Paul Gardner
Name: Paul Gardner
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-227-4582
Campaign Website: www.gardner4shoreview.org
Twitter handle: N/A
Facebook Page: Paul Gardner for Shoreview Mayor
Candidate Bio
I was elected to the Shoreview City Council in 2024, where I have championed climate-friendly policies that help residents and businesses save money and development code changes that meet the need for “missing middle” housing options. From 2007 to 2010, I served as an elected member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for all or part of six cities in Anoka and Ramsey Counties, including Shoreview. I have also served on the Ramsey Conservation District board, which has since merged with Ramsey County. My professional background includes two decades in the recycling and solid waste sector, where I advocated for policy at the state and national level, and seven years as the Administrator of the Minnesota Clean Water Council. The Clean Water Council recommended how to spend $130 million annually from the Clean Water Fund derived from a dedicated sales tax created by the voter-approved Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
Our outstanding current mayor is retiring and she encouraged me to run. I would like to maintain Shoreview’s reputation as a city that works efficiently to provide quality services.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Compared to the Legislature, I would bring a non-partisan approach to city government. Residents would get a “no drama” style from me! Residents don’t have the time to navigate all our layers of government, so the council has a role to help them work through our various processes and requirements with patience and empathy. A previous mayor has encouraged me to “not get too far out in front of the rest of the council.” That is good advice. The five of us have to have a comfort level with each issue that comes before us and not get engaged in dysfunctional battles that are often seen in other cities. Good councils also focus on the strategic questions, and let the staff do their job while presenting us with results. That formula has worked very well for decades in Shoreview, where we have a Plan B-council manager form of municipal government.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
We are fortunate that we do not rely on state or federal funding to provide our basic services. The city has received some one-time grants but we could maintain service levels without them.
What is the biggest challenge facing Shoreview right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
Our biggest challenge is the long-term availability of labor. The largest increases to our budget have been for public safety. We contract with a fire department that serves three cities and with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department. Both entities must compete for qualified candidates in a labor market that is not growing as the baby boomers retire. We also want to retain outstanding city staff.
Our biggest opportunity is climate action. This is counter-intuitive, but the things we can do in cities to reduce carbon emissions also save consumers, businesses, and cities money and add to our quality of life. Heat pumps, EVs, and other “electrotech” reduce the ongoing cost of living since they are three to four times more efficient than using fossil fuels. Homeowners insurance rates also go down when people use more resilient materials. Cities are trusted messengers who can share the experiences of residents and businesses who have made climate-friendly and cost-effective choices. Our Energy Action Plan could save consumers $2.3 million by 2030 through greater efficiency. I would add solid waste management as a climate action strategy and would love to get more businesses connected with BizRecycling now that we have food scrap collection in Shoreview.
How would you characterize the business climate in Shoreview, and what role should city government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
Generally the business climate is good, although this is a moving target since businesses grow and contract with the business cycle. Our recent business retention and expansion survey gave very high marks to our community development staff for their assistance. Businesses also say they really want to stay in Shoreview! We plan to add a customer relationship management (CRM) system to efficiently keep in touch with businesses to see what their needs are so we can keep them in Shoreview. We should continue to encourage partnerships between the Mounds View and Roseville School Districts and our employers to align training with available jobs. Shoreview continues to maintain its infrastructure and carefully apply tax increment financing for redevelopment opportunities that pose challenges. Shoreview is also a welcoming community filled with worker talent from all over the region, the country, and the world.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Shoreview is a relatively safe city, but we experience some offenses regularly, such as sexual assault and domestic violence, driving under the influence, juvenile offenses, and the impacts of addiction. In addition to contracting with the Sheriff’s Department, we have a good partnership with Northeast Youth and Family Services to help families work through many of these issues. I am particularly interested in how we can elevate prevention strategies that address violence by men against women, which impose costs not just on families but taxpayers as 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?
Shoreview has a progressive housing policy to address affordable housing. A multi-unit project must have a certain number of units that are priced at 50 percent of area median income (AMI), or pay into a city fund for affordable housing. A new project has just started at 694 and Rice Street that will build 293 units, with 20 percent of the units being affordable. The city is also proposing zoning changes to make it easier to put a duplex on a current single-family lot along our major streets, along with other measures to meet the need of the “missing middle.”
I do not support rent control in Shoreview. Rent control appears in every college economics textbook as an example of how capping revenue reduces the construction of new rental housing. Our approach in Shoreview is to build more housing with affordability requirements mentioned above, and we have used tax increment financing very selectively on hard-to-develop parcels to construct perhaps a thousand new apartment units in the last decade.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
For decades, Shoreview has made it a policy to build more trails to help cyclists and pedestrians reach our parks safely. I would take things up a level so that Shoreview views trails and bikeways as a mode of transportation connecting us to neighboring communities. This requires some creative planning for our 2050 comprehensive plan. It may be a tall order, but I would like cyclists and pedestrians to be able to travel from one end of the city to another without having to cross a four-lane highway.
We now have Metro Micro on demand buses for the southern third of the city. I would like to see that expanded north. The city is also participating in a state-funded working group that will evaluate the potential of autonomous transit vehicles that can meet the need of second ring suburbs where the economics of having a driver won’t work.
