Halyn Roth
Name: Halyn Roth
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: (303) 946-0588
Campaign Website: www.HalynRoth.com
Twitter handle: N/A
Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/HalynRothMN
Candidate Bio
I was born in Pennsylvania and raised in rural Kentucky. My husband and I have been married for 10 years, and have called Spring Lake Park home for six years with our son Adrian. I spent most of my career working as a Special Education Paraprofessional, which gave me perspective on how to interact with and understand people who come from different backgrounds. I believe this makes me uniquely qualified to lead a city like Spring Lake Park.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
My leadership style will be one that ensures that everyone has a seat at the table, including those who I might not always agree with. Spring Lake Park is rapidly becoming younger and more diverse, and we need a leader who will embrace that change with transparency and inclusion.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
My top issue is improving our parks, which means modernizing them so that every child, regardless of physical ability, has more than one option for play at the playground. Next, I want to focus on growing our business community. I’ve proposed a small business micro grant program for residents, so they can get on their feet and put down roots right here in our city. Last, I want to ensure Spring Lake Park is leading when it comes to affordability. We are not immune to the pressures of unfunded state mandates, labor cost increases, and inflation. The city council must do everything it can to ease the burden on fixed income residents, so they can afford to stay in their homes. Our city has been dealing with many unfunded mandates from the state level, which make it increasingly difficult to maintain a low tax rate for our residents
What is the biggest challenge facing Spring Lake Park right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
Our biggest challenge is moving past the old way of doing things. Far too often, I have heard that we can’t do new things because the old way is “just the way it’s always been done.” I don’t accept that. We need leadership to bring new ideas to the council that will lead to better services for our residents while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
How would you characterize the business climate in Spring Lake Park, and what role should city government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
Our current business growth has hit a plateau because city leadership relied too heavily on a single catalyst (the Hy-Vee development) to automatically draw in new business. I want to take a more direct approach with a small business micro grant program. This would help resident owned small businesses get on their feet and put down roots in Spring Lake Park. While there is definitely an initial investment, that investment pays off long term.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Spring Lake Park has seen declining crime rates for some time. I believe our police department does a good job keeping our city safe, but there is always room for improvement. Public confidence in law enforcement has been damaged in recent years, particularly here in Minnesota. My focus will be to ensure that our police department has every tool they need to do their jobs, and that includes cultural competency training. Officers should know about the community they serve, especially the members of the community who are most likely to not trust police, such as our BIPOC neighbors.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability, and how do you view the role of rent control policies in that process?
Spring Lake Park has a unique opportunity to address the urgent need of affordable housing. The city acquired property on Highway 65, at the corner of 65 and 85th Ave. The current tenants have a few years left on their remaining lease. I have proposed vertical mixed use development, with a lower level of retail shops and 2-3 stories of at-or-below market rate apartments. There are other opportunities with some of our older retail spaces in the city that have been discussed, and I would support similar redevelopment if the opportunity arose.
With regards to rent control, I am open to exploring data-driven methods of controlling the cost of rents. I would carefully evaluate the real-world outcomes in similar-sized cities, weighing both the positive impacts on tenant stability and any unintended negative consequences on housing supply, before considering any such policy for Spring Lake Park.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
In my view, the city must do more to improve our pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. This includes adding more dedicated separate bike lanes, raised pedestrian crosswalks, and restrictions on electric mobility devices (e-bikes and e-scooters) on sidewalks. I also want to partner with the Metropolitan Council to expand the service area of the Metro Micro program. Currently, only about half of the city is served. I want to expand this program to cover the entire city. This is a convenient service that more people would use if it covered more area.
Residential property owners across the region are feeling significant strain from rising property tax bills. How would you approach balancing fiscal responsibility with the demand for services when setting the city levy?
Most of the strain on property owners has been caused by county taxes going up, to account for cuts by the federal government. The city’s portion of property taxes is very small. Our city has a significant number of seniors living on Social Security or pensions, and they cannot absorb the impact of tax increases. That said, I’ve proposed shielding residents on low and fixed incomes from any future increases in the tax levy. No one should be taxed out of their home.
What are the two or three issues where you believe city government is best positioned to lead — and why the city rather than the state or county?
First and foremost, the city can lead on sustainability. While our city may be small, we have a role to play in slowing the impact of climate change. This includes transitioning our city vehicle fleet to electric, removing barriers to encourage homeowners to install solar or join a community solar garden, and planting native wildflowers in our parks to help our pollinators. A city of our size has the flexibility to adapt our programming quickly to meet the needs of our residents, more so than the state or county.
The second issue is resident service. A city the size of Spring Lake Park is positioned to meet the needs of residents in a much more timely fashion than the state or county. I’ve proposed a more robust online reporting system, where residents can report issues and track the status of their request. Additionally, residents and people doing business in our city would be able to request permits and licenses directly on our website, without needing to visit city hall.
What does real taxpayer transparency look like to you, and what specific steps would you take to achieve it — both in terms of financial reporting and public engagement?
