Michelle Yener
Name: Michelle Yener
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-341-5255
Campaign Website: michelleyener.com
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page:
Candidate Bio
I am a lifelong resident of Ramsey County. I grew up in North St. Paul and attended St. Agnes with my seven siblings. My mother was a homemaker and my father ran a small sign business. I have a Doctorate of Education from St. Mary's University and I work at the University of Minnesota. My husband and I bought our home in Maplewood when we started our family. He is a lieutenant in the Department of Corrections where he has worked for about 20 years. Our children all attended the ISD622 schools. Two children are now in college and one is in high school.
I have served on the school board for 14 years. I have had the honor of chairing the board for the last seven years. During this time, our schools have “beaten the odds” when it comes to academic achievement. We, recently, renovated all of our buildings with an eye to school safety. We have had a healthy budget and excellent workforce retention. I have learned a lot about board governance and oversight of a multi-million-dollar budget. I believe that I can use this experience and knowledge to make an immediate contribution as a Ramsey County Commissioner.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
I bring a participative leadership style. The diverse and wide-reaching work of the county makes it imperative to listen to the voice of stakeholders. No individual could be an expert on all of the important work that is happening in the county. In order to find the solutions that work for Ramsey County, I will listen to a broad representation of residents, business leaders, and the county employees. I will work hard to clearly define and to meet our goals. As a school board member, I have spent significant time advocating across community resources and government agencies. This advocacy matters. As a Ramsey County Commissioner, I will take our case to those who can help us reach our goals. Furthermore, I will monitor the impact of our work to ensure that your tax dollars are being spent wisely.
What would be your top three priorities if elected? How might these priorities be affected by the state's projected economic outlook?
If elected, my priorities will reflect those of my constituents in Ramsey County. The most frequent concern I hear from community members is safety. So, safety is my first priority. People want to live where they have peace of mind. My second priority is social services, particularly mental health. Ramsey County provides a spectrum of critical and scarce social services. Social Services are the largest piece of the county budget because there is enormous unmet need. My third priority is fiscal responsibility. As an elected official, I will support spending as needed, but I will watch each dollar like it is my own. Overspending on taxation hurts the county by depriving families of their hard-earned money. With the state projecting a surplus of $3.7 billion dollars, there may be an opportunity for additional county aid. Currently, the county is leaning very heavily on property taxes – which account for over 45% of its budget. Additional state funding may be an opportunity to reduce steadily rising property taxes.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in Ramsey County?
The biggest challenges and the biggest opportunities in Ramsey County revolve around mental health. Like other communities in the state and country, we have increasing numbers of mental health incidences. Depression, chemical abuse, homelessness, suicide, and incarceration are all linked to mental health issues. While mental health crises are always heartbreaking, we see some populations hit harder: veterans, the homeless, the elderly and teenagers. In order to ensure that our communities are healthy and safe, we need to ensure that we are providing the resources necessary to address mental health issues. There are lots of great programs in Ramsey County that are doing this work. There is a lot of expertise being built as new solutions are developed and tested. We need to support best practices in this work and find ways to make the lives of those in distress better. This work will improve all of our lives as we are all impacted by the mental health crisis. In addition, we can all improve mental health outcomes by doing a better job at talking about mental health and reducing the stigma.
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?
The ideal collaboration between government and the business community is one of mutual respect. The government is doing important work for the community and the business community is providing jobs, access to goods and services, and is an important part of the tax base in the community. The business community is strengthening the community by investing in it. Any good community solution will be developed with consultation from a variety of important stakeholders – including the businesses.
The outcome of the 2023-2024 legislative session deepened our political partisanship. Single-party-rule removes checks and balances that strengthen confidence in the political system; it removes incentives for collaboration. Our government thrives when our citizens feel heard and represented. The Ramsey County Commissioner role is nonpartisan and I am committed to remaining nonpartisan and finding middle ground through respectful consultation with the business community and other stakeholders. I reject efforts to promote and exploit divisions and believe that we should work together for the good of our communities.
How would you characterized the business climate in Ramsey County and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in Ramsey County?
The Twin Cities hosts over a dozen Fortune 500 companies. We have a strong, well-educated, workforce and a diverse economy. That said, there are obvious challenges. Businesses are continuing to adapt to online shopping and its impact on brick-and-mortar stores. Now, vacant office buildings in our downtowns and elsewhere present a new challenge. These shift in how we live and work have a tremendous – and expensive – impact on our businesses.
