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All right. Good evening, and welcome to the columbia heights mayoral and city council forums.

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I'm betty reuther from the league of women voters of the new brighton area, co-sponsoring

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the forum this evening with the league of women voters of anoka, blaine and rapids. This is a new

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joint adventure for both our leagues, and we hope you in the audience find the evening

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informational and motivating to vote in our important upcoming election. The league of women

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voters is a 104 year old organization, nonprofit and nonpartisan. We do not support

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or oppose any political party or any candidate, whether they're running in either a partizan or

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nonpartisan race. The league does promote citizen voting and participation in our democratic

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process at local, state and national levels. Thank you to the city of columbia heights for

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the use of this new lovely facility and providing us with cable coverage. Now, I would

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like to introduce our moderator for the evening, mr. Wes buchanan, a member of abc league

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of women voters. And to the audience, please silence your phones for the benefit of our

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live and video audiences. Thank you, betty, and welcome everybody to the members in the

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room. And to those of will be watching this over the cable connections and youtube

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and any other device that will be having it recorded on. Welcome to our meet the

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candidates, a joint league of women voters, new brighton and blaine, anoka. Rapids forum for

17
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candidates who are running for columbia heights city council. The top two vote getters will be

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taking office in january 2025. Thank you to the candidates who are present this evening, connie

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beskin's, laurel dineen and ali farah, and to the city of columbia heights for making this

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event possible. This is a beautiful facility to be working in. Welcome to our audience at

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home and to our audience here in attendance. I am wes valknut. I am a member of abc league of

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women voters, and I'm a resident of andover. I do not have a vote for this city council position.

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the league of women voters does not support or oppose any political parties or candidates

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for office. The league does help citizens become informed voters and advocates for important

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issues. That's what this forum is about informing voters. If you're interested in the league,

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visit our abc webpage at lwv. Abc morgue. Persons of all genders, persons age 16 and

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older are invited to join our organization. We will open this evening with two questions which

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we sent out to each candidate. I will direct those to introductory questions to the

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candidates before moving on to questions that we received from the public and those that we

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prepared for this forum. We're going to be rotating the order of answering the questions

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first, second, and third just for all of your sake. The very first question, connie begins,

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will be the first answerer. Ali farrah will be second, and laurel dineen will be third. And

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you can kind of keep rotating as we'll keep moving around with the three of them taking turns

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first, second and third. We're going to be finishing tonight after we ask questions with the

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closing statements from the candidates, answers to the submitted questions, as well as

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the closing statements are limited to one minute, except as noted. And it's possible we may

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give an extra few half a minute to a couple of the questions if they're a little more involved

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and complicated. All right, candidates, let's get started. Our first introductory question,

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which will be going to connie beskin's, is what is your motivation to run for this

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office and what experience or knowledge would help you to serve effectively? Thank you.

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wes first of all, I want to thank the league of women voters for hosting this forum, and I

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thank everyone here in the audience and those at home that are watching for being here,

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motivation. Very strong. I would love to continue serving the residents of columbia heights. I

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care deeply about columbia heights and I'm very passionate about improving the quality of

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life of the of your life, the residents. I have been a strong advocate for our residents and

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would continue doing so with your vote, my experience, I've been served. I served on the

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planning commission for the first two years, about nine, ten years ago, and for the last seven and a half years, I've been your city council member. And I've also continued to

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volunteer in many events with different organizations in our city. I continue to do so today,

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and I know this city better than the one I grew up in. I've been here for 25 years now, and it's

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a great city, very eclectic mix of people. It's wonderful. And the many experiences I've

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learned a lot. Having been on the council now for seven and a half years, it's a it's still a

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learning curve. There's so many new things that come up and so many new challenges and that

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you're always learning. So, but with the experiences I've had in the past, I feel that I would be

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a strong candidate to continue on as your city council member for the next four years, and I

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humbly ask for your vote. Thank you. Thank you. Ali farah, again, the opening question is

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what is your motivation to run for this office and what experience or knowledge would

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help you to serve effectively? Voters and the audience? I I'm running, I'm running because,

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columbia heights is my home, this city and this country have given me so much. And I need to

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step up and give back. I deeply connected with this community. I am one of the teachers in

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columbia heights public schools. I teach in north park right now. My children go to this school,

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in columbia heights, public schools, high school, middle school, and elementary. I understand the needs of money of the underrepresented, people who lives in columbia heights.

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because I to come to here as an immigrant and I to learn the language and the government

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systems, and I enroll a college. I found a job. I know how hard, how hard, how hard and confusing

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it can be. Starting from scratch in a new country, life and I bring a unique perspective to

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the council table that will help our underrepresented citizens have a voice. I also, I also

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speak the language of our money, our. I speak the language of people in our community that no

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one, no one else at this table speaks. I can communicate somali a little bit of arabic and

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english. So people who lives in this city that currently have no way to communicate with this

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council will now have someone they can come to. I am a listener, ali. I'm just going to

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let you know your time has expired. Thank you. Our third. Our third person answering the

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question is laurel denine. Laurel, what is your motivation to run for this office and what

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experience or knowledge would help you to serve effectively? Thank you. And thank you to the

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league of women voters for putting this on, for helping our community be informed and engaged voters, and thank you for the opportunity to speak in front of you guys tonight, my

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name is laurel dineen. For those of you who don't know me, and the last few years I have been

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engaged with our community through volunteering as part of local events such as columbia heights pride and every meal, which is a program that passes out meals to underserved

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students in our area, I have also had the privilege to serve as a city planning commissioner,

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and during that, I have leveraged my professional experience in government

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planning and contracts to advise city council on various issues along with my fellow

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commissioners. My background as both an engaged citizen within our community, through my

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volunteer efforts, and my background in practical experience and government operations combined with a deep passion for our community and outreach, I'm just committed to

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ensuring that all community voices are heard and represented and that we move forward on

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important issues facing our city together. Thank you. Laurel. Our second introductory question

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will begin with mr. Farah, and that question reads, what goals would you have as a columbia

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heights council member? Through community engagement, helping our citizens find the solutions

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to the issues that matters to them around the public safety, public safety, affordable

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housing, education, parks and any other challenges that they are facing. I will responsive

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and will collaborate in my approach so that the people can feel comfortable to come to me

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and know they will hear and know that will help connect with them with the right people to solve

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their issues. They raise. I truly represented the citizens of this city and be your voice

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at the table. Through the inclusion is helping our citizens. We do not currently

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have a voice who do not currently have a voice in our city or government, because the

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language and the cultural barriers. I founded the resources that opportunities

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that they need and bring it to their ideas and strength to the table to make our city

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government more representative of all the citizens. Thank you. Thank you. And then miss dineen

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again. The second question is, what goals would you have as a columbia heights council member?

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thank you. Well, the city of heights is growing rapidly. All you have to do is take a drive

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down central to see several places that are being redeveloped that will look different in the future, this is an exciting time for our city, but it's also a critical moment

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for us, as we move forward, we need to ensure that new development in the city,

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development in the city supports both environmental sustainability and socially, and

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that they're socially equitable. It's important for the future of our city that new buildings are

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designed efficiently and designed with features that allow for stormwater treatment and retention. It also it's also important that buildings themselves are built to be as

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carbon neutral as possible by making efforts to reduce energy consumption from nonrenewable

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sources and improve efficiency, in addition to environmental sustainability, though, we need

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to ensure that development remains equitable for our local residents and businesses, so our

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entire community should have the opportunity to thrive and improve their homes and

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businesses, and not be pushed out by rising costs that come with development. That's a real

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thing that we're going to have to deal with in the future. And, columbia heights is has long

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been a really welcoming place for first time homebuyers and our diverse and close knit

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community has to remain a priority as we move forward. And I think that's one of the things

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I would love to bring forward as a city council member. Thank yo. And second question, going to

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connie biscuits, what goals would you have as a columbia heights council member? Oh, so

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many you guys. There's so many exciting things going on in the city. First off, the number one

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priority for our city is to we are planning and funding, looking for funds and then build

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our new public works building. It's a 60 year old building. The rebar is disintegrating, and the

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support columns in the first floor. So it has to be replaced. That's a huge project. Second,

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we have the redevelopment and I support redevelopment to increase our tax base, to lessen

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the burden on our residents. Redevelopment buildings is what brings taxes and not businesses.

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as others have often said. It's just it's buildings. The rainbow site right now with the second

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concept that they brought before the council, is going to be worth over $200 million. And so

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even if we do help them with financing for tif, once that's ended, it will be a huge taxing

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tax input into our general fund that will help ease the tax burdens of our citizens. Same

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thing with the medtronic site. That's coming up. There's nothing planned there yet, but we've also we've updated the comp plan and we're looking at ideas, and we'll be asking the

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community for input. But again, that's another opportunity for our city to increase our tax

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base. So we need to be wise about how we develop that land, also a new new thing has come u.

