Tina Folch
Name: Tina Folch
Public Office Sought: Minnesota House of Representatives District 41B
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-304-0652
Campaign Website: tinafolch.com
Twitter handle: @TinaFolch
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TinaFolchMN/
Candidate Bio
Tina Folch became a council member of Hastings, Minnesota in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. In her role as a council member, she has been additionally serving on the Dakota Broadband Board, the Governor’s Taskforce on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, the Hastings Arts Task Force and the District 200 Community Engagement Committee. For the past 25 years, Tina has worked for state and local government conducting strategic planning and is an expert in good government administration. Having worked across the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety, the Dept. of Employment and Economic Development, and MnDOT, she has wide experience in working with law enforcement, public health, business, and transportation officials. Tina has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from St. Catherine University and a Master’s in Public Administration and Management from the Hamline University School of Business. In addition to Tina’s history of public service and leadership, she actively volunteers for a number of community groups such as the Hastings’ YMCA Board, Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Business Association. Prior to moving to Hastings, Tina resided in southern Cottage Grove and served on its Planning Commission for three years.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
I believe that leaders can bring people together – or drive them apart. I am committed to bringing our communities together by strongly supporting those issues that we collectively all care deeply about as follows:
How would you characterize the business climate in the East Metro and what role do businesses play in supporting quality of life issues in East Metro communities?
I believe the business climate in the East Metro has a tremendous amount of possible growth in the next 20 years as one of the fastest growing regions in our state. The metro area is predicted to grow as much as 700,000 people. As a current 6-year councilmember, I know how extremely important it is to build strong community partnerships between business, nonprofits and government at all levels to support expansion. To accommodate development, government must invest in road and water-related infrastructure, schools must have capacity to educate our children and the business community must be worked with in finding solutions to foster growth. The role of the business community is key to attracting new residents with a wide-spectrum of service and housing offerings. My experience as a civic leader has taught me that strong collaboration between business leaders and government officials is vital to foster welcoming communities with foundations that can support success into the future.
What role do you think the State should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to and retain existing businesses in the East Metro?
To support and expand business opportunities, the state should support investments in roadway and water-related infrastructure. With our roads falling further and further behind in maintenance, Minnesota needs to focus on building safe and functional roadways. Business needs a strong road system to move goods and aid workers in their travels to employment. Also, rural parts of our community need broadband for students to access school materials and working families need to have the high-speed remote capability to stay competitive in the workplace. Strong technology and paved roads have to be in place for an area to keep up in the decade to come.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address our state’s critical labor shortage?
As mentioned earlier, working families and young people are struggling to find affordable housing and daycare options within the metro area. The pandemic has disproportionally affected young women needing to stay at home to take care of their children because they can’t find quality daycare. Another area of concern is lack of care for disabled or older adults that keep family members at home. I believe government should work with the private sector in further developing solutions to issues that are keeping people out of the workforce. Furthermore, we should create programs that offer support systems for families to temporarily leave the workforce to attend to family needs such as paid sick leave or parental leave for young families. Lastly, in Minnesota we need to work together in attracting new workers to come to the metro area because we aren’t replacing our retiring baby boom generation fast enough.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of a proposal on the many types of businesses in the East Metro and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I support the creation of a paid-family medical leave and sick leave program for small businesses. If workers are unable to take care of their loved ones because they work for a small business, they may be inclined to leave employment altogether or find work with larger firms. Because small business is vital to the well-being of communities, I think it is imperative that Minnesota find solutions to this issue to keep workers fully employed yet give them flexibility in taking care of their families. To understand impacts of these types of programs, it is important to stay connected with local chambers of commerce, business associations and industry professional groups.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you use to address public safety issues?
Having worked with the law enforcement community statewide for a decade in the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety, I know that supporting our first responders is a critical issue. Our local police, ambulance providers, and firefighters are facing staffing shortages that place a burden on existing personnel to keep operations strong. Programs and policies are needed to ensure resources are in place to support the physical and mental well-being of all of our first responders. Making sure they are taken care of is foundational to the safety of the community as a whole and deterring crime. I support the state in continuing its practice of providing local government aid which many communities use to purchase capital equipment needed by fire and police. Furthermore, seed funding should be expanded to assist agencies in hiring community policing officers that are more able to focus on working with the business community and residents in resolving local problematic issues. I also believe Minnesota should legalize and regulate marijuana use to remove it from criminal activities, lower overdosing fatalities and provide a new revenue source to fund first-responder needs.
