Jason Narverud
Name: Jason Narverud
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-293-7425
Campaign Website: voteforjason.org
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591471832163 or https://www.facebook.com/VoteforJasonN/
Candidate Bio
I lead technology and operations for a national law firm, where I manage multimillion-dollar budgets and the systems that keep 400 people working around the clock. My job is to take complex technical and financial proposals, figure out what they'll really cost, and make the call before we commit. That's the skill I want to bring to the council.
Outside of work, I've served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity and the American Heart Association, and I coach youth sports here in Eagan. My wife Kristin and I are raising our two kids in this city, and that's why I'm running. I want them to inherit an Eagan in better shape than we found it.
I grew up in southern Minnesota, a Korean adoptee, often the only person like me in the room. That teaches you early what it feels like not to be heard, and it shaped how I think about representation. Everyone deserves a council that listens.
I'm not a career politician. I'm an operator who reads the fine print for a living. The next decade will hand this council decisions it has to get right the first time, and that's the work I know how to do.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Calm, prepared, and direct. I do my prep before the meeting and stay curious once I'm in it. I'd rather ask the one question nobody thought to ask than give the longest speech in the room.
The best leaders I've worked with set direction, then get out of the way of good people doing their jobs. A council doesn't run the city day to day. The city manager and staff do that. The council sets direction, asks hard questions at the right moments, and holds the work to a standard. I know the difference between leading and managing, and I'd respect that line.
You also lead by listening first. The loudest voice in the room isn't always the one with the most at stake. I'd make sure the quieter ones get heard too.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
First, a city government where the money traces to real outcomes and every part of the community gets heard.
Second, real oversight of what gets built next, data centers included, so we weigh the true fiscal and environmental cost before we sign, not after.
Third, a city working families can afford, with housing and transportation that don't price out the people who teach our kids and staff our clinics.
On funding, Eagan receives very little Local Government Aid, so we're less exposed than cities that lean on it. That cuts both ways. We can't assume the state will backfill anything, and we shouldn't build budgets that quietly depend on money that may not come. Fund core services from stable local revenue, treat state and federal dollars as a bonus rather than a base, and know which programs are at risk if that money tightens. Plan for the downside and you're never caught flat-footed.
What is the biggest challenge facing Eagan right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
The biggest challenge is that the decisions coming at Eagan are getting more technical and more expensive at the same time. Data centers, large development deals, infrastructure, technology contracts. These aren't the zoning questions of twenty years ago. They're dense proposals with real fiscal and environmental stakes, and a council has to be able to evaluate them closely rather than take the applicant's word for it.
The opportunity is that Eagan is a place companies want to invest in, which means we can be selective. When they want to be here, the city has leverage. We can insist on good terms, real transparency, and a fair deal for residents before we approve anything. Leverage only exists before you sign. The opportunity is to use it well and build the kind of city our kids will be glad to inherit.
How would you characterize the business climate in Eagan, and what role should city government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
Eagan's business climate is strong, and that's worth protecting. A diverse base, good transportation access, a reputation as a place that works. The city's job isn't to run businesses or pick winners. It's to be a reliable partner: fast and fair permitting, clear rules that don't change on a whim, and infrastructure that works.
Where the city adds real value is on shared challenges. Housing is the clearest example. Employers can't keep workers who can't afford to live near the job, so housing policy is economic policy. Same with transportation. I'd treat the business community as a partner in solving those problems, not as an adversary or a rubber stamp. Listen, be straight about what the city can and can't do, and follow through.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Eagan is a safe city, and I want to keep it that way while being thoughtful about how. Two things are on my mind.
First, keeping staffing and response times strong as the city grows and its needs change. That's a budgeting and planning question, and the council has to stay ahead of it rather than react.
Second, the governance side of new public safety technology. Eagan already uses automated license plate readers, along with more than a hundred agencies statewide. These solve real crimes. They've also raised legitimate questions about data sharing and privacy that some metro cities are wrestling with now. Good tools deserve good oversight. Who can access our data, for how long, under what rules, and are the audits public? I'd make sure Eagan can answer those questions plainly. Safety and privacy aren't a tradeoff if you run it well.
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?
The core problem is supply. We don't have enough homes, and our own zoning makes too many of the ones we need hard to build. Smaller homes. Single-level places where a senior can stay in the community they built. Housing a teacher or a nurse can afford on what we pay them. I'd start a local housing plan, adopted by the council in public, that names the specific problems we're solving and works backward from there. More supply in the right places is the fix that lasts.
On rent control, I'm skeptical, and I'll tell you why. We don't have to guess how it would go. St. Paul tried it in 2021, and homebuilding there fell off a cliff, from the most permits since 1970 to a fraction of that within two years. They had to start exempting new construction almost right away to slow the damage. The pain driving that conversation is real. Rents are up and families are squeezed. But a cap that sends builders somewhere else doesn't fix a shortage, it deepens it, and the renters it's meant to help end up paying for it. The experiment is sitting right across the river, and I'd rather not run it again here. Build more homes, and you solve affordability at its root.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
Get the basics right first. Well-maintained roads, safe intersections, and smart signal timing do more for daily life than any single big project. I'd fix the intersections and corridors where the crash and near-miss numbers are actually worst, rather than spreading dollars evenly and hoping.