All of our government and non-government organizations are stakeholders in the prosperity of our business community. However, Ramsey County plays an important role in resourcing a number of programs aimed at supporting businesses and promoting the county as a great place to do business. These programs range from support for job-seekers to tax incentives and loans for businesses. The business community should have a strong role in structuring these programs in the way that is responsive to their changing needs. Ramsey County cannot thrive unless its business community thrives.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
If I were elected as a Ramsey County Commissioner, my public safety strategies would be informed by the community and by those with expertise in this work.
My biggest priority as a candidate is safe communities. People in the community have told me, dozens of times, that this is their priority. They want to live and work in a community where they feel safe. In order to address public safety, I believe that we need community-based initiatives to address poverty, mental health, crisis response, and policing. We need to protect and support victims of crime. We need to support programs for high-risk youth. We need to promote healthy and mutually respectful relationships with the police. We need to target distressed and problem areas of the county with the resources needed to make positive change. Crime feels like a daunting problem, but there are good solutions that have been successfully implemented. Ramsey County needs to focus its resources on proven public safety strategies to ensure that the county is a great place live and work.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
Ramsey County is a great place to live. However, we lack necessary affordable housing, starter homes, and senior housing. When new houses are built, they are, too often, not affordable for most families in the county. Fewer people are moving out of affordable starter homes due to the rapid rise in housing costs and high interest rates. We have had a long-term housing shortage, but the issue is growing and must be addressed.
Lack of housing and affordable housing is the responsibility of all levels of government and impacts the wellness of a community. Ramsey County Commissioners should not take on the burden of the housing crisis alone and should create urgency around implementing effective solutions. They must advocate for sufficient support from the federal and state government in order to reward affordable housing developments. They must advocate for city-level zoning and permitting that supports affordable housing. They must enlist their public sector and non-profit partners to support grassroots solutions that their communities need. They must support solutions that have a track record of results. Only a small slice of Ramsey County’s budget goes to addressing housing. We must stretch this budget by engaging our partners in the community and across the government.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
County Commissioners should ensure that they are hearing the concerns of the community when it comes to transportation. The community wants transportation that aligns with the way they work and play. There is growing urgency around environmental impacts of our transportation options. There is also growing concern around the costs of traffic congestion and long commutes. In addition, growing numbers of people want safe options for using bikes and ebikes for commutes or for recreation. I would strongly support investments in our diverse transportation infrastructure – and I would prioritize the maintenance of our 250-miles of county roads.
That said, our community wants to see increased accountability for transit work. We want transit to be smart and cost-conscious. We do not want to see the county taking on ballooning costs for transit work that blows past its budget and timeline. We do not want to see transit work that leads to expensive re-work due to insufficient community engagement. We want investments that help us feel safe on public transportation. It is extremely difficult for public transportation to recover from repeated reports of crime.
Having great roads, public transit options, bike paths, and limited traffic congestion helps support our quality of life in Ramsey County. Like much of the work in Ramsey County, transportation requires collaborates with many businesses, non-profits and government organizations. Our transportation infrastructure is a vital part of what makes our county great!
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?
I was the chair of the North St. Paul – Maplewood – Oakdale School Board from 2017-2023. Obviously, this timeframe includes the COVID pandemic, distribution of COVID relief funds, and the end of these funds. Our district was grateful for these funds, but was careful not to use them in a way that was damaging to our long-term budget. We did a very good job of maintaining a healthy budget over the last several years. No good budget uses one-time money to fund recurring expenses. Well-informed decisions need to be made to fund the programs that the county can afford. Maintaining a healthy budget is, perhaps, the most important responsibility of an elected official.
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?
Unfortunately, there are no clear, simple, lines between the work of the state and the work of the county or city. In broad strokes, state government represents the needs of the entire state, makes laws for the entire state, and sets priorities for the entire state. County government does similar work for the county. City government does similar work for the city. A school board does similar work for the school district. Sometimes these lines blur and elected officials stray outside the scope of their work. Sometimes this is due to a lack of clear delineation of roles, a lack of training, or a power grab.
Much of the work in the county government cannot be met at other levels of government. These are the areas where the county should take the lead. The big buckets of work in Ramsey County are “Information and Public Records,” “Economic Growth and Community Investment,” “Health and Wellness,” and “Safety and Justice.” While cities and state governments offer some services that appear to overlap, the county services are unique.