What strategies or policies would you use to address transportation issues? 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 strongly believe that we need to completely re-examine how it is we can use technology to address our transportation challenges. Currently, I am appointed to the Governor’s Taskforce on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles representing the League of Minnesota Cities because I believe driverless technology may be a solution in the future to expanding transit options for people with mobility challenges and workers. I am also vice chair of the Dakota County Broadband Board because I believe that building out broadband infrastructure will be extremely important for communities to keep a competitive edge in attracting new growth and supporting business development into the future. Last, we must expedite the transition to electric vehicles as transportation is a major cause of greenhouse gases affecting climate change here in Minnesota.
What strategies or policies would you use to address housing issues?
For communities to thrive they must be able to provide a range of housing options to meet the needs of residents as they transition through life from early adulthood through senior care. A healthy balance is needed of affordable housing stock for families and individual workers that allows people to live closer to their places of employment. In addition, homelessness is a growing issue that faces many individuals, young families and those suffering from mental health challenges. Government at all levels must work with private developers in fostering partnerships that help fill the gaps by leveraging tax-increment financing and other economic tools for redevelopment of existing sites. The role of the Legislature is to support state programs and policies that foster new local level partnerships.
What are your priorities for the State’s budget? Are there any services currently provided by the State that you believe should be expanded, cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
My priorities for the State’s budget would be: #1) use the surplus to address inflationary impacts to public education to ensure our schools aren’t falling further behind, #2) focus on aging infrastructure investments to ensure public trust and commerce, #3) work with public safety officials in creation of a new model to tackle mental health challenges, and #4) work with the private sector in further developing solutions to issues that are keeping people out of the workforce, such as affordable daycare, housing, healthcare and paid sick/family leave. Minnesota doesn’t need any more lip service from politicians that do not understand complicated issues. We need legislators with knowledge depth who are capable of hitting the ground running to work in collaboration with stakeholders, across disciplines and industry sectors, to get work done.
What will you do to expand your district’s tax base?
It is vital to continue strengthening local economic development partnerships that expand housing and business options for the tax base to increase. The business community has told me that we need to focus on expanding housing development in the area to both bring in more residents but to also allow more options for employees to live within our communities. Residents in turn highlight the need for more business options that provide service and consumer goods to the area. I believe strong local economic development groups are the foundation for long range planning and identification of expansion opportunities. Furthermore, I know it is vital that we foster welcoming communities to all people if we are going to attract young people to raise their growing families within our region.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce, and address the achievement gap?
I believe in working closely with educational institutions and the business community. For the past 18 months , I have been a member of the School District 200 Community Engagement Committee with the purpose of identifying partnership opportunities between Hastings schools, our local Chamber, the city and other nonprofit groups. We are focusing on development of a network of local employers that could help educate middle and high school students on possible career development tracks. In addition, it is hoped that it will help local employers find connections with future employees and volunteers for nonprofits. We hope to expand students understanding of trade opportunities and other manufacturing career options as well. It takes local and regional collaboration with educational institutions to find success in developing an educated workforce. Furthermore, I have worked with the school district on promotion of community wide equity, diversity and inclusion programs to foster a more welcoming community. My experience as a local level leader in developing these types of initiatives give me strength in finding solutions to addressing achievement gaps.
What is the role of the State in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses?
As a Certified Public Procurement Officer through the UPPCC who has 25 years of professional experience working on State grants and contracting practices, I believe that local government operations could be expanded to utilize the minority and women-owned preference systems that the State of Minnesota and the large-metro agencies are utilizing. I believe the State Procurement Office should create a small unit that is dedicated to assisting local government staff in utilize their databases of vendors who have already been approved to participate as targeted vendors.