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who is mississippi watershed management organization has approached the city about

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cleaning up sullivan lake that has never come up in the last 25 years that I've lived here as a,

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as a as a resident. And we are currently the council is exploring that. And I would be a

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huge advocate and support and push to find ways with this new partner to clean up that lake,

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because that lake feeds into the mississippi, it has trash in it, it has high phosphorus levels in

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it. And so those are my top three that I would go for. Thank you. Thank you. Now, before we

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move on, city staff gave me a little heads up, and I was just as guilty. The four of us with

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mike's, we have our little buttons, and they just want us to make sure we press our button

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when we're not talking. So we should be seeing only a green one when we're talking and a red

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one we don't. And I was messing up that way too, so. Alright. For everybody. We're moving into

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the unknown for the candidates. They got those first two questions. Now we start to move into the questions that were submitted by the public to our league of women voter a-b-c

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website, we received 20 questions, some of which we were able to combine to use both

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questions in this forum. And that includes this next question. And it will be going

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first to laurel deneen. What issue would you consider a top priority if you were elected.

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what would you like to see the columbia heights council take up first after the new council gets

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organized at the beginning of 2025? Thank you for that question. That's a great

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question. It's multifaceted. So I'll try to address as many parts of that as I can, so one

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of the most urgent challenges, I think, that columbia heights today is really facing is the

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balance between sustainable energy planning, infrastructure improvements and responsible

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development. So when we're looking ahead to projects like the reconstruction of central avenue or 40th, as well as overall city growth that we're experiencing here, it's crucial

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that we prioritize environmental sustainability and ensure that development benefits our entire

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community. Energy planning is essential when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint.

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new developments need to incorporate renewable energy and efficiency measures, infrastructure projects like central and 40th, need to address both functionality and

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environmental impact. And so ultimately, all this growth needs to ensure that columbia

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heights remains affordable and accessible to our current residents. And I think what I

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would like to see really addressed first is something that's already in the works that I'm super excited about, and many of you have probably been to meetings that were discussing

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central and 40th, and I really encourage, sorry. Okay. I was just really encourage you guys

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to, to visit those meetings where you can see what plans are on the docket for those. Thank

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you. Laura, we'll turn to connie beskin's. It was a long question again. I'll repeat. What issue

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would you consider a top priority if you were elected? What would you like to see the

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columbia heights council take up first after the new council gets organized at the beginning of

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2025? Sorry. Turn on the green button, as far as top priority, my issues, there are so many

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like I listed before public works building, redevelopment, sullivan lake. We got some major

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projects coming up. However, what I would really like to start out with our first year is

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a goal setting session with the council and the staff. We did that two years ago, and because

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we're a team, I have my ideas, but we work together as a team, so I'd really like to have that

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set up. So then we together focus on the issues that we all feel is important and work

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forward from there, but I'd still support the public works building. Really push hard for

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sullivan, and I will push hard for those during the goal setting session. But again, it's

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a teamwork between us and the staff to set our goals, for the future work that we'll be doing.

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thank you, connie. And we turn the same question to ali. Farah again. What issue would you

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consider a top priority if you were elected? What would you like to see the columbia heights

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council take up first after the new council gets organized at the beginning of 2025? Thank

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you, my top priority is the community engagement, public safety, affordable housing. And

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when it comes to community engagement, I would like to bring a community together,

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police and families. And there are issues when I was door knocking, I noticed that. So I

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would like to bring the first thing I'm going to do. I'm going to bring the community together.

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and the police that once comes to, affordable housing. I would like to see more, apartments in

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our community. Also, the when it comes to education, I would like to work with, the, the school

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board and the, the I would like to I would like to invest the quality of education for all

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students. And I would like to as a teacher, as soon as I teach at columbia heights public schools,

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I support also the school boards to provide the quality education for all students. Thank you.

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I did that with your button. Thank you, thank you, my goof this time. All right, once

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again, this is going to. Connie. Connie, the question that was sent in to us reads. There is a

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noticeable lack of proactive code enforcement throughout the city. What are your thoughts

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about the perception the city has become lax on proactively enforcing code violations? This

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is a big topic right now. I drive around the city a lot and there's lots of things I find,

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code enforcement. Yes has been difficult to enforce because we had no teeth recently. The

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council, I believe, just passed the first hearing, we worked on this for a while because staff

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has been sending letters and letters and letters to people, and what often happens is then

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once they don't comply, it goes to the courts. And the courts don't want these cases anymore.

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and they've asked us to find a different alternative. So we've looked at what other cities do.

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so now with this new code enforcement, it will have teeth, it will have hefty fines, first

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hit, second hit, third hit and then it goes. Then they can lose their license. They can lose

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their cup if they have. Like for instance, an auto business has to have a conditional use permi.

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if they don't comply and fix whatever they need to fix, they could jeopardize using that. So

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we are in the process of tightening that up and making sure people follow the rules. So

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yes, it's a very important situation. And I'm so happy that it's been worked on. And I will

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keep pushing for that and enforcing once they get back on for a third term. Thank you.

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thank you, ali, for the same question to you. There is a noticeable lack of proactive

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code enforcement throughout the city. What are your thoughts about the perception the city

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has become lax on proactively enforcing code violations? Well thank you. I don't know a lot

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about code violations, so I would like to find it out. More information about this. And, I'm

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a big believer that if the person did not follow the rules, then they have to have. They

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have to be the they have to they have to have a consequence for that. So I'm going to leave with

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that. That question. Thank you, laurel dineen, same question to you. There's a noticeable lack

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of proactive code enforcement throughout the city. What are your thoughts about the

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perception the city has become lax on proactively enforcing code violations? Sure. Thank

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you. That's a really good question. I know that that's been on a lot of people's minds

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lately, I will say, as a person who works in contracts and looks at language all day, these

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policy changes that connie mentioned earlier are really what's going to allow us to take

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a more proactive approach to that. So I'm very much looking forward to taking a look at more

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of those changes, seeing how effective they are in the future and if we need to tighten

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anything up anywhere, I think it's really easy to do things that are against code on your

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personal property without even realizing that you're doing it. So having the ability to go out

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there and give you a warning and then, you know, there will be consequences, you know,

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everybody hates to have to pay a fine, but it's part of keeping our city beautiful and strong.

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so I think that the code, the policy change within the city is going to help a lot to address

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that. But I look forward to taking it further, look at it and seeing how it goes. Thank

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you, timers and candidates on the next one, I'm going to give up to 90s if you need it. This

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question is actually a combination of two that were of a similar vein, and you might

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need the extra time, potentially, it goes to ali farah. First, what will you do

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to make our city and our city government more inclusive and additionally, what steps will

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you take to ensure city information is accessible to all residents, regardless of

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language or physical barriers they may face? Thank you. Inclusive and equity. I believe

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that, and I would like to I would like to see more about, engaged community engagement. I

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would like to talk to the police, making a connection with public safety, talking with our

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people. There are concerns. I would like to know that, concern is and resolve the issues that

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they may have. They may raise, because every challenge or every problem has a solution that. I

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would like to talk to the families, when I, I noticed that when I was talking, knocking on

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doors, the last time I. Noticed that, there are there were some issues about the people were

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talking about. So I would like to get a solution for that also as well. So I would like to

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leave it there. Thank you. Thank you. Laurel deneen I'm going to again repeat this one. 90s if

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you need it. What will you do to make our city and our city government more inclusive and

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additionally, what steps will you take to ensure city information is accessible to all

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residents regardless of language or physical barriers? They may face? Sure, well, one of the

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things I would love to do is it's very niche. I'm part of the pride planning board here in

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columbia heights, and what I would like to do is to start to see, maybe city booths happen at

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our community events to make sure that people are aware of what's going on in the

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community, how they can get involved with government, whether it's through a commission or whether it's through, city government, we want to make sure that people

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know of those opportunities and that no matter who you are or what your background is, we want

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you and we want your voice heard. And also we do have a city newsletter. I'd love more

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people to know about it. It comes in several languages, and I think that, our mayor has actually done a lot of work to make sure that that's inclusive as possible and to get it into

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several different languages so that people can have access to information about what's going on in their community, in their own native language. So I think a lot of it is about education.

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it's about getting out there as part of the city and making sure that the community knows that

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your city government is not someplace that sits on hi. It's someplace that's accessible and

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wants to hear your voice. So that's what I would strive to do. Thank you. And then connie

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biscuits, the same question to you again, a combined two questions. What will you do to

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make our city and our city government more inclusive? And additionally, what steps will

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you take to ensure city information is accessible to all residents regardless of language

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or physical barriers? They may face, thank you for that question. Accessibility and

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inclusiveness, our police department has done a wonderful job in hiring people from all

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different backgrounds, women, and they've done a great job. And they're getting they're

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working really well with the schools and meeting the students there. And that's kind of how

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they're pulling in the new candidates with kids that graduate. We also through our mayor and also our communications department, have provided the website in multiple

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languages, the mayor pushed to make sure that we have no gender bias in our policies and our

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ordinances, and we're still working on it because we still find things that kind of they're

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biased, so they need to change, let's see. I also, as far as accessibility, the

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communications department, our event planner, does a wonderful job in providing multiple events

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throughout the city that are welcoming to everybody. Our police department has coffee with a cop that tonight they're having I'm going to mispronounce this, but I believe it's conifa

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with a cop over at golden nuts, which is a phenomenal restauran. They go to many different parts of our city to talk to people. And then the third thing are it improvement. Our team. Eight

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years ago, I could not even do my email at midnight. Midnight. It was shut down. We have hired

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an I.t director and they have did a five year plan. And there's multiple things that

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they're doing to make sure communication gets out to our restaurants using lots of different models and mediums. Thank you, thank you. This next question is kind of in sort of

