Here's what I will do for you as your next Mayor

I would be honored to serve you as Mayor. At the top of my agenda, I want to work with you to reorient the City to a culture that is firmly grounded on service to citizens that bridges connections across the community. 

I have heard first-hand from other Shorewood citizens, and I myself have experienced, how the Shorewood City government has engaged in a mix of overt actions and enforcement against some citizens and laissez-faire towards others. It is important for government to treat all citizens fairly, equally and respectfully. Unfair and unequal treatment leads to unhealthy community disenfranchisement and resentment. Moreover, the City should understand and abide by its contracts, the City code and Minnesota State law. I believe most Shorewood residents would agree that aggressive legal actions and threats against neighboring cities and our citizens should be a method of last resort. Such actions waste taxpayer money and harm relationships.

Along with inconsistent and unfair treatment, many residents have told me that they are concerned that the City makes decisions based on insufficient data and research. They want the City to do more to collect and analyze data when making important investments and decisions. At the same time, they want the City to become more fiscally responsible.

My vision for Shorewood: I want to work with citizens to support our City of Shorewood as a friendly, relaxed community of approximately 8,000 people to continue to build on our great neighborhoods. I have listed below some illustrations of what this vision looks like:

1. Engage Shorewood citizens with respect, inclusiveness and fairness

• It is said among my Shorewood neighbors that if you wait to present your case to the council meeting, you are too late. This should never be the case. I will end the practice of deciding issues before hearing from all sides of a matter.
• Many Shorewood citizens have encountered the City’s practice of changing the rules and retroactively applying them to citizens – ignoring Minnesota State and City grandfather laws. I will end this practice by instituting stricter measures in the code that explicitly prohibits this tactic. Governments should uphold the highest standards of the law and fairness. 

2.  Improve Conflict Resolution

• In resolving differences of opinion between neighbors, I encourage our citizens to look to government as a last resort only after they have engaged with one another in healthy discussion, debate and negotiation. I believe people should solve problems themselves as much as possible.
• There are instances when government needs to step in to resolve differences on difficult and important issues. For such cases, we will design and implement a robust conflict resolution process that engages citizens in developing win/win solutions. If called upon to help resolve disputes, the City will engage in a process that begins with due diligence to thoroughly understand the facts and progresses creatively to develop alternatives with a goal to achieve win/win solutions for all stakeholders.

3. Use City / Taxpayer Resources More Effectively and Efficiently

• I believe it is important to utilize data and surveys to understand what citizens want City leadership to invest in while continuing to be a sought after community to live in for the future.  My leadership will incorporate this approach.
• We will identify opportunities to save operating and program costs to redeploy financial resources in our ~$8 million annual budget (~$1,000 per capita) in a way that adds what citizens value in their City (for all age groups) now and in the future.

4. Preserve our Natural Setting

• We will work to preserve the beauty of our natural setting and the relaxed lifestyle our citizens enjoy. We will resist pressure from the Metropolitan Council to drive new development in Shorewood.

5. Develop a Culture of Robust Collaboration

• We will work with charitable organizations and encourage citizen volunteers to continue to support worthy causes that enhance the community. Examples are efforts to support underprivileged children, food pantries and home bound seniors in our community. Such efforts are especially important in these unusually challenging times.
• We will actively collaborate with neighboring cities to share resources and fairly address the needs of residents who live along the borders of the City.
• We will partner with citizens to address current stormwater management issues. 
• We will strive to prevent new developments and new construction from creating new stormwater issues for existing residents.

 
What is citizen-centric city government? In short, it means city government exists to serve the people (e.g., important decisions should not be centered on generating additional tax revenue for the city). Let's transform Shorewood's City Hall culture to one that is citizen-centric. Accountability, transparency and integrity are the key ingredients.

The Shorewood Mayor is paid $5,000 per year. If elected, I pledge to forgo this compensation and allocate these funds to support needy Shorewood families.

I have been endorsed by the Independence-Alliance Party of Minnesota. The party's core values are well-aligned with our platform of government by the people.