Why are you the best candidate for this position? (750 characters)
I see my current role as a city council member, and more so, the job of mayor, as being an ambassador for the city both internally and externally. Folks I’ve been hearing from want a mayor who always shows up – when they are celebrating, when they are serving, and when they are hurting. For example, celebrating at Eagan’s Juneteenth celebrations and police promotions, serving with local nonprofits like The Open Door, and offering relief to neighbors impacted by Operation Metro Surge. Community is not a static object, it is a verb, a dynamic set of relationships that is activated by people. Being mayor entails many tasks but just one main job – to immerse yourself in the life of the community you love. That’s where you will always find me.
If elected, what will your top three priorities be and why? (500 characters)
Safe Streets: Reimagine county roads in Eagan to make them safer and more accessible to those who walk, cycle, and roll.
Livability: Require the most restrictive possible zoning for new data centers in Eagan.
A Greener Future: Aggressively pursue the goals in Eagan’s Climate Action Plan and never relent in using every tool we have to protect clean air, water, and soil.
Belonging: Ensure that every person who calls Eagan home knows that they are a valued and essential part of our community.
If elected, what strategies will you use to ensure transparency, accountability and ethical conduct in city government under your leadership? (500 characters)
The most important job of an elected official is, through frequent outreach, communication, and listening, to continuously replenish a reservoir of trust, so that when we make a necessary but unpopular decision, residents understand that we are doing so in what we sincerely believe to be the best interests of the community. Also, strict adherence to state open meeting law and proactive neighborhood meetings for contentious development proposals promote transparency and accountability.
How will you engage with residents to solicit feedback, involve them in decision-making processes, and ensure their voices are heard? (500 characters)
By listening with respect and active outreach. During advisory commission interviews in 2021, I saw alarmingly few applicants from BIPOC communities and I realized that Eagan had an outreach problem. City staff has since improved outreach but I have also done my part by each year reaching out to people from diverse communities to make the case that Eagan can’t function optimally without every voice. And our advisory commission applicant pool has become far more diverse in the past five years.
How will you approach public safety and community policing to ensure the well-being of all residents? (500 characters)
The Eagan PD manages several robust outreach initiatives to connect with community members; those programs work best independent of intervention by elected officials. But the role of an elected leader becomes more critical when responding to residents who find themselves in a situation where their trust of authority has eroded to the point of fear, for example, during Operation Metro Surge. In those situations, I have and would continue to act as a conduit between residents and law enforcement.