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the same vein, but a little different take on things. Goes first to laurel dineen. How will

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you be accessible to citizens who have city concerns? Will you press that button? That would

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probably be the first step is to make sure you can hear me. It's a great question because

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everybody wants to know how they can make a difference. And the great thing is, you can have

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conversations of one thing about me is you can check out my website, laurel heights.com. I

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have an email on there. I check every day. I will get back to you. I have a phone number. You

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can call me. You can leave a message if I'm at work and I will call you back, but that's

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one way that I look to make sure that I have different ways for people to contact me. No matter

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what their working hours are, no matter what their abilities are, that they can email me. They

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can. They can send me a phone call, they can leave me a message. But my goal is to be as

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open, as transparent as possible. And then additionally, I attend a lot of community

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events. I help plan a lot of community events. So I'm always out there. And I encourage you,

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if you see me to come and say hi to me and ask me any questions you have, and then also, if

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elected, I would love to hold office hours where people could drop in and discuss the things

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that are important to them, and I could bring that forward as part of city council. Thank you

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very much. Thank you, connie. Biscuits to you. How will you be accessible to citizens who have city concerns right now? People can call me, they can email me. I attend many events as, laurel

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dineen does, but I attend lots of events. I'm accessible throughout the day most of the

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time, and I will get back to you as soon as I can, as soon as possible. Usually within that

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day I get back to people with some type of response, and part of my part is the role of a city

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council member. Is your liaison between the city residents and the staff. So my job is to hear

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your concerns and then to bring it to the appropriate staff, who hopefully can solve the issue.

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it's no guarantee that we can always fix everything, but at least your voice has been heard.

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the issue has been addressed, and it's staff that usually does the jobs of fixing things. I

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can't plow a driveway, I can't plow an alley. So the staff does that. So I'm I try to be as very

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accessible and I miss door knocking right now. I had a serious injury a couple of years

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ago that I can't door knock now, but I miss talking to people and being out there because there's

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so many things I could promote for our city out there. And so I apologize for that. But again,

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thank you. Thank you. And allie farrar. How will you be accessible to citizens who have

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city concerns? Yes, the people are community. They can call me, they can email me. They I have a

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website right now, they are ww for city of columbia heights. Dot com. I provided my fliers

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and I thought I was door knocking. I provided more than 5000, about 6000 fliers that my

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information is there. My email, my email, my websites, my contact information. People can

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contact me. And if you visit my website, you will see right away on the counter right there,

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you're going to see my phone. I believe it's my phone. My email. So that's how people will

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contact me. Thank you. And moving on, this question will go to connie beskin's first, how

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would you improve services to youth and seniors in columbia heights? Number one, for youth

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and adults not maybe seniors soccer fields. I've been trying to push for soccer fields for

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the last eight years. We've been waiting for the master plan and also money to do that, we're

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hoping in the next year or two that I would strongly promote is revamping our park and rec

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program, so that we meet more needs in the high school kids. The teenagers are the ones that

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need more activities. We do well with the young folks, with the little ones, but we need some

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really strong programing for our youth and then the seniors. I've been attending a lot of the

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senior events. They just hired a wonderful, senior director, and she used to be a travel agent,

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and she does a phenomenal job right now for our seniors for activities and outings and

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programs. So anything that can help her do her job, even better, I would support thank

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you, ali farrar. Same question to you. How would you improve services to youth and seniors in

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columbia heights? Well, one thing I would like to do more programs for after school,

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activities, we already have a lot of activity at the schools and in our schools. So our first

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that I would support that. I will support that, for board of education's and to do more of

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that when it comes to seniors, I, I know we don't have more spaces in our columbia heights.

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I would like to build more houses for seniors and help me with that way as well. Thank yo,

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laurel deneen, same question to you. How would you improve services to youth and seniors in

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columbia heights, well, as a huge minnesota united fan, I'm really on board with the new

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soccer field, we have a plethora of baseball diamonds here. And while I love baseball as well,

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there are definitely, diversity of sports that we need within our programs as far as parks and

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rec. And I'd love to work on expanding those. I also want to put in a plug for our youth

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commission, it's a really exciting program that high school youth can enter into to

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serve on all of our commissions in the city, and they can get a lot of experience about city

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government, about how their city around them works. It's really nebulous when you're a kid, you don't think about how things get done and you get to learn so much. And I've really seen some

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kids really flourish and just have a great time. So I'd really like to put that out there as

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some ideas. If you guys have high school kids at home, for seniors, I want to make sure

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that we are providing, some information on what grants they could get to, like, have more programing in their, places that they're living or just in general. I know that connie

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knows a lot about our senior programing. I know a little bit less, but I would love to see

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that get more expanded as well. Thank you. We're going to switch gears a little bit to, economic

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questions. And the first one of those, I believe goes to ali farah. What will you do to help

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small businesses and promote commercial development in columbia heights? Well, thank

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you. I the way I see our, our city is that I believe that we need more commercials. We need

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more commercials. We see our our property taxes. We need more, commercials. That's why. And

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then we can reduce the our property taxes that we and I don't see we have more

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commercial, we don't have businesses in here. I have seen people coming to me and saying

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that we would like to open a business in our city. So I would like to get more, commercial

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buildings in our city. Thank you. Mr. Farah. And we turn to laurel deneen with the same

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question. What will you do to help small businesses and promote commercial development

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in columbia heights? That's a great question. Again, we have so many good ones today. I would

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say that one of the big things about small business is that we a need to help them. We have

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programs and just letting them know about programs like the facade improvement program for small businesses. And we also can promote and try to get more funding for programs that help

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with infrastructure within a small business. If you are a small restaurant who needs a new

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hood or who needs a new oven, or who needs to have some money to make sure that you can make city

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code and make sure that you are a healthy place to be, then that's something that we should

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promote also for big development that we have a lot of here. I think a lot of I think we have a

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lot of attention right now on some spots within the city, just making sure that people who come

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here are coming here for the right reasons. They're coming to provide a variety of housing.

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they're coming here to provide, businesses that will really serve our community. So just

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making sure that you're working in partnership and letting them know how to how the city expects

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business to be done is a great part of what the city council does. Thank you, miss deneen.

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and we turn to connie baskins with the same question. What will you do to help small

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businesses and promote commercial development in columbia heights? First off,

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when I first came on the council, one of the ideas that I had was when I asked the city

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managers, can we have a facade grant program for small businesses to clean up the look

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along central avenue? And I was only asking for five grand at the time, thinking it was, you

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know, a big idea might cost money. The staff came back huge. They put in 50,000 to help our

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businesses fix up their doors, their windows, their signage, paint the front. So that went

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really well. We've done well over a dozen businesses at this point, so I'm very proud of

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that. In addition to that, the businesses have access to security cameras that the police

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department is in charge of to put into their buildings to help the front and the back of their

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buildings be more secure. I would love it if we could get the county, if we could put

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pressure on the county to do more with their small business programs, to go door to door to

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meet with our businesses, oftentimes small business owners are very busy. They can't go to the county. They can't get to the library. We need some resources to go to them, find

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out what they need for computers, financing, all that type of stuff. The second thing

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that I just spoke with recently, it was an idea I had where we have a welcoming package for the

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city, for the new businesses that come into our city. Thank you. And we'll have to enter

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their visions. But we're coming to another economic question and maybe you can continue in that

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one, the next question will begin actually with laurel deneen, everything in life is

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expensive. Can you share your philosophy on taxation and spending? Sure, well, I can talk

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specifically about property tax. I know that that's the biggest thing that's on everybody's mind

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at all times. What is our property tax going to do? This year, I think it's important to

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remember that our taxes contribute to a lot of local funding for initiatives like

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safety parks, libraries, public works. However, I really understand as a homeowner the

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frustration associated with increasing taxes, the unfortunate reality is that the

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met council subsidy is going down by 11% this year because our home values are rising. We

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are becoming more popular. And, that leaves a bigger burden on us as taxpayers. I'm thrilled

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about the opportunity to join a city council and a mayor, though, who really are proactive in seeking external funding for large projects such as the new city works, public works

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building, and who are trying their best to make sure that we're partnering with major

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infrastructure projects. So that those costs don't automatically reflect in your taxes each year.

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and I would really love to be part of a council that's looking for and lobbying for increased

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funding from alternate sources, other than just the tax base. Thank you, laura. And we turn to

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connie baskin. Same question, everything in life is expensive. Yes. Can you share your

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philosophy on taxation and spending? Yes. It's very expensive. Our public works

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00:40:51,833 --> 00:40:51,833
building initially was planned to be a $15 million project. And because after after covid, after

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a few years, it's now $25 million project plus. And that's in today's money. It's not when

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we start building it. Unfortunately, our city only has 5% commercial property, so

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00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:07,800
therefore the taxes fall, the bulk of taxes fall on our residents, and it's very hard

381
00:41:12,233 --> 00:41:12,233
making decisions about what we need and what we can afford as a council member, I support large

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00:41:19,500 --> 00:41:19,500
buildings that way. A lot of people that's unpopular, but those large buildings, $200

383
00:41:23,900 --> 00:41:23,900
million redevelopment is going to bring in a ton of tax money to help our residents, deal with

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00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:29,400
taxes and hopefully lower them in the time, the other thing is, sometimes we have to put things

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00:41:35,066 --> 00:41:35,066
on hold. We can afford to do the public works building right now, but park and recs and the

386
00:41:40,733 --> 00:41:40,733
mershon hall desperately needed 90 year old building that's going to be a few years down the

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00:41:46,233 --> 00:41:50,066
road now, because we can't ask the taxpayers to pay for another anywhere from 10 to 50 million for the parks. And what they decide to do with the rec building. So, it's very tough to

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decide what to do. Thank you. And same question to mr. Ali farah that is, everything in

389
00:42:00,900 --> 00:42:00,900
life is expensive. Can you share your philosophy on taxation and spending? Yes, I, I would like

390
00:42:13,433 --> 00:42:13,433
to reduce the property property tax and to do that we need to get more commercial businesses

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00:42:23,533 --> 00:42:23,533
in our city, more business. That's what we need. So we can take off the burden of the our

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00:42:32,533 --> 00:42:32,533
property taxes. So that is where I would like to see. And that's where I'm coming from. Thank yo.

