Pam Stegora Axberg
Name: Pam Stegora Axberg
Public Office Sought: New Brighton City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
Website: PamForProgress.com
Twitter handle: @AxbergPam
Facebook page: facebook.com/Pam-Stegora-Axberg-for-City-Council-New-Brighton-105885291273738
Candidate Bio
My husband Joe, and four children, have called New Brighton home for over 20 years.
As a senior executive with over 35 years with two companies (Qwest Communications and UnitedHealthcare), I understand the importance of fiscal and budget management. I’ve led large teams and budgets up to $500M. At the same time, I’ve had strong community service providing volunteer leadership in the areas of workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, racial justice, youth, education, girls/women, and homelessness. My non-profit leadership includes serving on the Boards of Directors for Girl Scouts, YWCA USA, YWCA Minneapolis, Junior Achievement and Topline credit union.
For the past 4 years, I have served our community on the Park, Recreation, Environment Commission, and am the current chair. My girl scout troop of 12 years completed 3 Gold Award Projects in our city!
I have an MBA from the University of Minnesota and am also a U of MN Humphrey Public Policy Fellow. My BA is from St. Catherine University.
As your City Council member, I would continue to listen to diverse perspectives and get facts to help make informed decisions. I would collaborate with others to seek out and implement the best solutions.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Support our Community in the Pandemic – We have seen how critical city services continue to be. I’m proud that every citizen is within a 10-minute walk of a city park or trail. Being able to have great access to parks and trails is one component of both physical and mental health. Our city workers have done a great job of checking-in on some of our most vulnerable during this time.
Manage the City Budget – The city has been creative in how it has expanded its revenue (i.e. adding passport and drivers’ licenses) while providing more local services. We should continue to benchmark our services and taxes against other similarly sized communities. We will continue to maintain excellence in city services efficiently: fire, police, water, streets, and parks.
Collaborate with County, State and surrounding cities – Most broader services get funding and services from other governmental agencies. New Brighton needs to be a strong voice and partner advocating for our community.
How would you characterize the business climate in New Brighton and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
New Brighton is a mix of small and medium -sized business. Our community is better because of the business’s social responsibility and partnerships that come from the local businesses and non-governmental organizations.
What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in, New Brighton?
This is an area in which I need to learn more about – what are we already doing? What are the barriers? I am open to learning more and then doing what makes sense for our community.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in New Brighton (such as minimum wage, sick time, or mandatory scheduling notice)? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of an ordinance on the many types of businesses in New Brighton and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
As a mother of four, I am personally a strong supporter and advocate for more family-supportive benefits in their employment. However, I don’t believe it is the role of city government to place these mandates on businesses.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
We have a community policing strategy that allows the city to understand differing neighborhoods in the city. I will work with my fellow council members to develop a housing policy that serves the needs of all citizens of New Brighton.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
I am always supportive of a fiscally responsible balanced budget. The City has been finding non-tax means to raise revenues (i.e. license bureau, passports). They have also been thoughtful in managing maintenance of city streets without incurring debt. The recently approved long-range Parks, Recreation and Trails plan has just been improved.
What will you do to expand New Brighton’s tax base?
The City needs to complete development it has already started in the New Brighton Exchange and Midtown Village areas. The City should continue to find opportunities for continued business development. I will work with my fellow council members to develop to continue to expand the City’s tax base.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
As a Humphrey Fellow, I was part of a team that brought together business, government agencies, non-profits and education leaders in the community to help address the shortage of technical and trade employees while addressing under and unemployed individuals. I understand that Mounds View Schools recently re-invented technical programs, such as welding, it is doing well.
The Mounds View School District has a strong program for Advanced Placement (AP) classes, PSEO (college classes) and their innovated 2-year AA degree you can earn while in high school.
I appreciate the many non-profits in our community that fund scholarships for post-secondary education for our citizens.
Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
The new Lion’s Park is a great example of partnership between Ramsey County, Lions Club, and the City of New Brighton. Everyone contributed something to the partnership – land, buildings, money, time. And, the community came together on a volunteer basis to help with the installation! We should continue to find win-win opportunities with surrounding government.
Another example of creative partnership is the ski/running trails behind Irondale High School which sit on Ramsey County property. Through partnerships between Ramsey County, Irondale High School, Irondale Nordic Ski Foundation, Girl Scouts and community members, the ski trails were improved and expanded. Free ski lessons were provided to our community.
I’m confident that our community members have even more ideas for partnerships.
All entities need to ensure they are providing excellent services in the most efficient manner. As a city we’ll continue to do that, and benchmark ourselves against others as well. I do not have any specific services already targeted for elimination.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in New Brighton?
We know we must continue to do more than we have. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access and Racial Justice starts with personal change and also requires systemic change. We have recommendations from our Diversity Task Force that we need to continue to examine and implement to make us better together.
What further policies can New Brighton adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
I appreciated how quickly the city responded to modifying ordinances for our local restaurants to be able to create and expand patio services. The City should continue to ensure local businesses and organization have access to broader government funding mechanisms.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
As your City Council member, I would continue to listen to diverse perspectives and get facts to help make informed decisions. I would collaborate with others to seek out and implement the best solutions.
If you want more information about me, you can check out PamForProgress.com.
Public Office Sought: New Brighton City Council
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
Website: PamForProgress.com
Twitter handle: @AxbergPam
Facebook page: facebook.com/Pam-Stegora-Axberg-for-City-Council-New-Brighton-105885291273738
Candidate Bio
My husband Joe, and four children, have called New Brighton home for over 20 years.