As a Ramsey County Commissioner, I will strive to have a positive working relationship with my city and state government leaders. Existing relationships promote dialog, support collaboration, and make it easier to resolve conflicts when they, inevitably arise. All elected officials need to remain focused on delivering on their unique missions – and to staying in their own lanes.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-341-5255
Campaign Website: michelleyener.com
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page:
Candidate Bio
I am a lifelong resident of Ramsey County. I grew up in North St. Paul and attended St. Agnes with my seven siblings. My mother was a homemaker and my father ran a small sign business. I have a Doctorate of Education from St. Mary's University and I work at the University of Minnesota. My husband and I bought our home in Maplewood when we started our family. He is a lieutenant in the Department of Corrections where he has worked for about 20 years. Our children all attended the ISD622 schools. Two children are now in college and one is in high school.
I have served on the school board for 14 years. I have had the honor of chairing the board for the last seven years. During this time, our schools have “beaten the odds” when it comes to academic achievement. We, recently, renovated all of our buildings with an eye to school safety. We have had a healthy budget and excellent workforce retention. I have learned a lot about board governance and oversight of a multi-million-dollar budget. I believe that I can use this experience and knowledge to make an immediate contribution as a Ramsey County Commissioner.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
I bring a participative leadership style. The diverse and wide-reaching work of the county makes it imperative to listen to the voice of stakeholders. No individual could be an expert on all of the important work that is happening in the county. In order to find the solutions that work for Ramsey County, I will listen to a broad representation of residents, business leaders, and the county employees. I will work hard to clearly define and to meet our goals. As a school board member, I have spent significant time advocating across community resources and government agencies. This advocacy matters. As a Ramsey County Commissioner, I will take our case to those who can help us reach our goals. Furthermore, I will monitor the impact of our work to ensure that your tax dollars are being spent wisely.
What would be your top three priorities if elected? How might these priorities be affected by the state's projected economic outlook?
If elected, my priorities will reflect those of my constituents in Ramsey County. The most frequent concern I hear from community members is safety. So, safety is my first priority. People want to live where they have peace of mind. My second priority is social services, particularly mental health. Ramsey County provides a spectrum of critical and scarce social services. Social Services are the largest piece of the county budget because there is enormous unmet need. My third priority is fiscal responsibility. As an elected official, I will support spending as needed, but I will watch each dollar like it is my own. Overspending on taxation hurts the county by depriving families of their hard-earned money. With the state projecting a surplus of $3.7 billion dollars, there may be an opportunity for additional county aid. Currently, the county is leaning very heavily on property taxes – which account for over 45% of its budget. Additional state funding may be an opportunity to reduce steadily rising property taxes.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in Ramsey County?
The biggest challenges and the biggest opportunities in Ramsey County revolve around mental health. Like other communities in the state and country, we have increasing numbers of mental health incidences. Depression, chemical abuse, homelessness, suicide, and incarceration are all linked to mental health issues. While mental health crises are always heartbreaking, we see some populations hit harder: veterans, the homeless, the elderly and teenagers. In order to ensure that our communities are healthy and safe, we need to ensure that we are providing the resources necessary to address mental health issues. There are lots of great programs in Ramsey County that are doing this work. There is a lot of expertise being built as new solutions are developed and tested. We need to support best practices in this work and find ways to make the lives of those in distress better. This work will improve all of our lives as we are all impacted by the mental health crisis. In addition, we can all improve mental health outcomes by doing a better job at talking about mental health and reducing the stigma.
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?
The ideal collaboration between government and the business community is one of mutual respect. The government is doing important work for the community and the business community is providing jobs, access to goods and services, and is an important part of the tax base in the community. The business community is strengthening the community by investing in it. Any good community solution will be developed with consultation from a variety of important stakeholders – including the businesses.
The outcome of the 2023-2024 legislative session deepened our political partisanship. Single-party-rule removes checks and balances that strengthen confidence in the political system; it removes incentives for collaboration. Our government thrives when our citizens feel heard and represented. The Ramsey County Commissioner role is nonpartisan and I am committed to remaining nonpartisan and finding middle ground through respectful consultation with the business community and other stakeholders. I reject efforts to promote and exploit divisions and believe that we should work together for the good of our communities.
How would you characterized the business climate in Ramsey County and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in Ramsey County?
The Twin Cities hosts over a dozen Fortune 500 companies. We have a strong, well-educated, workforce and a diverse economy. That said, there are obvious challenges. Businesses are continuing to adapt to online shopping and its impact on brick-and-mortar stores. Now, vacant office buildings in our downtowns and elsewhere present a new challenge. These shift in how we live and work have a tremendous – and expensive – impact on our businesses.