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00:42:44,233 --> 00:42:44,233
this will be our final question. And of course, closing statements will follow, the

394
00:42:49,066 --> 00:42:49,066
final question will start with connie biscuits, and that is columbia heights has changed a

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00:42:55,700 --> 00:42:55,700
lot in recent years. Where do you see heights in ten years, and how would you help to

396
00:43:01,766 --> 00:43:01,766
achieve that vision? I see a wonderful city in ten years. We're doing reconstruction on

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00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:08,600
central avenue, one to increase the safety because there's a 500 accidents in the last ten years,

398
00:43:15,766 --> 00:43:19,633
serious accidents on that street. But the other is to bring it to city, to life, to allow people to feel safe walking down the streets, walking their dogs, walking to

399
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:23,900
the theater. I see active new residents or new restaurants and businesses coming in and seeing

400
00:43:28,866 --> 00:43:28,866
our downtown just full of life, where people feel comfortable walking down and feel safe.

401
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:33,400
that's what I see. I don't see a lot of, you know, we'll have a few big buildings, but I also

402
00:43:38,866 --> 00:43:38,866
want to keep our small town feel. I want to still feel, see people well connected, like they

403
00:43:44,500 --> 00:43:44,500
are today. We've had over a 60% turnover in population in the last ten years. And the people,

404
00:43:48,633 --> 00:43:52,466
the new people are still connecting with each other. We still have that feel. So that's what I see. Thank you, lee fara, columbia heights has changed a lot in recent years. Where do

405
00:43:58,433 --> 00:43:58,433
you see heights in ten years, and how would you help to achieve that vision? Well,

406
00:44:03,300 --> 00:44:03,300
that's fantastic question and thank you. We are a diversity community and we speak 39

407
00:44:11,733 --> 00:44:11,733
languages in our city. So where I see and I think that in ten years from now, our future, I

408
00:44:22,366 --> 00:44:22,366
would like to see more businesses coming to our community. I would like to see

409
00:44:29,066 --> 00:44:29,066
more apartments. We need to build because more and more and more, people are coming to our

410
00:44:36,633 --> 00:44:36,633
community and we need to get the resources that are a lot. I, as an immigrant, I came to this

411
00:44:44,300 --> 00:44:44,300
country without knowing a lot of language. So now this year and last year and this year, we see

412
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:53,400
more and more immigrants coming to our community, our our city. And I would like to get more

413
00:44:59,066 --> 00:44:59,066
resources for them. And that is how our city will be. Prosper thank you. And laurel, janine,

414
00:45:07,900 --> 00:45:07,900
columbia heights has changed a lot in recent years. Where do you see heights in ten years and

415
00:45:12,733 --> 00:45:12,733
how would you help to achieve that vision? Well, it's certainly an exciting time. We

416
00:45:17,733 --> 00:45:17,733
have a lot of new projects going on. I think the redesign of the university is going to have a

417
00:45:22,766 --> 00:45:22,766
big impact. When you look out here, you can see this is the thoroughfare from downtown to

418
00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:27,200
the highway, and we want to make sure that that's not what columbia heights is. We want to

419
00:45:31,700 --> 00:45:31,700
make sure this is a place where people want to spend time, where people want to have families,

420
00:45:37,266 --> 00:45:40,966
where people want to walk down the street to dairy queen and then stop at the movie theater. You know, we want to make sure that our diverse we have 39. Is that what you said? 39

421
00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:49,766
languages. Languages in this city. That's amazing. I want to have cultural touchstones that really bring out the beauty of this close knit, amazingly diverse community, and I can't

422
00:45:56,566 --> 00:45:56,566
wait to see that happen. I think with this development and with our focus on small businesses,

423
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:02,200
we can absolutely do that. And as part of city council, I want to be part of bringing policy

424
00:46:06,633 --> 00:46:06,633
forward that will really put our city front and center, as well as our diverse community. Thank

425
00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:11,600
you. Well, if you all look close, you can probably get that beautiful sunset right in my

426
00:46:16,566 --> 00:46:16,566
glasses here. All right, we're going to do the closing statements. I'll leave. Ferrara.

427
00:46:21,766 --> 00:46:21,766
you get to get us started with your closing statement. Okay. Thank you. So my name is ali

428
00:46:31,033 --> 00:46:31,033
para. I well, I my name is ali. Thank you all for coming to this meeting tonight. My name is ali.

429
00:46:43,500 --> 00:46:43,500
farah I was knocking on doors for probably the last three months. Last three months, last

430
00:46:50,033 --> 00:46:50,033
three months. And people. And I'm probably I'm going to knock doors until the end of the day,

431
00:46:56,700 --> 00:46:56,700
this election, I will work for you. You have very, very hard. I will try my best to serve for

432
00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:04,400
you. I work for you. So I'm asking your votes and that is my closing statement. Thank you.

433
00:47:12,700 --> 00:47:12,700
will you go with your statement now, laurel deneen thank you very much. I want to thank the

434
00:47:18,533 --> 00:47:18,533
league of women voters again for having us. This is such a great experience to just be here and

435
00:47:23,233 --> 00:47:23,233
answer questions with all my fellow candidates and with everybody here. My name is

436
00:47:27,933 --> 00:47:27,933
laurel deneen again. Laurel for heights. Com is my website. You can learn more about the

437
00:47:33,566 --> 00:47:36,666
platforms that I would like to bring forward as your city council member, at that time, also plug there is a pride celebration this weekend at quarter park and I'd love to see

438
00:47:42,033 --> 00:47:42,033
you all there. I'd love to have conversations with all of you and have that opportunity to get

439
00:47:47,066 --> 00:47:47,066
to meet all of you, I hope that you've learned a little bit about me tonight and that what

440
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:51,600
you saw, you liked. And I hope that I can have your vote in november. But, I just wanted to

441
00:47:56,700 --> 00:47:56,700
say that I appreciate that you all took your time out to either be here, watch this, not

442
00:48:01,633 --> 00:48:01,633
everybody loves listening to city council politicians talk about this stuff, but it's

443
00:48:06,166 --> 00:48:09,666
really important, so I appreciate you all being here. Thank you. And finally, connie beskin's, your closing statement, please, I want to thank everyone that came here

444
00:48:12,966 --> 00:48:12,966
tonight to attend the forum and for the league of cities again for putting this on, I love the

445
00:48:18,533 --> 00:48:18,533
city. I love serving the residents of this city. It's been a great challenge and

446
00:48:22,566 --> 00:48:22,566
privilege to have done it in the last seven and a half years. And I would like to continue again

447
00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:27,600
for the next four. So I would love to have your vote, I know I would be a strong advocate. I am

448
00:48:34,033 --> 00:48:34,033
always available. I try my hardest to help with issues that come up with residents, and I

449
00:48:38,666 --> 00:48:38,666
also enjoy working with the challenges of redevelopment. Can we save sullivan lake? Can we

450
00:48:43,366 --> 00:48:43,366
build a proper building, down it or the rainbow site to make it one so that it's brings in a ton

451
00:48:50,133 --> 00:48:50,133
of tax money, but also that people would learn to love? There's all different ways and

452
00:48:54,533 --> 00:48:57,933
site creations and designs that they're putting in there. I think people will be very pleased with, again, if you want to get ahold of me, the best is to go to my website, connie

453
00:49:04,600 --> 00:49:08,433
beskin's .com, and it's connected to my facebook page. My instagram page has my phone number on there, my email, if you have any questions or challenges for me or questions,

454
00:49:12,533 --> 00:49:12,533
please contact me. I would love to talk to you. Thank you. Well, thank you to our candidates.

455
00:49:17,700 --> 00:49:17,700
this evening for sharing their views with the public through your participation in this meet

456
00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:22,600
the candidates forum. Thank you to those of you that are in attendance here tonight at the

457
00:49:27,500 --> 00:49:27,500
columbia heights city council chambers. We appreciate your participation as well. And thank

458
00:49:33,266 --> 00:49:33,266
you to the new brighton league and the abc league volunteers who helped to make this evening

459
00:49:39,433 --> 00:49:39,433
a success as betty ruther noted, to those of us that were here in person at the beginning, the

460
00:49:45,733 --> 00:49:45,733
league of women voters has supported informed voting for over 100 years. In the year

461
00:49:52,366 --> 00:49:52,366
2024. We have many options for how we vote. Please exercise your right to vote for more

462
00:50:00,933 --> 00:50:00,933
election information, visit the minnesota secretary of state's website at men votes.org, or go

463
00:50:07,333 --> 00:50:07,333
to the league of women voters minnesota website vote411. Than, everybody here we go. Welcome to

464
00:50:17,510 --> 00:50:17,510
meet the candidates, a joint league of women voters. New brighton and anoka. Blaine.

