Serve with Transparency and Accountability 

Transparency

My message to voters is simple: The government works for you, not Silicon Valley investors or corporate lawyers. Any official that signs an NDA stops working for you the moment pen touches paper. Holding office is a sacred trust. Keeping secrets from voters to circumvent their will is a violation of that trust. 

After the last NDA, Rosemount ended up with a data center that none of us wanted. What will we end up with next time? Another data center? Flock cameras? 

As long as I am on the council, my loyalty will be to the people of Rosemount. I will not keep secrets for Meta or any other corporation, because they aren't my boss. You are. I will not violate the sacred trust of office you place in me. I will never sign an NDA. And if anyone ever brings one to me to sign, I will immediately disclose to you who approached me and why. Further, I will work to make it city policy that no city official or employee may sign an NDA about future developments on behalf of the city or in their capacity as a city representative.

Accountability

As your representative on the city council, I will hold myself to a high standard of accountability. That means accessibility and responsivity. Monthly meetings with a few moments of public input is not enough. I will establish regular “office hours” to meet with the people of Rosemount for "drop-in" meetings without an appointment in addition to remaining committed to meeting with residents by appointment. This will be in addition to my regular availability as your representative by phone and e-mail.

I will also be a fierce advocate of the people in holding the city accountable. This means auditing spending, eliminating waste, and giving power back to the voters--where it was supposed to be all along.

Ban Data Centers

Let’s talk about the thing on everyone’s mind: data centers. In April, the council voted for a one-year moratorium on new data centers, but all they really did was kick the can down the road. Conveniently, it will expire after the election. With the council not worried about losing their seats, what reason will they have next April to listen to the voters and stand up to the Big Tech companies and corporate lawyers? After all, they didn't last time.

Let me be perfectly clear: As your representative on the council, I will never vote to approve a new data center in Rosemount, full stop.

We all know the problems. They dirty otherwise clean drinking water. They raise electricity costs for local residents. They cause noise and light pollution that allegedly cause health problems for their closest neighbors. And if the AI bubble bursts, towns are left with giant buildings that cannot be easily, or cheaply, repurposed.

But this is about more than pollution, water usage, or economics. We’ve all seen the videos of graduates booing and jeering the mention of AI. Our children are begging to be heard, and they are looking to us for leadership. That’s why I will advocate for bold solutions. Some of these solutions might be adjusting our zoning ordinances to disqualify data centers from obtaining conditional use permits, implementing water usage limits, or rewriting our 2040 Plan and requiring new projects to conform to it as part of the approval process. In partnership with the community, I will be a tireless advocate for measures like these to prevent Rosemount from becoming home to another data center.

Focus on Affordability

Rosemount is a great place to live. I want to make sure it's affordable, too. The economy is on everyone's mind right now. People are feeling uncertain of the future and unsure of their financial security. Gas is more expensive. Groceries are more expensive. Even sitting at home costs more because streaming services are increasing their prices. If you're like most people, your stretching dollars to make ends meet.

One of the things we've talked about a lot as a community is our property taxes. Regardless of how you feel about the project, I think it's important to know about the financial maneuvering the city is doing and what it means for all of us. By understanding that, we get to the real issue.

Something I bet the city government and city council are well aware of but are hoping most of us don't figure out is that sidestepping voters on a referendum isn't the actual issue. Let me explain. Funds that go through the Port Authority don't count towards the city's debt ceiling. That means that while the Port Authority issues bonds and subsequently increases our taxes, the city's metaphorical credit card will still have an available balance and can keep charging. Let's go one step further.

A city's debt ceiling is set at 3% of the value of the taxable property in the city (its property tax base). That means a city gets a credit limit increase whenever it adds new taxable property to its ledger. We think of property taxes as a way to generate revenue for the city. But Meta may offer insight into how the city might see them differently. Let's look at Meta as an example. Property tax abatements for Meta aren't a big deal for the city because the goal in bringing Meta to town probably wasn't to generate revenue, it was to raise the city's credit limit by making that land part of its property tax base. In other words, it can take out more debt. 

Let me boil it down to the simplest terms: All together, the city wants to borrow $75 million without it counting toward its debt ceiling while it simultaneously works to increase the amount it can borrow under that debt ceiling. In simpler terms, the city is on a borrowing spree and we're going to foot the bills without ever being given the chance to meaningfully be a part of the decisionmaking process. That isn't just bad fiscal policy, it's bad governance.

