Bill Droste
Name: Bill Droste
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-280-5630
Campaign Website:
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: 651-280-5630
Candidate Bio
Bill Droste was elected in 2022 to represent Dakota County District 4. The district encompasses the southern parts of Eagan and Inver Grove Heights, Rosemount, Empire and a section of Lakeville.
Bill served his first term as mayor of Rosemount in 2003. He has held positions on the Metro Cities Board, Minnesota Statewide Emergency Communications Board, Regional Council of Mayors, Family Housing Fund Board, and National League of Cities Transportation Infrastructure & Services Committee. During his tenure as Mayor, Money magazine ranked Rosemount as one of top 50 best places to live in the United States, two different times.
He holds a Masters of Science degree in Telecommunications from Saint Mary’s University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Upper Iowa University.
Bill worked 28 years in the communications industry as an Operations Manager and Senior Market Analyst. He also served eight years in the Iowa Army National Guard.
Bill has lived in Rosemount since 1989. He has three adult children with his late wife Carol Droste, and 5 grandchildren. Interests include reading, running, golf, and spending time with his family.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Although we are a seven member board, and have one direct employee, the County Manager, I believe leaders today must trust and inspire employees or they will choose to work somewhere else. As a board we must model behavior that we expect our employees to follow.
What would be your top three priorities if elected? How might these priorities be affected by the state's projected economic outlook?
My three priorities are improving our Community Services Division, expanding affordable housing units and building transportation networks that meet our growing needs. We are a large growing county (450 thousand) that will be adding about 30 thousand people by 2040. With improved partnerships, with cities, focused on jobs we can become less dependent on the state. One significant area that is holding us back is the state computer system that Community Services utilizes to interact with State Agencies. It is inadequate and causes an enormous amount of manual work that is impacting the services we provide to families.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in Dakota County?
Currently the biggest challenge is managing the increasing work demands on our Community Services Division. The increasing workload challenges for public assistance, public health, childrens mental health assessments and veterans services are just some of the areas that are continuing to grow. The biggest opportunity we have is how we leverage the new State and Local Affordable Housing Aid dollars. The Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) is looking at ways to partner with our cities to most effectively invest these dollars in affordable housing. We are also working on a plan to invest in more new workforce and senior housing units. We should have a good long term plan completed later this year.
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 first issue is as a government official, you have to trust local business leaders. I have always found in the business leaders that I know, have the same interests as city and county leaders. My approach is always how do we work together, where we can, and build better communities. Regarding the 23/24 legislative session I will only mention the Uber/Lyft issue. There was an inordinate amount of legislative time spent on a business issue that negatively affected our state’s business climate. I trust consumers to be able to make a decision on products businesses sell. When governments micromanage, they often get unintended outcomes, that do not help or protect consumers.
How would you characterize the business climate in Dakota County and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in Dakota County?
I believe Dakota County has a good business climate with many opportunities before us. We are fortunate to be a growing county and believe we should be taking a more active role working with our cities in attracting new business.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
This past year we have made significant strides in public safety. We added three new deputies in 2024 and will be adding 12 positions in 2025 for our Integrated Health Unit that is being built attached to the jail. We must also continue to build relationships with our city police forces. Dakota County has a history of police departments working well together.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
With the new State and Local Affordable Housing Aid (LAHA) dollars counties and cities will have a unique opportunity to impact housing shortages and affordability if invested wisely. Hopefully in the next few years we will have results to show that the new dollars produced the outcomes the legislature intended for local communities.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
The demand for safe roads, trails and transit options continues to increase especially since COVID. The express routes that primarily drove transit, prior to COVID, is no longer needed. What is growing is the micro type service that is less defined than the Express Service but provides flexibility that riders desire. Working with cities and developers we have new opportunities to provide better transit services in our county. E-bikes, scooters and other electric personal devices are also creating new challenges on our streets and trails. As a county we need to look at all travel modes when doing projects understanding that the electric e-devices are going to increase, and make sure that safety is designed into every corridor of travel.
Counties 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?
Although many dollars were allocated before I was elected, how counties spent those dollars is impacting our budgets this year. We still have a small amount of ARP dollars available, so I am well aware not to spend the money on issues that have ongoing tails.
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?
I believe that healthy economies are primarily created by business and not government. There is always a place for government to provide safety services for people in need and establish policies for business to operate. The one area that counties do lead, is in community services with the help and assistance of state agencies. One area Dakota County should improve in - is working with cities growing jobs.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 651-280-5630
Campaign Website:
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: 651-280-5630
Candidate Bio
Bill Droste was elected in 2022 to represent Dakota County District 4. The district encompasses the southern parts of Eagan and Inver Grove Heights, Rosemount, Empire and a section of Lakeville.
