robert Street is just a short drive away. It has meant a lack of focus and too many missed opportunities to create thriving corridors of commerce. Our city needs to both provide the long term vision that helps small business owners see themselves in South St. Paul and support small business owners where they are at.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
Building strong, trusting relationships between the South St. Paul Police Department and the community is essential for ensuring public safety and effective policing. We need to ensure that our Police Department is operating to its fullest capabilities. We can ensure this by developing a plan to adequate fund the department, hiring additional officers and personnel, and retaining officers by providing growth opportunities.
I’ve met with Chief Wicke and have the utmost respect for how he oversees the department and what his vision is for the future. We need to make sure that his team is well equipped, trained, and has the tools necessary to respond to different situations. The addition of a social worker on the police force has helped tremendously and I would like to see the city consider expanding that program as it has been an asset in crisis situations.
I would also like to see more community forums to address growing concerns in the community, such as our high domestic abuse and opioid use rates and we need to advocate with our state/federal partners for more resources to combat opioid use and domestic violence in our community.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
The rising cost of housing is squeezing the budgets of too many families in South St. Paul and is making it harder for young families to buy their first homes. For other families, they are staying in their homes because of high interest rates and lack of supply of homes that may better suit them.
Last year, the state allocated $1 billion one-time dollars and even more ongoing revenue to begin to deal with the housing crisis. The city should leverage those dollars and build more housing and promote state subsidies to lower the cost of housing for those struggling to stay in their homes.
Many older folks want to stay in South St. Paul but are looking to downsize. Our lack of smaller homes and multi-family housing is making it hard for them to stay in their homes. As we think about the future of our downtown, our main corridors, and on Concord, building more housing will be key to providing options for residents to stay in our community while revitalizing our community. State resources are starting to flood in to help local units of government with building more housing for more people.
At the same time, many young families with children want to buy into our community but are finding the cost of entering the housing market too high. The state recently passed First Time Homebuyer Funds to help people buy their first home and establish themselves in our community. Finding ways to promote efforts to attract and retain young families, like the First Time Homebuyer Grants helps our tax base, our schools, and our civic life.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
As we redevelop streets and corridors, I think we do need to revisit our comprehensive transportation plan to see what best meets the needs of our residents in South St. Paul. Vehicle sizes are drastically different that they were when our streets were first platted and we need to take this into consideration as we develop plans to widen or narrow major thoroughfares.
We need to continue to work with our county partners to provide safety options on busy streets, such as the city/county shared Southview Boulevard. Crossing some of our major roads has become more challenging in recent years as we have seen increasing in traffic. We need to explore options such as blinking pedestrian crossing sings, which alert motorists when pedestrians want to cross streets.
DARTS continues to be a great option for many in our community, as does Metro Transit bussing and I hope to be able to maintain and strengthen those partnerships.
Cities have addressed many ongoing needs with temporary, federal COVID relief dollars, what are your plans to ensure fiscal stability as these federal, one-time funds run out?
While covid relief money was important to South St. Paul during the first years of the pandemic, we need to remember that these are one time, nonrecurring funds that often came with certain specifications for how they could be allocated. Most communities used these funds to strengthen emergency and/or safety services. While these were great uses, we need to make sure that we do not relay on these moneys for future budgeting, as they were a stop gap from the federal government designed for the short term.
As a city, we need to make sure we continue to to develop policy and budget planning processes that look outward and prepare for contingencies and emergencies that may, and often times will, pop up to ensure we are not facing fiscal cliffs that often lead to automatic raising of taxes or budget cuts which could severely limit the services the city provides.
Uber/Lyft wages and proposed childcare subsidies funded by local property taxes are just a few areas where local units of government are wading into policy debates that may be best suited at the state. Please articulate the different scopes of work between state and local government (City/County). Are there specific areas of policy that the city should lead on in lieu of the state or county government?
Certain policy decisions such as these are not always germane to the purview of the city. With that said, city government does establish laws and regulations that shape economic activities whether it’s labor market rules, tax policies, environmental regulations, and zoning laws. Partnering with other entities, such as the local school board, county, or state officials in different situations is within the scope of city government and these decisions often do play a vital role in the community. We need to ensure that we have an open and transparent process for discussions and community input to better understand the proposals that are presented to the city council and to allow businesses, organizations and residents to share their expertise with us, so we can make the most informed decisions on behalf of the community.
As I described in the “Please characterize your perspective on the ideal collaboration between government and the business community…” question, there needs to be a healthy balance between governing at the local level and partnering with our county, state and federal partners to leverage all available resources to help South St. paul thrive.
For example, our current State Representative and State Senator have shown great desire to partner with South St. Paul to advocate for projects such as historic preservation, environmental issues and more. As a city, we need to continue to partner with our elected state officials to strengthen environmental laws that repeatedly and purposefully get ignored by businesses such as Sanimax.