All of our government and non-government organizations are stakeholders in the prosperity of our business community. However, Ramsey County plays an important role in resourcing a number of programs aimed at supporting businesses and promoting the county as a great place to do business. These programs range from support for job-seekers to tax incentives and loans for businesses. The business community should have a strong role in structuring these programs in the way that is responsive to their changing needs. Ramsey County cannot thrive unless its business community thrives.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
If I were elected as a Ramsey County Commissioner, my public safety strategies would be informed by the community and by those with expertise in this work.
My biggest priority as a candidate is safe communities. People in the community have told me, dozens of times, that this is their priority. They want to live and work in a community where they feel safe. In order to address public safety, I believe that we need community-based initiatives to address poverty, mental health, crisis response, and policing. We need to protect and support victims of crime. We need to support programs for high-risk youth. We need to promote healthy and mutually respectful relationships with the police. We need to target distressed and problem areas of the county with the resources needed to make positive change. Crime feels like a daunting problem, but there are good solutions that have been successfully implemented. Ramsey County needs to focus its resources on proven public safety strategies to ensure that the county is a great place live and work.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
Ramsey County is a great place to live. However, we lack necessary affordable housing, starter homes, and senior housing. When new houses are built, they are, too often, not affordable for most families in the county. Fewer people are moving out of affordable starter homes due to the rapid rise in housing costs and high interest rates. We have had a long-term housing shortage, but the issue is growing and must be addressed.
Lack of housing and affordable housing is the responsibility of all levels of government and impacts the wellness of a community. Ramsey County Commissioners should not take on the burden of the housing crisis alone and should create urgency around implementing effective solutions. They must advocate for sufficient support from the federal and state government in order to reward affordable housing developments. They must advocate for city-level zoning and permitting that supports affordable housing. They must enlist their public sector and non-profit partners to support grassroots solutions that their communities need. They must support solutions that have a track record of results. Only a small slice of Ramsey County’s budget goes to addressing housing. We must stretch this budget by engaging our partners in the community and across the government.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
County Commissioners should ensure that they are hearing the concerns of the community when it comes to transportation. The community wants transportation that aligns with the way they work and play. There is growing urgency around environmental impacts of our transportation options. There is also growing concern around the costs of traffic congestion and long commutes. In addition, growing numbers of people want safe options for using bikes and ebikes for commutes or for recreation. I would strongly support investments in our diverse transportation infrastructure – and I would prioritize the maintenance of our 250-miles of county roads.
That said, our community wants to see increased accountability for transit work. We want transit to be smart and cost-conscious. We do not want to see the county taking on ballooning costs for transit work that blows past its budget and timeline. We do not want to see transit work that leads to expensive re-work due to insufficient community engagement. We want investments that help us feel safe on public transportation. It is extremely difficult for public transportation to recover from repeated reports of crime.
Having great roads, public transit options, bike paths, and limited traffic congestion helps support our quality of life in Ramsey County. Like much of the work in Ramsey County, transportation requires collaborates with many businesses, non-profits and government organizations. Our transportation infrastructure is a vital part of what makes our county great!
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?
I was the chair of the North St. Paul – Maplewood – Oakdale School Board from 2017-2023. Obviously, this timeframe includes the COVID pandemic, distribution of COVID relief funds, and the end of these funds. Our district was grateful for these funds, but was careful not to use them in a way that was damaging to our long-term budget. We did a very good job of maintaining a healthy budget over the last several years. No good budget uses one-time money to fund recurring expenses. Well-informed decisions need to be made to fund the programs that the county can afford. Maintaining a healthy budget is, perhaps, the most important responsibility of an elected official.
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?
Unfortunately, there are no clear, simple, lines between the work of the state and the work of the county or city. In broad strokes, state government represents the needs of the entire state, makes laws for the entire state, and sets priorities for the entire state. County government does similar work for the county. City government does similar work for the city. A school board does similar work for the school district. Sometimes these lines blur and elected officials stray outside the scope of their work. Sometimes this is due to a lack of clear delineation of roles, a lack of training, or a power grab.
Much of the work in the county government cannot be met at other levels of government. These are the areas where the county should take the lead. The big buckets of work in Ramsey County are “Information and Public Records,” “Economic Growth and Community Investment,” “Health and Wellness,” and “Safety and Justice.” While cities and state governments offer some services that appear to overlap, the county services are unique.
As a Ramsey County Commissioner, I will strive to have a positive working relationship with my city and state government leaders. Existing relationships promote dialog, support collaboration, and make it easier to resolve conflicts when they, inevitably arise. All elected officials need to remain focused on delivering on their unique missions – and to staying in their own lanes.