465
00:50:25,143 --> 00:50:25,143
rapids forum for candidates running for mayor of columbia heights. Thank you to the

466
00:50:32,277 --> 00:50:32,277
candidates who are present this evening. Montréal bond and amala marquez. Semilla amada amada I

467
00:50:39,943 --> 00:50:39,943
will. I got to practice that one. And thank you to the city of columbia heights for making

468
00:50:45,943 --> 00:50:45,943
this event possible. Welcome to our audience. Both those who are here in attendance and to those

469
00:50:53,710 --> 00:50:53,710
who are at home. I'm wes falconet, member of the abc league of women voters, and I'm

470
00:51:00,777 --> 00:51:00,777
a resident of andover. I do not have a vote for these mayoral candidates. We will open with

471
00:51:09,010 --> 00:51:09,010
two questions. We sent each candidate. I will direct those to 92nd introductory questions

472
00:51:14,643 --> 00:51:14,643
to the candidates. Before we move on to questions we received from the public and those we

473
00:51:22,877 --> 00:51:22,877
prepared for this forum, we will be rotating the order of who answers first on each of the

474
00:51:29,710 --> 00:51:29,710
sets of questions. Following the questions, each candidate will give their closing statements.

475
00:51:37,310 --> 00:51:37,310
answers to the submitted questions are limited to one minute unless I note otherwise.

476
00:51:42,910 --> 00:51:42,910
well candidates, let's get started. We determined beforehand that on the first

477
00:51:49,077 --> 00:51:49,077
question, montreal bond will go first. Amada amar, did I get it better? Amada. Much better. Yes.

478
00:51:58,577 --> 00:51:58,577
much better. Amada will go first on the second question and then so forth. All right. Here's our

479
00:52:05,377 --> 00:52:05,377
first introductory question. What is your motivation to run for this office and what

480
00:52:11,410 --> 00:52:11,410
experience or knowledge would help you to serve effectively in montreal? You begin. All right.

481
00:52:17,210 --> 00:52:17,210
first, I would like to thank the league of women voters for hosting this forum, giving us

482
00:52:22,243 --> 00:52:22,243
this platform. I would also like to thank the audience and the viewers at home for attending as

483
00:52:27,377 --> 00:52:27,377
well, I just feel that, our city is on a precipice of being steered in the wrong direction.

484
00:52:33,543 --> 00:52:33,543
if we examine what earned us to be the recipients of the all american city award in 2016, I

485
00:52:39,510 --> 00:52:39,510
believe that we are charting off of that path. The certainty of hard working single family,

486
00:52:47,177 --> 00:52:47,177
single households or fixed income residents such as veterans and retired people not

487
00:52:53,577 --> 00:52:53,577
being able to afford their homes due to the disproportionate increases in our property taxes.

488
00:53:00,977 --> 00:53:00,977
being a registered nurse for almost ten years has served as a vehicle for me to be better

489
00:53:08,510 --> 00:53:08,510
positioned to lead and on a bigger platform. Being a nurse and practicing as a nurse has

490
00:53:14,110 --> 00:53:14,110
given me the unique skill set to be a transformative leader. I have a tenacious spirit and I've

491
00:53:19,243 --> 00:53:19,243
mastered the art of advocacy for all people, regardless of your political affiliation, your

492
00:53:25,410 --> 00:53:25,410
race, your sexual orientation, your social status, or your religious background. In

493
00:53:29,643 --> 00:53:29,643
addition, I've served on various boards of the minnesota nurses association, I served on the

494
00:53:34,810 --> 00:53:34,810
governmental affairs board. I've also served on the dei board for the minnesota nurses

495
00:53:40,610 --> 00:53:40,610
association. I've also volunteered for organizations such as the national alliance of

496
00:53:45,943 --> 00:53:45,943
mental illness and the camp bluebird, which is an adult cancer survivor camp. These are

497
00:53:51,510 --> 00:53:51,510
what motivates me to run. Thank you. Thank you. And amada, the question to you also, what is

498
00:54:00,877 --> 00:54:00,877
your motivation to run for this office and what experience or knowledge would help you to

499
00:54:06,577 --> 00:54:06,577
serve effectively? Thank you my name is amada marcus simola and I'm currently the mayor of

500
00:54:13,177 --> 00:54:13,177
columbia heights running for reelection. It has been an honor serving. It's been a privilege

501
00:54:17,210 --> 00:54:17,210
to be the mayor of this amazing, vibrant city. I want to say these forums are so important,

502
00:54:24,010 --> 00:54:24,010
and I thank the league of women voters. Wes. Julie, out there and, the city of columbia

503
00:54:29,143 --> 00:54:29,143
heights for hosting tonight. And also thanks to all of you for making time coming in here

504
00:54:33,810 --> 00:54:33,810
tonight and for viewers watching this at home or on a recording, my motivation to run for office

505
00:54:39,977 --> 00:54:39,977
stems from a deep commitment to making columbia heights a more inclusive, equitable, and

506
00:54:44,210 --> 00:54:44,210
thriving community. As someone who has actively engaged in the city through various roles

507
00:54:49,543 --> 00:54:53,310
organizing events, volunteering, working with neighborhood groups, I understand our residents unique needs and aspirations. I'm motivated to make sure every voice is heard

508
00:54:59,177 --> 00:54:59,177
and represented. My previous work experience with the columbia heights school district

509
00:55:03,710 --> 00:55:03,710
and the city has given me valuable insights into how both entities serve our residents. My

510
00:55:09,543 --> 00:55:09,543
hands on experience and commitment to community engagement, along with my

511
00:55:13,743 --> 00:55:13,743
knowledge of government operations, allow me to advocate effectively for positive,

512
00:55:19,243 --> 00:55:19,243
lasting change. I believe in truth, integrity, and authenticity, and in leading our

513
00:55:25,210 --> 00:55:29,010
community by building relationships. Partnerships with other elected officials at the county, state and federal levels, as well as with our faith and business communities

514
00:55:33,843 --> 00:55:33,843
and with everyone else who lives, works, visits, or worships in our city. Thank you.

515
00:55:40,010 --> 00:55:40,010
our second introductory question is what goals would you have as mayor of columbia heights? And

516
00:55:46,643 --> 00:55:46,643
we begin with miss marquez. Similar. Thank you. As mayor of columbia heights, I aim to

517
00:55:54,710 --> 00:55:54,710
continue working with mndot and the county and the city to enhance our public safety on our

518
00:56:00,410 --> 00:56:00,410
streets, central and university avenue by collaborating with all these organizations, we aim to

519
00:56:04,843 --> 00:56:04,843
implement traffic calming measures, improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, and reduce

520
00:56:09,377 --> 00:56:09,377
accidents. Additionally, I will continue to meet regularly with the city manager and police and

521
00:56:15,710 --> 00:56:15,710
fire chiefs maintaining our constant clear communication, ensuring public safety

522
00:56:21,043 --> 00:56:21,043
strategies reflect the needs and concerns of all residents. Securing funding for essential

523
00:56:25,877 --> 00:56:25,877
infrastructure improvements is another priority. I work closely with state and federal office

524
00:56:30,810 --> 00:56:30,810
officials to find funding to replace our public works building. I continue to advocate

525
00:56:36,010 --> 00:56:36,010
for local government aid funds to help keep our property taxes low and to maintain and improve

526
00:56:42,043 --> 00:56:42,043
our current infrastructure, making sure that it meets the growing needs of our community.

527
00:56:46,643 --> 00:56:46,643
this includes long overdue investments in aging infrastructure such as streets,

528
00:56:51,310 --> 00:56:51,310
alleys and sewer systems, and I will continue to engage residents in decision making

529
00:56:56,077 --> 00:56:56,077
processes by maintaining open dialog through neighborhood groups. Cultural organizations,

530
00:57:01,443 --> 00:57:01,443
community events, and digital platforms. My goal is to make sure all voices are heard,

531
00:57:07,010 --> 00:57:07,010
making city government transparent, accountable, and connected to the people that it

532
00:57:11,077 --> 00:57:11,077
serves. Through these efforts, I'm committed to building a more sustainable, inclusive and

533
00:57:15,743 --> 00:57:15,743
thriving columbia heights. Thank you. And mr. Bond, what goals would you have as mayor of

534
00:57:21,243 --> 00:57:21,243
columbia heights? Having the right goals for the city? Press the green button. I have a

535
00:57:32,277 --> 00:57:32,277
myriad of goals for our city, some of the primary goals would be to be more fiscally

536
00:57:36,843 --> 00:57:36,843
responsible to come up with more creative solutions and ideas to help diversify our city's income

537
00:57:43,943 --> 00:57:43,943
portfolio so that we can reduce our high reliance on the property taxes, on the property

538
00:57:51,710 --> 00:57:51,710
taxes. Another goal of mine would be to, simply just to reconstitute an environment that

539
00:57:57,477 --> 00:57:57,477
led us on the path to being nationally recognized and receiving the all american city

540
00:58:02,810 --> 00:58:02,810
award in 2016. During this time, we were nationally recognized for our civility, creativity,

541
00:58:08,543 --> 00:58:08,543
and collaborative efforts with the school districts in partnership with the columbia

542
00:58:12,677 --> 00:58:12,677
heights police department for the betterment of our children's education and their futures.