Bill served his first term as mayor of Rosemount in 2003. He has held positions on the Metro Cities Board, Minnesota Statewide Emergency Communications Board, Regional Council of Mayors, Family Housing Fund Board, and National League of Cities Transportation Infrastructure & Services Committee. During his tenure as Mayor, Money magazine ranked Rosemount as one of top 50 best places to live in the United States, two different times.
He holds a Masters of Science degree in Telecommunications from Saint Mary’s University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Upper Iowa University.
Bill worked 28 years in the communications industry as an Operations Manager and Senior Market Analyst. He also served eight years in the Iowa Army National Guard.
Bill has lived in Rosemount since 1989. He has three adult children with his late wife Carol Droste, and 5 grandchildren. Interests include reading, running, golf, and spending time with his family.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Although we are a seven member board, and have one direct employee, the County Manager, I believe leaders today must trust and inspire employees or they will choose to work somewhere else. As a board we must model behavior that we expect our employees to follow.
What would be your top three priorities if elected? How might these priorities be affected by the state's projected economic outlook?
My three priorities are improving our Community Services Division, expanding affordable housing units and building transportation networks that meet our growing needs. We are a large growing county (450 thousand) that will be adding about 30 thousand people by 2040. With improved partnerships, with cities, focused on jobs we can become less dependent on the state. One significant area that is holding us back is the state computer system that Community Services utilizes to interact with State Agencies. It is inadequate and causes an enormous amount of manual work that is impacting the services we provide to families.
What do you consider the biggest challenge and conversely, the biggest opportunity in Dakota County?
Currently the biggest challenge is managing the increasing work demands on our Community Services Division. The increasing workload challenges for public assistance, public health, childrens mental health assessments and veterans services are just some of the areas that are continuing to grow. The biggest opportunity we have is how we leverage the new State and Local Affordable Housing Aid dollars. The Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) is looking at ways to partner with our cities to most effectively invest these dollars in affordable housing. We are also working on a plan to invest in more new workforce and senior housing units. We should have a good long term plan completed later this year.
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 first issue is as a government official, you have to trust local business leaders. I have always found in the business leaders that I know, have the same interests as city and county leaders. My approach is always how do we work together, where we can, and build better communities. Regarding the 23/24 legislative session I will only mention the Uber/Lyft issue. There was an inordinate amount of legislative time spent on a business issue that negatively affected our state’s business climate. I trust consumers to be able to make a decision on products businesses sell. When governments micromanage, they often get unintended outcomes, that do not help or protect consumers.
How would you characterize the business climate in Dakota County and what role do you think the city should have in attracting and retaining jobs and new businesses in Dakota County?
I believe Dakota County has a good business climate with many opportunities before us. We are fortunate to be a growing county and believe we should be taking a more active role working with our cities in attracting new business.
What are your strategies to address public safety challenges in your community?
This past year we have made significant strides in public safety. We added three new deputies in 2024 and will be adding 12 positions in 2025 for our Integrated Health Unit that is being built attached to the jail. We must also continue to build relationships with our city police forces. Dakota County has a history of police departments working well together.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability?
With the new State and Local Affordable Housing Aid (LAHA) dollars counties and cities will have a unique opportunity to impact housing shortages and affordability if invested wisely. Hopefully in the next few years we will have results to show that the new dollars produced the outcomes the legislature intended for local communities.
How would you work to improve transportation options in your community, including improved safety for transit riders, pedestrian/bike, and drivers alike?
The demand for safe roads, trails and transit options continues to increase especially since COVID. The express routes that primarily drove transit, prior to COVID, is no longer needed. What is growing is the micro type service that is less defined than the Express Service but provides flexibility that riders desire. Working with cities and developers we have new opportunities to provide better transit services in our county. E-bikes, scooters and other electric personal devices are also creating new challenges on our streets and trails. As a county we need to look at all travel modes when doing projects understanding that the electric e-devices are going to increase, and make sure that safety is designed into every corridor of travel.
Counties 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?
Although many dollars were allocated before I was elected, how counties spent those dollars is impacting our budgets this year. We still have a small amount of ARP dollars available, so I am well aware not to spend the money on issues that have ongoing tails.
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?
I believe that healthy economies are primarily created by business and not government. There is always a place for government to provide safety services for people in need and establish policies for business to operate. The one area that counties do lead, is in community services with the help and assistance of state agencies. One area Dakota County should improve in - is working with cities growing jobs.