The influx of powerful e-motos and e-bikes that are too powerful to be handled by adolescents is an issue. State legislation on this topic would be welcome, but education by the sheriff’s department and the city would be helpful in the meantime.
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?
Resident surveys regularly show high satisfaction with our services and a willingness to pay for them. However, cities are always (correctly) under pressure to minimize property tax increases. Cities should always seek opportunities for shared services. As an example, we contract out for public safety services with the Sheriffs Department instead of having our own police force. We partner with our watershed districts on many projects. Our team is always looking at ways to do things more efficiently. I like the idea of using a commonly used app for rooftop solar permitting that could reduce staff time needed for reviewing permits significantly. That would lower costs for vendors, customers, and the city.
Shoreview has some parks and recreation programs that are so popular that we draw people from many neighboring communities who use our parks but don’t pay for them. We may want to consider holding the line on new programming or facility upgrades to see what we can sustain.
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?
Cities are laboratories for innovation. Shoreview has led our peers in trying out new ideas that solve tough infrastructure problems that avoid more expensive fixes, or reduce ongoing costs. I want to do more of this. For example, switching to using salt brine on our roads from rock salt has reduced our chloride use by around 40 to 50 percent.
Second, we are usually the first entity that average people contact when they don’t know who to contact in government. When communities are talking about issues that could boil over, we hear about it first. During Operation Metro Surge, our residents asked us to speak clearly against unconstitutional search, seizures, and arrests because residents were afraid to leave their homes. We also collaborate with other units of government (cities, counties, watershed districts, federal agencies) out of necessity, so we have to be able navigators on behalf of our residents instead of saying “that isn’t our department.”
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?
Shoreview has done well on financial transparency. The city has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting award from the Government Finance Officers Association annually for 40 consecutive years! Shoreview also convenes a leadership academy for two dozen residents every two years, which allows for a deep dive on all city operations, including finances.
Even though our information is readily available, most people don’t seek this information out. I’d like our next budget process to include some more public engagement—perhaps with graduates of our leadership academy at first—to sound people out on budget priorities before the “budget cake is baked.” We also have a robust public engagement process for our 2050 comprehensive plan process.
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Phone: 612-227-4582
Campaign Website: www.gardner4shoreview.org
Twitter handle: N/A
Facebook Page: Paul Gardner for Shoreview Mayor
Candidate Bio
I was elected to the Shoreview City Council in 2024, where I have championed climate-friendly policies that help residents and businesses save money and development code changes that meet the need for “missing middle” housing options. From 2007 to 2010, I served as an elected member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for all or part of six cities in Anoka and Ramsey Counties, including Shoreview. I have also served on the Ramsey Conservation District board, which has since merged with Ramsey County. My professional background includes two decades in the recycling and solid waste sector, where I advocated for policy at the state and national level, and seven years as the Administrator of the Minnesota Clean Water Council. The Clean Water Council recommended how to spend $130 million annually from the Clean Water Fund derived from a dedicated sales tax created by the voter-approved Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
Our outstanding current mayor is retiring and she encouraged me to run. I would like to maintain Shoreview’s reputation as a city that works efficiently to provide quality services.
What style of leadership would you bring to this position?
Compared to the Legislature, I would bring a non-partisan approach to city government. Residents would get a “no drama” style from me! Residents don’t have the time to navigate all our layers of government, so the council has a role to help them work through our various processes and requirements with patience and empathy. A previous mayor has encouraged me to “not get too far out in front of the rest of the council.” That is good advice. The five of us have to have a comfort level with each issue that comes before us and not get engaged in dysfunctional battles that are often seen in other cities. Good councils also focus on the strategic questions, and let the staff do their job while presenting us with results. That formula has worked very well for decades in Shoreview, where we have a Plan B-council manager form of municipal government.
What are your top three priorities if elected, and how might they be affected by growing uncertainty around state and federal funding?
- Housing: In resident surveys, the cost of housing is one of two negative indicators.
- Business retention and expansion: The business cycle means that there are always companies expanding, merging, closing, or opening.
- Climate/Natural Resources: Climate change impacts our quality of life and increases our cost of living. We can help residents and businesses live better, save money, and do our part to reduce emissions with timely information.
We are fortunate that we do not rely on state or federal funding to provide our basic services. The city has received some one-time grants but we could maintain service levels without them.
What is the biggest challenge facing Shoreview right now, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?
Our biggest challenge is the long-term availability of labor. The largest increases to our budget have been for public safety. We contract with a fire department that serves three cities and with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department. Both entities must compete for qualified candidates in a labor market that is not growing as the baby boomers retire. We also want to retain outstanding city staff.
Our biggest opportunity is climate action. This is counter-intuitive, but the things we can do in cities to reduce carbon emissions also save consumers, businesses, and cities money and add to our quality of life. Heat pumps, EVs, and other “electrotech” reduce the ongoing cost of living since they are three to four times more efficient than using fossil fuels. Homeowners insurance rates also go down when people use more resilient materials. Cities are trusted messengers who can share the experiences of residents and businesses who have made climate-friendly and cost-effective choices. Our Energy Action Plan could save consumers $2.3 million by 2030 through greater efficiency. I would add solid waste management as a climate action strategy and would love to get more businesses connected with BizRecycling now that we have food scrap collection in Shoreview.