543
00:58:17,977 --> 00:58:17,977
another goal of mine would be to just cultivate an environment that chooses, unity over

544
00:58:23,077 --> 00:58:23,077
division by not allowing the gatekeeping and monopolization of any political affiliation to

545
00:58:29,777 --> 00:58:29,777
be able to intercede with me from always choosing people over the politics. So thank you.

546
00:58:37,110 --> 00:58:37,110
thank you. And we're going to move on now to the questions that were submitted by the

547
00:58:43,177 --> 00:58:43,177
public to the league of women voter abc website. We received 24 mayoral questions that we

548
00:58:51,810 --> 00:58:51,810
sorted through and a few of which we combined for this forum, including this next

549
00:58:57,743 --> 00:58:57,743
question. So candidates and timekeepers will give seconds if they need it for this one,

550
00:59:04,443 --> 00:59:04,443
because it is a combined question, this goes back to montreal bond. What do you each

551
00:59:11,577 --> 00:59:11,577
think are the top issues for the mayor to address, and how would you plan to tackle those issues,

552
00:59:19,777 --> 00:59:19,777
and what issue would you consider to be your top priority if you were elected? May you

553
00:59:29,477 --> 00:59:29,477
repeat the question. I will. What do you each think are the top issues for the mayor to

554
00:59:37,977 --> 00:59:37,977
address, and how would you plan to tackle those issues? And then what issue would you consider

555
00:59:43,977 --> 00:59:43,977
your top priority if you were elected? Alright, so I think one of the top issues for our city

556
00:59:57,643 --> 00:59:57,643
at the moment, again, is everyone's talking about the disproportionate increases in

557
01:00:02,410 --> 01:00:02,410
our tax city, property tax, property tax. Excuse me, I can't speak. Our property taxes right

558
01:00:10,310 --> 01:00:10,310
now, our property taxes are 14.2% this last fiscal year. And so finding again finding as I

559
01:00:16,643 --> 01:00:16,643
mentioned before, finding creative solution ways to diversify our income portfolio

560
01:00:21,743 --> 01:00:21,743
so we can reduce that heavy reliance on our property taxes. On our property taxes that would

561
01:00:30,543 --> 01:00:30,543
involve with fostering relationships and collaborating with nonprofit organizations.

562
01:00:35,243 --> 01:00:35,243
you know, to bring in more, different revenue for our community. Thank you. And I will

563
01:00:44,310 --> 01:00:44,310
repeat it for miss marquez, similar. What do each of you think are the top issues for the

564
01:00:50,877 --> 01:00:50,877
mayor to address, and how would you plan to tackle those issues? And then what issue do you

565
01:00:58,877 --> 01:00:58,877
consider to be your top priority? If you were elected? Thank you. First goals, I would

566
01:01:05,577 --> 01:01:05,577
say, is working with our newly elected council members who come in in january and setting our

567
01:01:12,243 --> 01:01:12,243
goals for what we as a community want. So my first goal is continuing to listen to the

568
01:01:18,977 --> 01:01:18,977
community and what they want to see, because that is my role as the mayor, and then also working

569
01:01:24,410 --> 01:01:24,410
with our staff, and then working with other local governments, we call it co-governing. So our

570
01:01:30,643 --> 01:01:30,643
county and state and federal, talking about making sure that we try to relieve some of that

571
01:01:36,310 --> 01:01:36,310
tax burden on our community. We do that through local government aid. We do that through grants.

572
01:01:40,610 --> 01:01:40,610
I am so proud of our city. The last I don't know, 4 or 5 years we have applied for more grants.

573
01:01:47,910 --> 01:01:47,910
we have received a grant for safer streets for all. Safety is so important and we have

574
01:01:53,043 --> 01:01:57,010
actually the first time been on the state bonding tour to get funds for our, public works building, because we do not. We know that our city, residents can't afford that bill. So we

575
01:02:04,677 --> 01:02:04,677
need to be working with our state and federal electeds to make sure that we have those

576
01:02:10,110 --> 01:02:10,110
larger dollars coming into our city to pay for that public works building, no matter if we

577
01:02:15,510 --> 01:02:15,510
don't like it or not. We need a new public works building. This is how we take care of our city,

578
01:02:21,543 --> 01:02:21,543
take care of our infrastructure, our streets, our sewers, sewers may not be that exciting to talk

579
01:02:25,777 --> 01:02:25,777
about, but if there's a problem, we will all be talking about it. So safety and making sure that

580
01:02:30,710 --> 01:02:30,710
we are working together is how we're going to get those funds. Thank you. Sometimes when we put

581
01:02:36,877 --> 01:02:36,877
our questions together, we get echoes of things that have been answered. And so I just made a

582
01:02:42,743 --> 01:02:42,743
correction and I'm throwing in a fun question to give you both a chance to just breathe a little

583
01:02:47,977 --> 01:02:47,977
bit here. And this goes back to you, amanda, what do you like most about living in columbia

584
01:02:55,277 --> 01:02:55,277
heights? Oh, it is such a connected community, and I've lived in a few places in

585
01:03:05,043 --> 01:03:05,043
minnesota, and this is the place that's been the most welcoming immediately, and I've heard that

586
01:03:09,210 --> 01:03:09,210
from many people, too, as they've moved here, I look out on our audience and I see

587
01:03:13,643 --> 01:03:17,477
residents who have been here a lifetime, residents. I see people who have moved in here very recently, and everyone says how connected they feel. One of my favorite, favorite shows

588
01:03:22,810 --> 01:03:22,810
growing up was sesame street, and I always thought, I want to live in sesame street, where

589
01:03:28,377 --> 01:03:28,377
there's diversity, as a latina, I'm from, my dad's from mexico. I grew up in a place that didn't

590
01:03:34,910 --> 01:03:34,910
have a lot of people who looked like me, and I looked at sesame street and mr. Rogers and

591
01:03:40,477 --> 01:03:44,343
thought, wow, there are places where people all look different and have different cultures, but they all want to learn about each other and get along and empower and excite each other

592
01:03:49,577 --> 01:03:49,577
about their cultures. And I just feel like columbia heights is like our own sesame street. It's

593
01:03:54,310 --> 01:03:54,310
a beautiful, beautiful place. Thank you. Montreal. Same question to you. What do you

594
01:03:59,210 --> 01:03:59,210
like most about living in columbia heights? So me and my wife purchased our first home

595
01:04:05,010 --> 01:04:05,010
here in columbia heights a little under two years ago. And the sense of neighbor and

596
01:04:09,743 --> 01:04:09,743
cohesiveness and the vibrancy that this city exuded, gave us the and made it a no brainer for

597
01:04:18,543 --> 01:04:18,543
us to live here, I like the school systems here in columbia heights. We have children that

598
01:04:25,043 --> 01:04:25,043
attend the school systems here in columbia heights. I love the ambiance of the city. It's just

599
01:04:33,843 --> 01:04:33,843
a great place to live and raise your children. Those are the things. Well, thank you, thank

600
01:04:41,843 --> 01:04:41,843
you, so back to kind of the tougher questions now, this next one was a combined question

601
01:04:49,443 --> 01:04:49,443
again, I think we can do it with seconds, but don't push too hard. If they run a few seconds

602
01:04:57,110 --> 01:04:57,110
over on this one, this goes first to montreal bond. What will you do to make our city and

603
01:05:04,943 --> 01:05:04,943
our city government more inclusive? And additionally, what steps will you take to

604
01:05:10,977 --> 01:05:10,977
ensure city information is accessible to all residents, regardless of language or

605
01:05:17,777 --> 01:05:17,777
physical barriers they may face? First, to make our city more inclusive, I would implore, a

606
01:05:33,310 --> 01:05:33,310
method that I refer to as the reverse door policy. And so this method is, is, explained that in

607
01:05:43,143 --> 01:05:43,143
verses us sitting in our four walls comfortably, city hall, the government officials,

608
01:05:49,377 --> 01:05:49,377
employees, we go out into the public and include them in decision making processes. I

609
01:05:55,743 --> 01:05:55,743
also will look into open data practices that we have here in our in our city and be able to

610
01:06:04,010 --> 01:06:04,010
revamp or enhance those processes. Also, we'll look into getting the feedback of our

611
01:06:11,177 --> 01:06:11,177
community and promoting feedback so that we can better understand the community needs and make

612
01:06:18,343 --> 01:06:18,343
them feel inclusive. Thank you. Thank you and miss marquez. Similar same extended question

613
01:06:24,877 --> 01:06:24,877
to you here. What will you do to make our city and our city government more inclusive? And

614
01:06:30,977 --> 01:06:30,977
additionally, what steps will you take to ensure city information is accessible to all

615
01:06:39,277 --> 01:06:39,277
residents, regardless of language or physical barriers they may face? Thank you. First,

616
01:06:44,610 --> 01:06:44,610
I'll address the physical barriers. I would like to say that our newer, city buildings

