Policies and Priorities

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.

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.

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 investors 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.

Protect the Local Environment

Rosemount is facing some major ecological problems. Our groundwater supply has tested positively for Gross alpha. Tests have also detected the presence of PFAS in our groundwater. 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.