For transit, cyclists, and pedestrians, the Cedar Avenue corridor and our trail network are real assets, and I'd protect and extend them where demand supports it. Safe crossings and connected trails matter, especially for kids, seniors, and anyone who can't or doesn't want to drive everywhere.
The constraint is money, and some of this depends on county and regional partners. So a big part of the job is showing up at those tables and making Eagan's case well. I'd rather be the city that comes prepared with a clear ask than the one that waits its turn quietly.
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?
Start with the fact that it's not the city's money. It's the residents'. Every dollar on the levy should trace to an outcome someone can point to. That's the standard I'd hold.
That means asking harder questions than "what did we spend last year, plus inflation." What does a program actually deliver, is it still the best way to deliver it, and what would we cut first if we had to. I won't pretend services are free or that a flat levy is automatically responsible. Sometimes the responsible thing is to invest. But residents are feeling real strain from rising property tax bills, and they deserve a council that treats every increase as something to justify, not assume. Fund the core well, question the rest honestly, and explain every number in plain language.
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?
Land use and development. Zoning, permits, site plans, and the conditions on new projects are the city's authority, not the state's or the county's. When a data center or a large development comes to Eagan, the leverage to shape it sits with the council. That decision has to be made here because only the city holds the tools.
Second, local fiscal stewardship. How we set the levy, what we fund, and how transparently we report it are entirely ours. Nobody else is going to make Eagan's budget clearer for Eagan residents.
Third, the character and livability of our neighborhoods, including local housing and the quality of city services. The state can set frameworks, but the texture of life in Eagan is a local job. The closer a decision is to the people it affects, the more it belongs with the city, decided in public where residents can watch it happen.
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?
Transparency isn't posting a 300-page budget PDF and calling it open. Most people will never read it, and that's not their fault. Real transparency means residents can understand where their money goes and see what it buys, in plain language.
A budget presentation that ties dollars to outcomes, so you can see what an increase actually delivers. Major contracts and development deals explained in public before they're approved, not after, with the real costs and terms on the record. And real public engagement: hearings scheduled when working people can attend, questions answered directly, and no important decision slipped through quietly.
I spend my career making complex technical and financial information understandable to people who have to make decisions with it. That's exactly what transparency requires. The test is simple: can an ordinary resident find out what they're paying for and whether it's working? If the answer is no, we're not being transparent, no matter how many documents we've posted.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-293-7425
Campaign Website: voteforjason.org
Twitter handle:
Facebook Page: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591471832163 or https://www.facebook.com/VoteforJasonN/
Candidate Bio
I lead technology and operations for a national law firm, where I manage multimillion-dollar budgets and the systems that keep 400 people working around the clock. My job is to take complex technical and financial proposals, figure out what they'll really cost, and make the call before we commit. That's the skill I want to bring to the council.
Outside of work, I've served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity and the American Heart Association, and I coach youth sports here in Eagan. My wife Kristin and I are raising our two kids in this city, and that's why I'm running. I want them to inherit an Eagan in better shape than we found it.
I grew up in southern Minnesota, a Korean adoptee, often the only person like me in the room. That teaches you early what it feels like not to be heard, and it shaped how I think about representation. Everyone deserves a council that listens.
I'm not a career politician. I'm an operator who reads the fine print for a living. The next decade will hand this council decisions it has to get right the first time, and that's the work I know how to do.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Calm, prepared, and direct. I do my prep before the meeting and stay curious once I'm in it. I'd rather ask the one question nobody thought to ask than give the longest speech in the room.
The best leaders I've worked with set direction, then get out of the way of good people doing their jobs. A council doesn't run the city day to day. The city manager and staff do that. The council sets direction, asks hard questions at the right moments, and holds the work to a standard. I know the difference between leading and managing, and I'd respect that line.
You also lead by listening first. The loudest voice in the room isn't always the one with the most at stake. I'd make sure the quieter ones get heard too.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
First, a city government where the money traces to real outcomes and every part of the community gets heard.
Second, real oversight of what gets built next, data centers included, so we weigh the true fiscal and environmental cost before we sign, not after.
Third, a city working families can afford, with housing and transportation that don't price out the people who teach our kids and staff our clinics.
On funding, Eagan receives very little Local Government Aid, so we're less exposed than cities that lean on it. That cuts both ways. We can't assume the state will backfill anything, and we shouldn't build budgets that quietly depend on money that may not come. Fund core services from stable local revenue, treat state and federal dollars as a bonus rather than a base, and know which programs are at risk if that money tightens. Plan for the downside and you're never caught flat-footed.
What is the biggest challenge facing Eagan right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
The biggest challenge is that the decisions coming at Eagan are getting more technical and more expensive at the same time. Data centers, large development deals, infrastructure, technology contracts. These aren't the zoning questions of twenty years ago. They're dense proposals with real fiscal and environmental stakes, and a council has to be able to evaluate them closely rather than take the applicant's word for it.