617
01:06:50,677 --> 01:06:50,677
are way more accessible, we have handicap accessible bathrooms that are that are beautiful in

618
01:06:56,577 --> 01:06:56,577
our library. And here at city hall, we also have a gender neutral, bathroom as well here

619
01:07:03,010 --> 01:07:03,010
at city hall, and then here at the new city hall, we also have handicapped parking so that

620
01:07:07,743 --> 01:07:07,743
people can be super close to the door when they come in to access our city window for paying their

621
01:07:13,177 --> 01:07:13,177
bills, asking about permits, etc, we also having instituted the code red system, which is a

622
01:07:19,277 --> 01:07:19,277
text messaging system that I suggest anybody sign up for, it's able for the to the

623
01:07:24,277 --> 01:07:24,277
community or the city can get information out to the community quickly for either emergencies

624
01:07:28,543 --> 01:07:28,543
or local neighborhood events. We also have our website in multiple languages now. Many

625
01:07:33,210 --> 01:07:33,210
things. Thanks to our communications team that has bloomed in their positions at

626
01:07:39,943 --> 01:07:39,943
our city, and our website is available in multiple languages. We have a really thriving social

627
01:07:45,610 --> 01:07:45,610
media presence now through our police, fire public safety library as well, our library is

628
01:07:53,877 --> 01:07:53,877
becoming more accessible and in getting their own website very soon. And that will also with

629
01:07:58,877 --> 01:07:58,877
the power of google, be able to be translated as well. So I think we're really making great

630
01:08:04,543 --> 01:08:04,543
strides to get that information out there in many ways. Thank you. Switching gears a bit on

631
01:08:09,810 --> 01:08:09,810
questions. And amada, this one goes to you first. What's your position on high density housing

632
01:08:16,610 --> 01:08:16,610
for columbia heights high density housing is a must have for first ring suburbs,

633
01:08:23,477 --> 01:08:23,477
especially if you think about a single family home in one piece of property only. So much tax

634
01:08:30,143 --> 01:08:30,143
dollars are coming from that. It's just not an efficient way for us to continue doing this.

635
01:08:34,610 --> 01:08:38,110
with the way communities were built originally, were never meant to be sustainable. The cost of taking a green space, an old farm field and putting in sewers, blacktop, curb, sidewalk

636
01:08:44,810 --> 01:08:44,810
and building a home is way cheaper than maintaining that for 100 years. And these things

637
01:08:50,743 --> 01:08:50,743
were not built in a way to continue with the upkeep of sewer systems that are over 100

638
01:08:56,510 --> 01:08:56,510
years old. So I just think it's really important that we make sure we are looking at ways to

639
01:09:03,943 --> 01:09:03,943
combat those costs and high density housing is a way to do that. It brings in funds. And if

640
01:09:09,710 --> 01:09:09,710
you think about the cost of building one home, if you could put a duplex or a triplex in

641
01:09:14,077 --> 01:09:14,077
that same space, you can have more families living there. That is more tax dollars. But also

642
01:09:19,943 --> 01:09:19,943
people need to be close to these resources that we have in this city. Thank you. Montreal, same

643
01:09:25,777 --> 01:09:25,777
question to you. What is your position on high density housing for columbia heights? Well,

644
01:09:34,010 --> 01:09:34,010
there are some negatives as well as positive, consequences on high density housing. I believe

645
01:09:42,110 --> 01:09:42,110
that there is such an urgency to, there's such a propaganda that says that, hey, we're

646
01:09:48,243 --> 01:09:48,243
growing at a fast pace here, if you look at the us census bureau, we were 18,000 people in

647
01:09:57,110 --> 01:09:57,110
2010. And according to the census bureau, in 2020, we are roughly around 20,000, 21,000

648
01:10:02,543 --> 01:10:02,543
for population. So that is a 3%. Roughly about approximately a 3% increase in the population. So

649
01:10:10,977 --> 01:10:10,977
that is not a fast growing population rate. So I think we need to step back. And I believe

650
01:10:18,077 --> 01:10:18,077
in housing security. I also believe in the negative effects of overcrowding and all the

651
01:10:24,310 --> 01:10:28,277
ramifications that come with that. So I believe we need to step back, reevaluate where we want our city to go and, and, and let the people weigh in on those, items there. Thank you,

652
01:10:36,743 --> 01:10:36,743
thank you, thank you. Our next submitted question, and we'll begin with montreal for this

653
01:10:41,310 --> 01:10:41,310
one, is what will you do? Or perhaps what should you do to secure funding for the city

654
01:10:48,243 --> 01:10:48,243
public works building renovation project so that the remaining cost is not solely on taxpayers

655
01:10:54,443 --> 01:10:54,443
back? Thank you. Good question. So what will I do? What can I do right now I am I don't have much

656
01:11:05,643 --> 01:11:05,643
power. I'm not in office. So things some ideas and concepts that I have to help reduce that

657
01:11:10,710 --> 01:11:10,710
burden. To help subsidize that. Project would be again, as I mentioned before, finding ways

658
01:11:19,310 --> 01:11:19,310
that we can diversify our income portfolio for the city so that we can have those extra funds to

659
01:11:28,043 --> 01:11:28,043
be able to do projects. Also, I will prioritize in budget and plan properly so that we can

660
01:11:36,677 --> 01:11:36,677
have the money to as well to fund those projects. Thank you. Thank you. And same question to

661
01:11:43,277 --> 01:11:43,277
amara, which is what will you do? Or perhaps what should you do to secure funding for the

662
01:11:48,910 --> 01:11:48,910
city public works building renovation project so that the remaining cost is not solely on

663
01:11:55,077 --> 01:11:55,077
taxpayers back? One of the things I have already mentioned is that we as a city have been

664
01:12:02,410 --> 01:12:02,410
on the state bonding tour. This is a way that our communities around the state do receive

665
01:12:08,577 --> 01:12:08,577
funding that they cannot solely raise by their own taxpayers, I am so thankful for senator

666
01:12:14,143 --> 01:12:14,143
kunesh for coming to us as a council and city and suggesting that we hire our own city

667
01:12:19,443 --> 01:12:19,443
lobbyist so that we can have an extra voice at the capitol and letting us know about grant

668
01:12:25,277 --> 01:12:25,277
programs and different ways to present our city on these bonding tours. And we actually

669
01:12:30,077 --> 01:12:30,077
have a tour scheduled in the next six weeks for our representatives to attend our

670
01:12:37,043 --> 01:12:37,043
public works building and visit our public works building and literally see that it is

671
01:12:43,277 --> 01:12:43,277
crumbling away, we talked about accessibility earlier, and I want to mention that that

672
01:12:48,910 --> 01:12:48,910
building is absolutely not accessible at all. If anyone wants to stop by our public

673
01:12:53,110 --> 01:12:53,110
works building and see that it is part of an older way of our city, and it's not something

674
01:12:58,443 --> 01:12:58,443
that's accessible. So I want to let everyone know why it's so important that we have to find a

675
01:13:02,810 --> 01:13:02,810
way to fund that building. Thank you, miss marquez. Let me come right back to you. With what

676
01:13:09,243 --> 01:13:09,243
aspects of public safety are working well in columbia heights, and what areas need

677
01:13:13,843 --> 01:13:13,843
improvement? Yes. What is working well? So part of our charter, the mayor is working

678
01:13:21,243 --> 01:13:21,243
hand in hand in charge with the police department, and we just hire our new police chief and

679
01:13:27,543 --> 01:13:27,543
appointed him, and he's doing a great job. Chief markham, one of the things that's going great is

680
01:13:33,143 --> 01:13:33,143
we are a very, very, diverse police department. We are the most diverse police department,

681
01:13:40,110 --> 01:13:40,110
I would say for its size in the state, we have promoted, our first woman captain in anoka

682
01:13:48,777 --> 01:13:48,777
county. We have our first somali, sergeant in anoka county. And we're the reason

683
01:13:55,643 --> 01:13:55,643
that is so important is because that helps our police department connect with our community. Our

684
01:14:00,010 --> 01:14:00,010
police department is doing a great job of recruiting through our community, through the high

685
01:14:04,210 --> 01:14:04,210
school, and through word of mouth. And so we are really serving our residents. We also

686
01:14:09,877 --> 01:14:09,877
have added two social workers to our police department, and they work hand in hand with our fire

687
01:14:15,243 --> 01:14:15,243
department as well. So our public safety team is so strong working together. Thank you. And

688
01:14:20,243 --> 01:14:20,243
we give the same question to mister bond. And that is what aspects of public safety are

689
01:14:25,577 --> 01:14:25,577
working well in columbia heights and what areas need improvement. So some of the aspects that I've

690
01:14:33,477 --> 01:14:33,477
noticed that are working well with the columbia heights public safety is the police are very,

691
01:14:39,510 --> 01:14:39,510
great at engaging community engagement, youth engagement initiatives. I've noticed around

692
01:14:46,077 --> 01:14:46,077
the city, like cone with a cop to confer with a cop that's going on this evening. Those

693
01:14:53,277 --> 01:14:53,277
efforts are working very well. And keeping the youth distracted and engaged and fostering that,

694
01:14:58,977 --> 01:14:58,977
good relationships between the police and the citizens. Some things I think we can work on is

695
01:15:04,810 --> 01:15:04,810
adding, finding more creative ways to bring in a more diverse, demographic. Population to join

696
01:15:18,243 --> 01:15:18,243
in on these efforts, as I noted, it's a certain demographic of people or community residents

697
01:15:24,543 --> 01:15:24,543
that are attending these things. So I want to find more creative ways that we can include

698
01:15:30,110 --> 01:15:30,110
everyone to, be a part of it. Thank you, thank you. Well, you mentioned youth just a moment

699
01:15:37,010 --> 01:15:37,010
ago. This is our next to last question, do you think the city council should have a strong

700
01:15:43,010 --> 01:15:43,010
relationship with the school district? Why or why not? The first question to me that. Oh.

