​VISION
My vision for St. Louis Park is shaped by what I've learned
​during my 25 years of service to our community.

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Click + to learn more about my positions:

RESPONSIVE LEADERSHIP

 I believe the core responsibility of an elected official is to listen to, respect, and respond to all constituents.  You can count on me to reply to your phone calls and emails, be genuinely interested in your concerns and ideas, and follow through on things I say I'll do. 

affordable housing

Part of what makes St. Louis Park great is our socioeconomic diversity, made possible by the diversity of our housing stock. Without being proactive, we risk  losing longtime residents including families and seniors. To ensure a range of housing options remains available, I support the adoption of measures including:  

• Family-size affordable apartments. We have an abundance of one-bedroom, market rate apartments in SLP when what we need are more options for families including two-, three-, and four-bedroom units. I believe we can and should find solutions to this specific housing shortage. 
• More support for families who want to expand their homes. It's challenging for families who want to stay in the Park to find larger homes here that they can afford. Among other measures, I support increasing income limits for the city's Move Up in the Park Deferred Loan Program so that more homeowners can take advantage of this program.
• More senior housing options including quality, affordable rental units and support for seniors who wish to stay in their homes. 
• Support for affordable homeownership, which helps families build long-term wealth and climb the economic ladder. I would like our City Council and community members to explore strategies that make home ownership accessible to more low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
• I also believe we need to examine property tax burdens on older residents, as rising home values threaten to force seniors from their homes. 

 SMART REDEVELOPMENT

Redevelopment is a valued source of property and sales tax revenue for our city. Redevelopment also impacts our quality of life, through increased traffic and congestion, environmental impacts, potential loss of affordable rent for residents and small businesses, and threats to the cohesiveness and character of our community. I support the development of a comprehensive design plan for our city that:

• recognizes the need to maintain an appropriate balance of renters to homeowners 
• honors our unique history, strengthens our sense of place, and adds to the social vitality of our city
• promotes adaptive reuse of existing infrastructure over construction of new infrastructure (think Honey & Rye, located in a former dry cleaning shop)
• promotes green building practices and zero-net energy buildings 
• builds public/private partnerships to help us meet our targets
• actively promotes the development of more locally owned neighborhood gathering spaces 

RACIAL Equity

I believe that providing community-wide education regarding implicit bias is critical to understanding and dismantling structural racism. Many communities, school districts, and institutions across the country are waking up to the fact that our ways of thinking about and making decisions reinforce structural racism and perpetuate racial disparities, including in St. Louis Park. I applaud the current council’s commitment to advancing racial equity and am committed to moving that work forward if elected. I strongly support the council's efforts to make decisions through a lens of racial equity, meaning we explore who benefits from facilities, programs, and policies in order to ensure our shared community resources are being distributed equitably. We also need to create pathways to leadership by removing barriers to people of color engaging on a  neighborhood level, in our schools, and on boards and commissions.

Through my professional work as a nonprofit consultant for equity-focused organizations and initiatives, I bring knowledge of equity strategies being implemented in other communities and look forward to exploring what will work here in SLP. I would also like our city to partner more closely with the school district on this issue, so that we can support and strengthen each other's efforts on a community-wide level.

closer City-school partnership

I believe our city and our school district can partner more closely to maximize resources available to students. Specifically, I'm in support of: 

• Exploring ways the city can actively promote the unique strengths of all our elementary schools, so that parents feel confident in all their options - for example ensuring performers from all four schools are represented at community events like the Children First Ice Cream Social
• Increasing student & school access to city-owned resources like Westwood Hills Nature Center by looking at transportation barriers that currently exist for elementary students
• Partnering to create a teen center near the high school modeled after the Depot in Hopkins
• Helping families with students in our schools maintain their housing through rental assistance and other support
• Working with businesses to identify innovative partnership opportunities that benefit our students and our schools - for example the career training work happening in the London Square Building in the Walker-Lake Historic District. 

protecting the environment

I applaud our city’s success in implementing programs to protect the environment, such as organics recycling, the zero-waste packaging ordinance, and collaborations with local businesses to reduce CO2 emissions. I also support our city's environmental stewardship goals, which include:

• Expanding energy efficiency in city operations
• Educating staff and the public on environmental consciousness, stewardship and best practices
• Encouraging green building design and the creation/retention of open spaces
• Preserving, enhancing and providing good stewardship of city parks

I also support implementation of the SLP Climate Action Plan, currently in development, whose goal is for our city to have net zero emissions by 2040. 

SUPPORTING SENIORS

I'd like our city to explore ways to mitigate property tax burdens on older homeowners with fixed incomes, to ensure they can stay in their homes when the value of those homes is increasing quickly. I'd also like us to explore: 

• creating more affordable multifamily senior housing options for seniors who want to sell their homes and stay in the Park
• providing safe, convenient and affordable transportation options within the city for seniors 
• exploring community interest in European-style intergenerational housing
• exploring the potential for create more health-oriented amenities for seniors like an indoor walking track and heated pool, perhaps in partnership with the YMCA
• clearing 100% of our public sidewalks in winter to relieve financial and physical burdens on seniors and others

community-oriented businesses

Ward 1 residents are eager for more neighborhood gathering spaces like Parkway Pizza, Yum!, and Vitale's Bistro. I support the use of city-owned commercial property for this purpose, as well the purchase of privately owned commercial property, when available, with the goal to create more locally owned places for people to gather. I also support the city issuing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for gathering spaces like coffee shops and cafes, when land is being redeveloped, and declining offers from large developers to create businesses that don't align with community members' goals and priorities. With work on our 10-year Comprehensive Plan currently underway, now is the time for residents to engage on topics related to development, redevelopment and historic preservation. I believe we can and should be more proactive in how we allow land to be redeveloped in our community.