As a senior executive with over 35 years with two companies (Qwest Communications and UnitedHealthcare), I understand the importance of fiscal and budget management. I’ve led large teams and budgets up to $500M. At the same time, I’ve had strong community service providing volunteer leadership in the areas of workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, racial justice, youth, education, girls/women, and homelessness. My non-profit leadership includes serving on the Boards of Directors for Girl Scouts, YWCA USA, YWCA Minneapolis, Junior Achievement and Topline credit union.
For the past 4 years, I have served our community on the Park, Recreation, Environment Commission, and am the current chair. My girl scout troop of 12 years completed 3 Gold Award Projects in our city!
I have an MBA from the University of Minnesota and am also a U of MN Humphrey Public Policy Fellow. My BA is from St. Catherine University.
As your City Council member, I would continue to listen to diverse perspectives and get facts to help make informed decisions. I would collaborate with others to seek out and implement the best solutions.
What would be your top three priorities if elected?
Support our Community in the Pandemic – We have seen how critical city services continue to be. I’m proud that every citizen is within a 10-minute walk of a city park or trail. Being able to have great access to parks and trails is one component of both physical and mental health. Our city workers have done a great job of checking-in on some of our most vulnerable during this time.
Manage the City Budget – The city has been creative in how it has expanded its revenue (i.e. adding passport and drivers’ licenses) while providing more local services. We should continue to benchmark our services and taxes against other similarly sized communities. We will continue to maintain excellence in city services efficiently: fire, police, water, streets, and parks.
Collaborate with County, State and surrounding cities – Most broader services get funding and services from other governmental agencies. New Brighton needs to be a strong voice and partner advocating for our community.
How would you characterize the business climate in New Brighton and what is the role of businesses supporting quality of life issues in the community?
New Brighton is a mix of small and medium -sized business. Our community is better because of the business’s social responsibility and partnerships that come from the local businesses and non-governmental organizations.
What role do you think the City should have in attracting and retaining jobs, and what steps would you take to solicit new businesses to, and retain existing businesses in, New Brighton?
This is an area in which I need to learn more about – what are we already doing? What are the barriers? I am open to learning more and then doing what makes sense for our community.
Do you support any other specific employment-related proposals in New Brighton (such as minimum wage, sick time, or mandatory scheduling notice)? If so, what steps would you take to understand the impact of an ordinance on the many types of businesses in New Brighton and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?
As a mother of four, I am personally a strong supporter and advocate for more family-supportive benefits in their employment. However, I don’t believe it is the role of city government to place these mandates on businesses.
What are your strategies to address public safety, housing, and transportation issues facing your community?
We have a community policing strategy that allows the city to understand differing neighborhoods in the city. I will work with my fellow council members to develop a housing policy that serves the needs of all citizens of New Brighton.
What are your priorities for the City’s budget?
I am always supportive of a fiscally responsible balanced budget. The City has been finding non-tax means to raise revenues (i.e. license bureau, passports). They have also been thoughtful in managing maintenance of city streets without incurring debt. The recently approved long-range Parks, Recreation and Trails plan has just been improved.
What will you do to expand New Brighton’s tax base?
The City needs to complete development it has already started in the New Brighton Exchange and Midtown Village areas. The City should continue to find opportunities for continued business development. I will work with my fellow council members to develop to continue to expand the City’s tax base.
How will you work with K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions and businesses to ensure our region develops and retains an educated workforce?
As a Humphrey Fellow, I was part of a team that brought together business, government agencies, non-profits and education leaders in the community to help address the shortage of technical and trade employees while addressing under and unemployed individuals. I understand that Mounds View Schools recently re-invented technical programs, such as welding, it is doing well.
The Mounds View School District has a strong program for Advanced Placement (AP) classes, PSEO (college classes) and their innovated 2-year AA degree you can earn while in high school.
I appreciate the many non-profits in our community that fund scholarships for post-secondary education for our citizens.
Are there any services currently provided by the city that you believe should be cut back or eliminated? Are there new opportunities to share services with other entities?
The new Lion’s Park is a great example of partnership between Ramsey County, Lions Club, and the City of New Brighton. Everyone contributed something to the partnership – land, buildings, money, time. And, the community came together on a volunteer basis to help with the installation! We should continue to find win-win opportunities with surrounding government.
Another example of creative partnership is the ski/running trails behind Irondale High School which sit on Ramsey County property. Through partnerships between Ramsey County, Irondale High School, Irondale Nordic Ski Foundation, Girl Scouts and community members, the ski trails were improved and expanded. Free ski lessons were provided to our community.
I’m confident that our community members have even more ideas for partnerships.
All entities need to ensure they are providing excellent services in the most efficient manner. As a city we’ll continue to do that, and benchmark ourselves against others as well. I do not have any specific services already targeted for elimination.
What is the role of the City Council in fostering increased minority- and women-owned businesses in New Brighton?
We know we must continue to do more than we have. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access and Racial Justice starts with personal change and also requires systemic change. We have recommendations from our Diversity Task Force that we need to continue to examine and implement to make us better together.
What further policies can New Brighton adopt to help the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?
I appreciated how quickly the city responded to modifying ordinances for our local restaurants to be able to create and expand patio services. The City should continue to ensure local businesses and organization have access to broader government funding mechanisms.
Is there anything else you would like to share with voters not covered above?
As your City Council member, I would continue to listen to diverse perspectives and get facts to help make informed decisions. I would collaborate with others to seek out and implement the best solutions.
If you want more information about me, you can check out PamForProgress.com.