The opportunity is that Eagan is a place companies want to invest in, which means we can be selective. When they want to be here, the city has leverage. We can insist on good terms, real transparency, and a fair deal for residents before we approve anything. Leverage only exists before you sign. The opportunity is to use it well and build the kind of city our kids will be glad to inherit.
How would you characterize the business climate in Eagan, and what role should city government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
Eagan's business climate is strong, and that's worth protecting. A diverse base, good transportation access, a reputation as a place that works. The city's job isn't to run businesses or pick winners. It's to be a reliable partner: fast and fair permitting, clear rules that don't change on a whim, and infrastructure that works.
Where the city adds real value is on shared challenges. Housing is the clearest example. Employers can't keep workers who can't afford to live near the job, so housing policy is economic policy. Same with transportation. I'd treat the business community as a partner in solving those problems, not as an adversary or a rubber stamp. Listen, be straight about what the city can and can't do, and follow through.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Eagan is a safe city, and I want to keep it that way while being thoughtful about how. Two things are on my mind.
First, keeping staffing and response times strong as the city grows and its needs change. That's a budgeting and planning question, and the council has to stay ahead of it rather than react.
Second, the governance side of new public safety technology. Eagan already uses automated license plate readers, along with more than a hundred agencies statewide. These solve real crimes. They've also raised legitimate questions about data sharing and privacy that some metro cities are wrestling with now. Good tools deserve good oversight. Who can access our data, for how long, under what rules, and are the audits public? I'd make sure Eagan can answer those questions plainly. Safety and privacy aren't a tradeoff if you run it well.
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?
The core problem is supply. We don't have enough homes, and our own zoning makes too many of the ones we need hard to build. Smaller homes. Single-level places where a senior can stay in the community they built. Housing a teacher or a nurse can afford on what we pay them. I'd start a local housing plan, adopted by the council in public, that names the specific problems we're solving and works backward from there. More supply in the right places is the fix that lasts.
On rent control, I'm skeptical, and I'll tell you why. We don't have to guess how it would go. St. Paul tried it in 2021, and homebuilding there fell off a cliff, from the most permits since 1970 to a fraction of that within two years. They had to start exempting new construction almost right away to slow the damage. The pain driving that conversation is real. Rents are up and families are squeezed. But a cap that sends builders somewhere else doesn't fix a shortage, it deepens it, and the renters it's meant to help end up paying for it. The experiment is sitting right across the river, and I'd rather not run it again here. Build more homes, and you solve affordability at its root.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
Get the basics right first. Well-maintained roads, safe intersections, and smart signal timing do more for daily life than any single big project. I'd fix the intersections and corridors where the crash and near-miss numbers are actually worst, rather than spreading dollars evenly and hoping.
For transit, cyclists, and pedestrians, the Cedar Avenue corridor and our trail network are real assets, and I'd protect and extend them where demand supports it. Safe crossings and connected trails matter, especially for kids, seniors, and anyone who can't or doesn't want to drive everywhere.
The constraint is money, and some of this depends on county and regional partners. So a big part of the job is showing up at those tables and making Eagan's case well. I'd rather be the city that comes prepared with a clear ask than the one that waits its turn quietly.
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?
Start with the fact that it's not the city's money. It's the residents'. Every dollar on the levy should trace to an outcome someone can point to. That's the standard I'd hold.
That means asking harder questions than "what did we spend last year, plus inflation." What does a program actually deliver, is it still the best way to deliver it, and what would we cut first if we had to. I won't pretend services are free or that a flat levy is automatically responsible. Sometimes the responsible thing is to invest. But residents are feeling real strain from rising property tax bills, and they deserve a council that treats every increase as something to justify, not assume. Fund the core well, question the rest honestly, and explain every number in plain language.
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?
Land use and development. Zoning, permits, site plans, and the conditions on new projects are the city's authority, not the state's or the county's. When a data center or a large development comes to Eagan, the leverage to shape it sits with the council. That decision has to be made here because only the city holds the tools.
Second, local fiscal stewardship. How we set the levy, what we fund, and how transparently we report it are entirely ours. Nobody else is going to make Eagan's budget clearer for Eagan residents.
Third, the character and livability of our neighborhoods, including local housing and the quality of city services. The state can set frameworks, but the texture of life in Eagan is a local job. The closer a decision is to the people it affects, the more it belongs with the city, decided in public where residents can watch it happen.
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?
Transparency isn't posting a 300-page budget PDF and calling it open. Most people will never read it, and that's not their fault. Real transparency means residents can understand where their money goes and see what it buys, in plain language.
A budget presentation that ties dollars to outcomes, so you can see what an increase actually delivers. Major contracts and development deals explained in public before they're approved, not after, with the real costs and terms on the record. And real public engagement: hearings scheduled when working people can attend, questions answered directly, and no important decision slipped through quietly.
I spend my career making complex technical and financial information understandable to people who have to make decisions with it. That's exactly what transparency requires. The test is simple: can an ordinary resident find out what they're paying for and whether it's working? If the answer is no, we're not being transparent, no matter how many documents we've posted.