I also support 

• exploring ways to ensure our city's strict permitting is not a barrier to would-be small business owners
• creating a deferred loan program for would-be small business owners
• ensuring we continue to have low-rent spaces available for small businesses by limiting redevelopment 
• improving the aesthetics of business areas like the Walker-Lake Historic Area and other areas though city-funded streetscape improvements including street furniture, lighting, sidewalks, and plantings

ward 1 issues

• Historic Walker-Lake District: I support the preservation and revitalization of St. Louis Parks "original downtown" to a vibrant area for small businesses, including a teen center for our community's youth. Read more here. 
• Teardowns & new home construction: Ward 1 is seeing the escalation of this trend, as have other parts of the city. I support the adoption of design guidelines that protect existing properties and their relationships to one another while responding to the need for more move-up housing. I believe that new home construction should be in harmony with the character of existing neighborhoods and preserve a sense of place by being compatible with existing homes on the block and in the city.
• SWLRT-related redevelopment at Beltline Boulevard: This 6.6-acre parcel of land will be redeveloped into a "Live/Work/Play" space that includes mixed use development, housing density to support SWLRT ridership, mixed-income housing and community amenities. The area will also include a Park-and-Ride lot. Proposals from developers are due to the City soon, so stay tuned.
• PLACE development: There are many strong opinions on this development, pro and con. I'm in favor of the affordable housing options this development can provide to people in our community who need it. The idea of a creative community is attractive as well. I also understand residents' concerns regarding increased traffic and congestion. Now that the development has been approved, I believe it's City Council's job to listen to and respect resident's concerns if/when they arise and to effectively mitigate problems, including parking overflow problems in the Sorensen neighborhood. 
• Safe streets: Ward 1 residents are concerned about certain hotspots in their neighborhoods that see speeding, cut-through traffic, failure to obey stop signs, and other hazardous driving behaviors that negatively impact our quality of life. Minnetonka Boulevard, in particular, is a hazardous street to cross. I'm committed to working with city and county staff, city council, and residents to make crossing this main artery in our ward safer for all. 

ranked choice voting

I support the implementation of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in St. Louis Park. RCV fosters a more inclusive, participatory, and representative democracy. Particularly in light of the recent elimination of municipal primary elections in St. Louis Park, implementing RCV is critical to ensure majority support for the winning candidates. I also believe it is the responsibility of the city council to implement this change and hope the charter commission makes a recommendation to council soon to do so. Click here for more information on RCV. ​​

LGBTQ community

I would like our city council to create a commission focused on supporting and affirming LGBTQ people in SLP, similar to our other commissions. I'd also like our staff and council to participate in training to become skilled at using gender-neutral language when talking with and about residents at council meetings and in other public settings.  I'd like all of our public buildings to have gender neutral or single stall bathrooms, and for our city to be proactive in affirming trans people in all aspects of community life. This includes ensuring our registration forms, program brochures, and other publications are inclusive and affirming regarding gender as well as having affirming literature, artwork and other "daily life" aspects of interacting with our city be inclusive and affirming of members of the LGBTQ community. 

Minnetonka Boulevard

Minnetonka Boulevard (County Road 5) is dangerous to cross at intersections throughout Ward 1. I support our city being far more proactive than we have been to date in working with Hennepin County to make crossing Minnetonka Boulevard safer. This may include the installation of traditional stoplights or HAWK pedestrian crossing beacons, narrowing roads, widening sidewalks, installing grassy medians, and other safety measures. We may need to invest  our own resources, rather than wait for the county, to move this priority forward.

Property taxes

Increased property taxes are a concern for a residents at all income levels in St. Louis Park. I expect our city government to be fiscally responsible and believe there are areas where we can spend less and still provide great city services. I support the current council's decision to increase the pay scale for our excellent city staff, even if it means an increase in taxes. As we begin to see tax revenue from expiring TIF (tax increment financing) agreements such as Excelsior & Grand, I'd like us to apply at least a portion of that revenue toward tax relief, and reinvest in expensive new projects only if there is broad community support. 

5 things I love about St. Louis Park

1. The people
The people I know who live in SLP are generous, community-oriented, down-to-earth, and diverse. 

2. Our schools
SLP schools are welcoming places where every student matters. 

3. Our high level of civic engagement
SLP consistently invites citizen input, and residents consistently provide it.
 
4. Our commitment to healthy living
From organics recycling to promoting walking and biking, SLP is creating opportunities for residents to live healthier lives. 
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5. My neighborhood!
​Like most St. Louis Park neighborhoods, the Birchwood neighborhood, where I live, is organized and receives grant funding from the city for events & activities. Living in an organized neighborhood adds to the quality of life for me, my family, and my neighbors every day.