What further policies can the State of Minnesota adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
As a councilmember within Hastings, throughout the pandemic I worked closely with the business and nonprofit community in assessing needs, identifying solutions, and implementing programs to address the crisis. Strong communication was key in providing a continually dialogue between businesses and local government officials. Currently, I am having conversations with the businesses to understand what we could do better in case the pandemic worsens again.
I am being told from small businesses that their greatest challenges are currently with supply chain disruptions, lack of sufficient staffing and escalating inflation which is driving up operational costs. There are not any easy solutions to these problems as they are being felt throughout the nation and the world. I believe we could assist small business in attracting more employees if the State of Minnesota provided a solution for their employees to have family and medical leave programs. In addition, expanding affordable daycare programs would allow for more young parents to participate in the workforce rather than stay at home to care for children. Last, businesses need their workers to find local affordable housing and stable internet access for working at home.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
I am committed to bringing our communities together by focusing on where we have common values. We can find solutions to our biggest challenges such as access to affordable healthcare, daycare and housing, if we work collaboratively. With my experience as a civic leader, I know how to work across governmental jurisdictions and business communities to get things done for everyone in District 41B. Together, we can focus on brighter futures if we set aside our differences. Let’s stop the fear mongering and work together to find common goals that lift up Minnesota.
Public Office Sought: Minnesota House of Representatives District 41B
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-304-0652
Campaign Website: tinafolch.com
Twitter handle: @TinaFolch
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TinaFolchMN/
Candidate Bio
Tina Folch became a council member of Hastings, Minnesota in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. In her role as a council member, she has been additionally serving on the Dakota Broadband Board, the Governor’s Taskforce on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, the Hastings Arts Task Force and the District 200 Community Engagement Committee. For the past 25 years, Tina has worked for state and local government conducting strategic planning and is an expert in good government administration. Having worked across the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety, the Dept. of Employment and Economic Development, and MnDOT, she has wide experience in working with law enforcement, public health, business, and transportation officials. Tina has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from St. Catherine University and a Master’s in Public Administration and Management from the Hamline University School of Business. In addition to Tina’s history of public service and leadership, she actively volunteers for a number of community groups such as the Hastings’ YMCA Board, Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Business Association. Prior to moving to Hastings, Tina resided in southern Cottage Grove and served on its Planning Commission for three years.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
I believe that leaders can bring people together – or drive them apart. I am committed to bringing our communities together by strongly supporting those issues that we collectively all care deeply about as follows:
- Develop more affordable housing and daycare options. Working families and young people are struggling to find affordable housing and daycare. Business leaders in my community tell me that these are problems for their employees that impact their bottom line. When workers can’t find reasonable housing and daycare nearby, it makes it harder for them to work locally. I believe government should work with the private sector in further developing affordable daycare and diversified housing options.
- Fully fund public education, pre-K through career training. When speaking with school administrators, I am told their biggest challenge is successfully serving special needs students. Before the pandemic set in, 23% of kids were diagnosed with a mental health issue. Teacher fatigue from the pandemic and trying to help children with mental health issues in ever-growing sized classrooms is a major problem facing our communities. In 2021, inflation went up by 8%, but is the Legislature keeping up with funding to account for it? If legislators continue to give lip service to upholding our public education system, our communities will have to keep passing local referendums to keep up, placing the burden on local property taxpayers. Now is the time for an investment in public education pre-K through career training with a state surplus. Everyone knows that the success of our children today is the foundation of the economy and workforce of tomorrow.
- Invest in infrastructure and foster development. For business to continue to expand within the metro, investments in public infrastructure are necessary to maintain aging roads and water-related facilities. Minnesota needs an infrastructure decade to ensure a strong foundation for communities to thrive. Distrust in the quality of drinking water and difficulty for residents in navigating roadway systems discourages new residents from settling in our areas. Furthermore, supporting the building out of electric vehicle charging stations is needed to the ensure transition for the motoring public occurs.
How would you characterize the business climate in the East Metro and what role do businesses play in supporting quality of life issues in East Metro communities?