701
01:15:51,577 --> 01:15:51,577
I'm sorry. Yes. Back to you, mr. Bond. Yes as I mentioned before, at the time when we won the

702
01:15:59,910 --> 01:15:59,910
all-american city award in 2016, it was primarily because we did have that strong connection

703
01:16:05,677 --> 01:16:05,677
working with the school district and collaborating with them, to ensure that the betterment of

704
01:16:11,510 --> 01:16:11,510
our children's futures and education, I think that is very important to for children to

705
01:16:17,210 --> 01:16:17,210
have a strong educational foundation because they are a generational leaders. They will

706
01:16:23,543 --> 01:16:23,543
have to be equipped and ready to take over, and take over, take over for our, our city. And they

707
01:16:32,977 --> 01:16:32,977
will be the ones dealing with the consequences of the decisions that we make today. So

708
01:16:37,910 --> 01:16:37,910
I think it is very important for that collaboration and to continue to promote that. Thank

709
01:16:43,610 --> 01:16:43,610
you. Thank you. And miss marquez, the same question. Do you think the schools, the city

710
01:16:48,210 --> 01:16:48,210
council should have a strong relationship with the school district? Why or why not? I

711
01:16:54,310 --> 01:16:58,310
absolutely do, and not only do I think we should, we are having right now a very strong relationship with the school district. We recently just met, here at city hall. We regularly

712
01:17:04,177 --> 01:17:04,177
take turns meeting between the community district building and also here at city hall, I think

713
01:17:10,477 --> 01:17:10,477
it's super important, especially we have a youth engagement, police officer that works in our

714
01:17:16,277 --> 01:17:16,277
schools as well. And it helps all of our residents and our businesses. If our two, our two

715
01:17:21,977 --> 01:17:21,977
elected offices, school board and council work well together, I regularly volunteer in the

716
01:17:27,810 --> 01:17:27,810
schools. I was actually just there today at lunchtime. And I'm very, very proud of the fact

717
01:17:34,843 --> 01:17:34,843
that we have youth engaged here. Not only do we have a youth commission, we have a lot of

718
01:17:39,877 --> 01:17:39,877
youth that volunteer at a lot of events that I help coordinate and other events I go to, maybe

719
01:17:45,443 --> 01:17:45,443
a lot of our city events, much like truck and treat, that it's coming up in october. We'll have

720
01:17:50,110 --> 01:17:50,110
many, many youth that will be volunteering there, and I'm so glad that they know they're a

721
01:17:54,177 --> 01:17:54,177
part of this community, but all of that also comes from the stewardship of the school board

722
01:17:59,177 --> 01:17:59,177
and council connection. Thank you. Well, our final question goes right back to armada, and

723
01:18:03,577 --> 01:18:03,577
that is what initiatives do you have to improve the public health of columbia heights, what

724
01:18:11,743 --> 01:18:11,743
initiatives would I like? I work on is that, the way they work is what initiatives do you have to

725
01:18:18,477 --> 01:18:18,477
improve the public health of columbia heights? Thank you, yes. Well, one is safety along

726
01:18:26,477 --> 01:18:26,477
central avenue is a huge part of our public health need, as mentioned earlier, there's been

727
01:18:33,910 --> 01:18:33,910
over 500 accidents on central avenue. And multiple fatalities as well. But every accident,

728
01:18:41,743 --> 01:18:41,743
isn't even reported. So that's just the accidents we know about. We also actually met

729
01:18:47,677 --> 01:18:47,677
with, mndot representatives. Councilmember biggins and I and some community members. We

730
01:18:53,343 --> 01:18:53,343
invited them to meet at dairy queen so that we could have a conversation right there on

731
01:18:58,243 --> 01:18:58,243
central avenue so they could hear how loud it is, because we don't only just want it to be

732
01:19:03,210 --> 01:19:03,210
safe. Absolutely. But we want it to be enjoyable that people can go and visit all of our

733
01:19:07,710 --> 01:19:07,710
restaurants. You know, adams across the street and, across the street. We want to go and

734
01:19:13,877 --> 01:19:13,877
visit those and enjoy our city. And I'm getting off track because I get so excited about

735
01:19:21,510 --> 01:19:21,510
all these things. What could you repeat? Initiatives, health initiatives, we also just we're

736
01:19:26,043 --> 01:19:26,043
wrapped up anyway, so there's no smoking in parks. We got there and. And montreal, we finished

737
01:19:33,110 --> 01:19:33,110
questions by turning the same one to you, which again is what initiatives do you have to

738
01:19:39,710 --> 01:19:39,710
improve the public health of columbia heights. So again, some ideas and concepts that we can

739
01:19:46,477 --> 01:19:46,477
employ to improve our public health. Here. Again, safety is the biggest one here, pedestrian

740
01:19:51,743 --> 01:19:51,743
and public safety here along central highway. Again I understand that there are some

741
01:19:57,810 --> 01:19:57,810
projects in the works. There another public health issue I will help to address is possibly

742
01:20:02,643 --> 01:20:02,643
partnering with, like I said, nonprofit organizations to bring more. I would like to see more

743
01:20:08,377 --> 01:20:12,277
clinics here in our city. I would like to see more pharmacies here in our city to address the needs of our community. And make it more diverse in that way. Thank you.

744
01:20:19,577 --> 01:20:19,577
thank you. Well, montreal bond, we turn, we turn right back to you for your closing statement.

745
01:20:28,243 --> 01:20:28,243
so my disclaimer is I am not a politician. I don't have all the fancy language or words to say

746
01:20:35,177 --> 01:20:35,177
to you today, but I can say I do not present to you today to give you false hope. I do not present

747
01:20:42,310 --> 01:20:42,310
to hear for you today to give you false promises. There is no immediate solutions to any

748
01:20:46,977 --> 01:20:46,977
problems that our city faces, but with effort, prioritization and proper planning, I believe

749
01:20:53,677 --> 01:20:53,677
we can work together to begin to fix those. What I will be sure to do is be a proactive,

750
01:20:59,610 --> 01:20:59,610
solution oriented, detail oriented candidate that will be proactive and non reactive. I

751
01:21:05,410 --> 01:21:05,410
will fight for everyday people like myself to represent this city. I will dedicate and

752
01:21:11,577 --> 01:21:11,577
sacrifice my time and energy to make sure that everyone can have their voices heard and their

753
01:21:17,343 --> 01:21:17,343
ideas valued, regardless of any outcomes. We are powerful in numbers for example, it is a

754
01:21:24,210 --> 01:21:24,210
time in our legislative legislative for the civil rights act was enacted in 1964. This

755
01:21:29,443 --> 01:21:29,443
was considered a landmark legislation because it took the collective and collaborative

756
01:21:35,610 --> 01:21:35,610
efforts of all of republicans and democrats to make this happen. So thank you. Thank you,

757
01:21:42,777 --> 01:21:42,777
mr. Amado marquez. Similar your closing statement, please. Thank you again. I just want to say

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that my name is amada marcus. Similar. It literally is an honor and a privilege to have

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been the mayor, and I would love to continue doing that with our city working in our council and

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working with all of you, I am fully committed to ensuring our community remains vibrant,

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inclusive and thriving. My leadership is guided by transparency, equity and

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well-being for all of our residents. We have made significant progress in creating a safer, more sustainable and connected city. And yes, there is still more to do as our city

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progresses with new development, we will have the opportunity to update those areas to newer

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environmental standards, improving water and environmental health for the mississippi river and green spaces. We must look forward and be good stewards for future

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generations. I will continue to listen to your concerns, advocate for positive change,

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and work hard to create opportunities for everyone. Let's keep building a better future for columbia heights. Well, thank you to both of our candidates this evening for

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sharing your views with the public through your participation in this meet the

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candidates forum. Thank you to those of you in attendance here at columbia heights city council

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chambers chambers for your participation as well. And thank you to the new brighton and abc

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league volunteers for helping to make this evening a success. Folks, the league of women

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voters does not support or oppose any political parties or candidates for office. The

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league does help citizens become informed voters and advocates for important issues. And that's

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what this forum has been about tonight, informing the voters. If you are interested in the

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league, you could visit the abc web page at lwv abc, rn dot org. Persons of all gender persons

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who are ages 16 or older are invited to join our organization. The league of

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01:23:48,077 --> 01:23:48,077
women voters has supported informed voting for over 100 years and in the year 2024, we

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have many options for how we vote. Please exercise your right to vote for more election

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01:24:03,343 --> 01:24:03,343
information, visit the minnesota secretary of state's website at mn.org or go to the league of

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01:24:11,710 --> 01:24:11,710
women voters. Minnesota website vote411. Thank you and good evening.