Our city is lacking the kind of meaningful transparency that we need. Sure, the public can go to our website and view our budget or what the city council is up to. In my view, our elected leaders should more actively engage our residents on what the city is doing on their behalf. I’ve proposed a monthly “Coffee with the Council” where residents can meet with myself or other members of the council in a less formal setting, so they can stay informed on what is happening. I’ve also proposed live streaming and storing all meetings on YouTube, which is a much more well known and user friendly platform than what we are currently using.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: (303) 946-0588
Campaign Website: www.HalynRoth.com
Twitter handle: N/A
Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/HalynRothMN
Candidate Bio
I was born in Pennsylvania and raised in rural Kentucky. My husband and I have been married for 10 years, and have called Spring Lake Park home for six years with our son Adrian. I spent most of my career working as a Special Education Paraprofessional, which gave me perspective on how to interact with and understand people who come from different backgrounds. I believe this makes me uniquely qualified to lead a city like Spring Lake Park.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
My leadership style will be one that ensures that everyone has a seat at the table, including those who I might not always agree with. Spring Lake Park is rapidly becoming younger and more diverse, and we need a leader who will embrace that change with transparency and inclusion.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
My top issue is improving our parks, which means modernizing them so that every child, regardless of physical ability, has more than one option for play at the playground. Next, I want to focus on growing our business community. I’ve proposed a small business micro grant program for residents, so they can get on their feet and put down roots right here in our city. Last, I want to ensure Spring Lake Park is leading when it comes to affordability. We are not immune to the pressures of unfunded state mandates, labor cost increases, and inflation. The city council must do everything it can to ease the burden on fixed income residents, so they can afford to stay in their homes. Our city has been dealing with many unfunded mandates from the state level, which make it increasingly difficult to maintain a low tax rate for our residents
What is the biggest challenge facing Spring Lake Park right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
Our biggest challenge is moving past the old way of doing things. Far too often, I have heard that we can’t do new things because the old way is “just the way it’s always been done.” I don’t accept that. We need leadership to bring new ideas to the council that will lead to better services for our residents while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
How would you characterize the business climate in Spring Lake Park, and what role should city government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
Our current business growth has hit a plateau because city leadership relied too heavily on a single catalyst (the Hy-Vee development) to automatically draw in new business. I want to take a more direct approach with a small business micro grant program. This would help resident owned small businesses get on their feet and put down roots in Spring Lake Park. While there is definitely an initial investment, that investment pays off long term.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Spring Lake Park has seen declining crime rates for some time. I believe our police department does a good job keeping our city safe, but there is always room for improvement. Public confidence in law enforcement has been damaged in recent years, particularly here in Minnesota. My focus will be to ensure that our police department has every tool they need to do their jobs, and that includes cultural competency training. Officers should know about the community they serve, especially the members of the community who are most likely to not trust police, such as our BIPOC neighbors.
What ideas do you have to address housing shortages and affordability, and how do you view the role of rent control policies in that process?
Spring Lake Park has a unique opportunity to address the urgent need of affordable housing. The city acquired property on Highway 65, at the corner of 65 and 85th Ave. The current tenants have a few years left on their remaining lease. I have proposed vertical mixed use development, with a lower level of retail shops and 2-3 stories of at-or-below market rate apartments. There are other opportunities with some of our older retail spaces in the city that have been discussed, and I would support similar redevelopment if the opportunity arose.
With regards to rent control, I am open to exploring data-driven methods of controlling the cost of rents. I would carefully evaluate the real-world outcomes in similar-sized cities, weighing both the positive impacts on tenant stability and any unintended negative consequences on housing supply, before considering any such policy for Spring Lake Park.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
In my view, the city must do more to improve our pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. This includes adding more dedicated separate bike lanes, raised pedestrian crosswalks, and restrictions on electric mobility devices (e-bikes and e-scooters) on sidewalks. I also want to partner with the Metropolitan Council to expand the service area of the Metro Micro program. Currently, only about half of the city is served. I want to expand this program to cover the entire city. This is a convenient service that more people would use if it covered more area.
Residential property owners across the region are feeling significant strain from rising property tax bills. How would you approach balancing fiscal responsibility with the demand for services when setting the city levy?
Most of the strain on property owners has been caused by county taxes going up, to account for cuts by the federal government. The city’s portion of property taxes is very small. Our city has a significant number of seniors living on Social Security or pensions, and they cannot absorb the impact of tax increases. That said, I’ve proposed shielding residents on low and fixed incomes from any future increases in the tax levy. No one should be taxed out of their home.
What are the two or three issues where you believe city government is best positioned to lead — and why the city rather than the state or county?
First and foremost, the city can lead on sustainability. While our city may be small, we have a role to play in slowing the impact of climate change. This includes transitioning our city vehicle fleet to electric, removing barriers to encourage homeowners to install solar or join a community solar garden, and planting native wildflowers in our parks to help our pollinators. A city of our size has the flexibility to adapt our programming quickly to meet the needs of our residents, more so than the state or county.
The second issue is resident service. A city the size of Spring Lake Park is positioned to meet the needs of residents in a much more timely fashion than the state or county. I’ve proposed a more robust online reporting system, where residents can report issues and track the status of their request. Additionally, residents and people doing business in our city would be able to request permits and licenses directly on our website, without needing to visit city hall.
What does real taxpayer transparency look like to you, and what specific steps would you take to achieve it — both in terms of financial reporting and public engagement?
Our city is lacking the kind of meaningful transparency that we need. Sure, the public can go to our website and view our budget or what the city council is up to. In my view, our elected leaders should more actively engage our residents on what the city is doing on their behalf. I’ve proposed a monthly “Coffee with the Council” where residents can meet with myself or other members of the council in a less formal setting, so they can stay informed on what is happening. I’ve also proposed live streaming and storing all meetings on YouTube, which is a much more well known and user friendly platform than what we are currently using.