Here is a summary of the changes we envision

We want to reorient the city to a culture that is firmly grounded on service to citizens that bridges connections across the community. 

Over the years, numerous Shorewood citizens 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 (as written) and Minnesota State law. 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 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.

Our vision for Shorewood: We 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. Listed below are 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. We should 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 non-conforming use laws (i.e., grandfather rights). We should 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, citizens should look to government as a last resort only after they have engaged with one another in healthy discussion, debate and negotiation. 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 should 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 should 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

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

5. Develop a Culture of Robust Collaboration

• We should 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 should actively collaborate with neighboring cities to share resources and fairly address the needs of residents who live along the borders of the city.
• We should partner with citizens to address current stormwater management issues. 
• We should strive to prevent new developments and new construction from creating new stormwater issues for existing residents.

6. Encourage more citizens to run for office and become involved

• Our community benefits from having many citizens serve, not by having career politicians monopolize positions of authority for extended periods. 
• The health of our democracy counts on our community leadership to be elected by citizens. Elected officials need only meet the state and local requirements, not a set of “unwritten” guidelines that are code for who gets to decide who is elected.  

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.