How would you characterize the business climate in Shoreview, and what role should city government play in partnering with the business community to attract jobs, develop the workforce, and address shared challenges?
Generally the business climate is good, although this is a moving target since businesses grow and contract with the business cycle. Our recent business retention and expansion survey gave very high marks to our community development staff for their assistance. Businesses also say they really want to stay in Shoreview! We plan to add a customer relationship management (CRM) system to efficiently keep in touch with businesses to see what their needs are so we can keep them in Shoreview. We should continue to encourage partnerships between the Mounds View and Roseville School Districts and our employers to align training with available jobs. Shoreview continues to maintain its infrastructure and carefully apply tax increment financing for redevelopment opportunities that pose challenges. Shoreview is also a welcoming community filled with worker talent from all over the region, the country, and the world.
What do you view as the most pressing public safety challenges in your community, and how would you address them?
Shoreview is a relatively safe city, but we experience some offenses regularly, such as sexual assault and domestic violence, driving under the influence, juvenile offenses, and the impacts of addiction. In addition to contracting with the Sheriff’s Department, we have a good partnership with Northeast Youth and Family Services to help families work through many of these issues. I am particularly interested in how we can elevate prevention strategies that address violence by men against women, which impose costs not just on families but taxpayers as 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?
Shoreview has a progressive housing policy to address affordable housing. A multi-unit project must have a certain number of units that are priced at 50 percent of area median income (AMI), or pay into a city fund for affordable housing. A new project has just started at 694 and Rice Street that will build 293 units, with 20 percent of the units being affordable. The city is also proposing zoning changes to make it easier to put a duplex on a current single-family lot along our major streets, along with other measures to meet the need of the “missing middle.”
I do not support rent control in Shoreview. Rent control appears in every college economics textbook as an example of how capping revenue reduces the construction of new rental housing. Our approach in Shoreview is to build more housing with affordability requirements mentioned above, and we have used tax increment financing very selectively on hard-to-develop parcels to construct perhaps a thousand new apartment units in the last decade.
How would you improve transportation infrastructure and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians in your community?
For decades, Shoreview has made it a policy to build more trails to help cyclists and pedestrians reach our parks safely. I would take things up a level so that Shoreview views trails and bikeways as a mode of transportation connecting us to neighboring communities. This requires some creative planning for our 2050 comprehensive plan. It may be a tall order, but I would like cyclists and pedestrians to be able to travel from one end of the city to another without having to cross a four-lane highway.
We now have Metro Micro on demand buses for the southern third of the city. I would like to see that expanded north. The city is also participating in a state-funded working group that will evaluate the potential of autonomous transit vehicles that can meet the need of second ring suburbs where the economics of having a driver won’t work.
The influx of powerful e-motos and e-bikes that are too powerful to be handled by adolescents is an issue. State legislation on this topic would be welcome, but education by the sheriff’s department and the city would be helpful in the meantime.
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?
Resident surveys regularly show high satisfaction with our services and a willingness to pay for them. However, cities are always (correctly) under pressure to minimize property tax increases. Cities should always seek opportunities for shared services. As an example, we contract out for public safety services with the Sheriffs Department instead of having our own police force. We partner with our watershed districts on many projects. Our team is always looking at ways to do things more efficiently. I like the idea of using a commonly used app for rooftop solar permitting that could reduce staff time needed for reviewing permits significantly. That would lower costs for vendors, customers, and the city.
Shoreview has some parks and recreation programs that are so popular that we draw people from many neighboring communities who use our parks but don’t pay for them. We may want to consider holding the line on new programming or facility upgrades to see what we can sustain.
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?
Cities are laboratories for innovation. Shoreview has led our peers in trying out new ideas that solve tough infrastructure problems that avoid more expensive fixes, or reduce ongoing costs. I want to do more of this. For example, switching to using salt brine on our roads from rock salt has reduced our chloride use by around 40 to 50 percent.
Second, we are usually the first entity that average people contact when they don’t know who to contact in government. When communities are talking about issues that could boil over, we hear about it first. During Operation Metro Surge, our residents asked us to speak clearly against unconstitutional search, seizures, and arrests because residents were afraid to leave their homes. We also collaborate with other units of government (cities, counties, watershed districts, federal agencies) out of necessity, so we have to be able navigators on behalf of our residents instead of saying “that isn’t our department.”
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?
Shoreview has done well on financial transparency. The city has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting award from the Government Finance Officers Association annually for 40 consecutive years! Shoreview also convenes a leadership academy for two dozen residents every two years, which allows for a deep dive on all city operations, including finances.
Even though our information is readily available, most people don’t seek this information out. I’d like our next budget process to include some more public engagement—perhaps with graduates of our leadership academy at first—to sound people out on budget priorities before the “budget cake is baked.” We also have a robust public engagement process for our 2050 comprehensive plan process.