I believe the business climate in the East Metro has a tremendous amount of possible growth in the next 20 years as one of the fastest growing regions in our state. The metro area is predicted to grow as much as 700,000 people. As a current 6-year councilmember, I know how extremely important it is to build strong community partnerships between business, nonprofits and government at all levels to support expansion. To accommodate development, government must invest in road and water-related infrastructure, schools must have capacity to educate our children and the business community must be worked with in finding solutions to foster growth. The role of the business community is key to attracting new residents with a wide-spectrum of service and housing offerings. My experience as a civic leader has taught me that strong collaboration between business leaders and government officials is vital to foster welcoming communities with foundations that can support success into the future.
What role do you think the State should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to and retain existing businesses in the East Metro?
To support and expand business opportunities, the state should support investments in roadway and water-related infrastructure. With our roads falling further and further behind in maintenance, Minnesota needs to focus on building safe and functional roadways. Business needs a strong road system to move goods and aid workers in their travels to employment. Also, rural parts of our community need broadband for students to access school materials and working families need to have the high-speed remote capability to stay competitive in the workplace. Strong technology and paved roads have to be in place for an area to keep up in the decade to come.
What policies, if any, would you support to help employers address our state’s critical labor shortage?
As mentioned earlier, working families and young people are struggling to find affordable housing and daycare options within the metro area. The pandemic has disproportionally affected young women needing to stay at home to take care of their children because they can’t find quality daycare. Another area of concern is lack of care for disabled or older adults that keep family members at home. I believe government should work with the private sector in further developing solutions to issues that are keeping people out of the workforce. Furthermore, we should create programs that offer support systems for families to temporarily leave the workforce to attend to family needs such as paid sick leave or parental leave for young families. Lastly, in Minnesota we need to work together in attracting new workers to come to the metro area because we aren’t replacing our retiring baby boom generation fast enough.
Do you support any specific employment-related proposals? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of a proposal on the many types of businesses in the East Metro and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
I support the creation of a paid-family medical leave and sick leave program for small businesses. If workers are unable to take care of their loved ones because they work for a small business, they may be inclined to leave employment altogether or find work with larger firms. Because small business is vital to the well-being of communities, I think it is imperative that Minnesota find solutions to this issue to keep workers fully employed yet give them flexibility in taking care of their families. To understand impacts of these types of programs, it is important to stay connected with local chambers of commerce, business associations and industry professional groups.
Public safety and rising crime rates are of serious concern to the business community and residents. What strategies or policies would you use to address public safety issues?
Having worked with the law enforcement community statewide for a decade in the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety, I know that supporting our first responders is a critical issue. Our local police, ambulance providers, and firefighters are facing staffing shortages that place a burden on existing personnel to keep operations strong. Programs and policies are needed to ensure resources are in place to support the physical and mental well-being of all of our first responders. Making sure they are taken care of is foundational to the safety of the community as a whole and deterring crime. I support the state in continuing its practice of providing local government aid which many communities use to purchase capital equipment needed by fire and police. Furthermore, seed funding should be expanded to assist agencies in hiring community policing officers that are more able to focus on working with the business community and residents in resolving local problematic issues. I also believe Minnesota should legalize and regulate marijuana use to remove it from criminal activities, lower overdosing fatalities and provide a new revenue source to fund first-responder needs.
What strategies or policies would you use to address transportation issues? 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 strongly believe that we need to completely re-examine how it is we can use technology to address our transportation challenges. Currently, I am appointed to the Governor’s Taskforce on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles representing the League of Minnesota Cities because I believe driverless technology may be a solution in the future to expanding transit options for people with mobility challenges and workers. I am also vice chair of the Dakota County Broadband Board because I believe that building out broadband infrastructure will be extremely important for communities to keep a competitive edge in attracting new growth and supporting business development into the future. Last, we must expedite the transition to electric vehicles as transportation is a major cause of greenhouse gases affecting climate change here in Minnesota.
What strategies or policies would you use to address housing issues?
