Candidate has not yet responded.

Candidate has not yet responded.

Candidate has not yet responded.

Candidate has not yet responded.

The housing shortage in Menomonie is a top issue of mine. According to a 2023 housing study, Dunn County will need 1000 - 1300 new homes and 3000 by 2040. I would address this issue by zoning for more residential development in the city limits. This would allow for more quality and affordable duplexes, quadplexes, single family, manufactured, modular, mobile and "tiny" homes without lowering the value of the established homes in the area. I would promote local developers in our community to build in these new developments. We also need to take a look at how Air BnB's and Vrbo's affect the housing market and limit the use of these services in homes that are not the owner's primary residence.

Fixing the roads and traffic flow is a top priority of mine. Several streets in Ward 2 are overdue for maintenance and repair. Most of these streets need to be repaved and properly graded/sloped. There are areas in the Ward where a stop light or roundabout are needed. Safe crossing areas and lighting are needed in other areas as well. I would address this by prioritizing which streets in the ward need the most attention and prioritize those with other wards and set the budget and timeframe for the project accordingly.

I believe that the parks in the city are in need of an update/upgrade. I believe our Parks and Recreation department needs to continue to provide affordable programs for kids. Most families cannot afford the cost of private sport leagues and other extracurricular and development activities. I believe that if kids are busy and learning through play they have a higher probability of developing skills to be successful while staying out of trouble. I would address this by funding the Parks and Recreation Department to upgrade the parks and water park to enhance these programs. There would be a priority list of which park(s) are in the highest need of upgrades and set a long-term timeline and budget for these projects and programs.

Public safety and public health got a small increase in the 2024 budget. I would increase funding through federal and state funding programs like the Safer Communities Act which can help fund local programs like Project Hope through the Menomonie Police Department. We pay taxes on these state and federal funding programs and will pay the same amount of taxes whether we get the taxpayers money back through these programs or opt out of them. I would rather get our taxpayers money back and fight for our proper state revenue sharing to invest in the community while being fiscally responsible. I would also fund our infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, potable water, broadband, and energy) through the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act where applicable.