Built to Play

I'm all for investing in our future, in our children, and in our community. Put toward a referendum, I'd vote for those investments every time. But as a taxpayer, when the city council sidesteps the voters and won't even give a straight answer on how much my tax bill will actually increase every year, I don't feel like I'm investing in the community--I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

But the council doesn't want this to be a "process" issue; they want this to be a simple "for or against" issue. Because as long as we're fighting with each other, we aren't holding them accountable for their blank check spending and lack of transparency.

This isn't about being for or against youth sports or community investment or any one part of the plan. It's about making sure we all have a say in the future of our community, that we're planning for that future together, and that everyone has a seat at the table. That's democracy. That's community involvement. And that's what I'm running for. 

Protect the Local Environment

Rosemount is facing some major ecological problems. Our groundwater supply has tested positively for Gross alpha. Water quality tests have also detected the presence of PFAS. Recently, an environmental advocacy group demanded an explanation from Hennepin Energy Recovery Center regarding what they allege is toxic ash being transported from Minneapolis to Rosemount for disposal. And although none of these constitute an emergency, the people of Rosemount are rightfully concerned.

I will be the first to admit that I am not exactly an environmental activist. I don’t want to ban plastic straws, and I don’t want to make anybody pay for grocery bags. I just want clean water. I just want healthy soil. I just want parks and trails that my family and pets can enjoy without fear of becoming sick. I think that’s a baseline we can all agree on. 

As your representative on the council, one of my top priorities will be the health and wellbeing of Rosemount’s residents. When new proposals come before the Council, I will work with stakeholders to explore and encourage environmentally friendly options whenever they are feasible. When they are not feasible, my promise to the people of Rosemount is that I will never place future tax revenue above the health of our community. I will also support measures that provide permanent solutions to the current problems we face, solutions focused not only on cleanup but on future prevention as well.

Preserve Rosemount’s Small-Town Identity

There’s no denying that Rosemount is growing. The question is: As it grows, will it remain the small-town Rosemount we know or will it be swallowed up by urban sprawl? 

As your representative on the council, I will work to preserve Rosemount’s small-town identity by embracing policies and partnerships which support the growth of our community, and not just our tax base. These may include using the Council’s zoning authority to prevent over-development, offering incentives and grants to promote independent and local businesses, and establishing partnerships with NGOs or state and federal agencies that provide support for local revitalization efforts.

Foster Community in Rosemount’s Growing Population

Fostering community is good public policy. Studies show that when people have strong ties to their communities, they experience numerous benefits ranging from better mental and physical health to increased economic security and trust in local government. The community benefits as well through increased public safety and high levels of civic engagement. As our community grows, we need to foster connections amongst new and old neighbors so that everyone is able to share in these benefits. 

Relocating can be isolating, especially for a young family. After all the costs of moving, our new neighbors might be deterred from going out to traditional places to make new friends. If they are parents who both work and have young children, they may not have the time or energy to travel very far for events. We can connect with neighbors like this by regularly partnering with local HOAs, condo associations, or neighborhood watches to organize block parties or regular social events in their individual communities and supporting street-level efforts to bring neighbors together. As your representative on the council, I will encourage these kinds of events and invest in partnerships that foster our continued community development.

Encourage Locally-Owned Businesses that Serve the Local Community

We live in Rosemount because we love Rosemount. We love its quiet summer nights in backyards, its starry autumn skies over the Vermillion Highlands, and its neighborhoods where neighbors know each other's names and chat when they go out to check the mail. Rosemount is more than just a tax base, and it's more than just a development opportunity. It's our community. It's our home.

When large industrial projects come to town, the focus is always on increasing the tax base and job growth. What is often left out of the conversation is the impact on the local community. When thousands of temporary construction jobs and shipments of materials and equipment come to town, the toll on local traffic is immediately felt. Commutes grow longer. Infrastructure is strained. Not to mention homes near busy highways generally lose 11% of their value in comparison to those near less congested motorways. When the dust settles, only a fraction of those jobs remain. Instead, we now have low hums, light pollution, and fluctuating property values.

What's the alternative? Instead of seeking single, large projects for economic development, create programs that develop local businesses and that support our local entrepreneurs. Instead of forming private-public partnerships that bring more giant industrial complexes, form partnerships that bring in more retail, more restaurants, and more "sidewalk economics."  Not only do these projects create jobs and increase our tax base, they also bring our community together.