For communities to thrive they must be able to provide a range of housing options to meet the needs of residents as they transition through life from early adulthood through senior care. A healthy balance is needed of affordable housing stock for families and individual workers that allows people to live closer to their places of employment. In addition, homelessness is a growing issue that faces many individuals, young families and those suffering from mental health challenges. Government at all levels must work with private developers in fostering partnerships that help fill the gaps by leveraging tax-increment financing and other economic tools for redevelopment of existing sites. The role of the Legislature is to support state programs and policies that foster new local level partnerships.
What are your priorities for the State’s budget? Are there any services currently provided by the State that you believe should be expanded, cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
My priorities for the State’s budget would be: #1) use the surplus to address inflationary impacts to public education to ensure our schools aren’t falling further behind, #2) focus on aging infrastructure investments to ensure public trust and commerce, #3) work with public safety officials in creation of a new model to tackle mental health challenges, and #4) work with the private sector in further developing solutions to issues that are keeping people out of the workforce, such as affordable daycare, housing, healthcare and paid sick/family leave. Minnesota doesn’t need any more lip service from politicians that do not understand complicated issues. We need legislators with knowledge depth who are capable of hitting the ground running to work in collaboration with stakeholders, across disciplines and industry sectors, to get work done.
What will you do to expand your district’s tax base?
It is vital to continue strengthening local economic development partnerships that expand housing and business options for the tax base to increase. The business community has told me that we need to focus on expanding housing development in the area to both bring in more residents but to also allow more options for employees to live within our communities. Residents in turn highlight the need for more business options that provide service and consumer goods to the area. I believe strong local economic development groups are the foundation for long range planning and identification of expansion opportunities. Furthermore, I know it is vital that we foster welcoming communities to all people if we are going to attract young people to raise their growing families within our region.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce, and address the achievement gap?
I believe in working closely with educational institutions and the business community. For the past 18 months , I have been a member of the School District 200 Community Engagement Committee with the purpose of identifying partnership opportunities between Hastings schools, our local Chamber, the city and other nonprofit groups. We are focusing on development of a network of local employers that could help educate middle and high school students on possible career development tracks. In addition, it is hoped that it will help local employers find connections with future employees and volunteers for nonprofits. We hope to expand students understanding of trade opportunities and other manufacturing career options as well. It takes local and regional collaboration with educational institutions to find success in developing an educated workforce. Furthermore, I have worked with the school district on promotion of community wide equity, diversity and inclusion programs to foster a more welcoming community. My experience as a local level leader in developing these types of initiatives give me strength in finding solutions to addressing achievement gaps.
What is the role of the State in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses?
As a Certified Public Procurement Officer through the UPPCC who has 25 years of professional experience working on State grants and contracting practices, I believe that local government operations could be expanded to utilize the minority and women-owned preference systems that the State of Minnesota and the large-metro agencies are utilizing. I believe the State Procurement Office should create a small unit that is dedicated to assisting local government staff in utilize their databases of vendors who have already been approved to participate as targeted vendors.
What further policies can the State of Minnesota adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
As a councilmember within Hastings, throughout the pandemic I worked closely with the business and nonprofit community in assessing needs, identifying solutions, and implementing programs to address the crisis. Strong communication was key in providing a continually dialogue between businesses and local government officials. Currently, I am having conversations with the businesses to understand what we could do better in case the pandemic worsens again.
I am being told from small businesses that their greatest challenges are currently with supply chain disruptions, lack of sufficient staffing and escalating inflation which is driving up operational costs. There are not any easy solutions to these problems as they are being felt throughout the nation and the world. I believe we could assist small business in attracting more employees if the State of Minnesota provided a solution for their employees to have family and medical leave programs. In addition, expanding affordable daycare programs would allow for more young parents to participate in the workforce rather than stay at home to care for children. Last, businesses need their workers to find local affordable housing and stable internet access for working at home.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
I am committed to bringing our communities together by focusing on where we have common values. We can find solutions to our biggest challenges such as access to affordable healthcare, daycare and housing, if we work collaboratively. With my experience as a civic leader, I know how to work across governmental jurisdictions and business communities to get things done for everyone in District 41B. Together, we can focus on brighter futures if we set aside our differences. Let’s stop the fear mongering and work together to find common goals that lift up Minnesota.