Mendota Heights Candidates Stress Core Services, Open Space and Community Character

Candidates in the 2022 Mendota Heights election have laid out their qualifications and priorities in responses to a questionnaire, and several themes recur across their answers: dependable city services, careful budgeting and keeping the city's established character.

The current mayor, who has held the office for two years, points to a record of honesty, integrity and fact-based decision making. As an actuary, the mayor says, they bring a particular perspective to budgeting, taxes and long-term planning. The mayor describes the city as thriving and names the maintenance of efficient city services as the top priority, along with planning for aging infrastructure, green spaces, parks and recreation, and what they call responsible redevelopment. The mayor sees the council's role as oversight: the city administrator manages daily operations, while elected officials set policy, budgets and vision and ensure work is finished on time and on budget.

Another candidate cites more than 30 years in leadership roles, including 32 years as Mendota Heights fire chief and 33 years as a licensed civil and traffic engineer for the City of Saint Paul. Their priorities include preserving the city as a safe, welcoming community with open and natural areas, building public engagement, strengthening partnerships with county and state agencies on traffic, and keeping essential services sustainable and cost-effective. In their view, government's main job is delivering quality-of-life services such as public safety, streets and utilities efficiently, while seeking input from all residents and businesses.

A third candidate has served more than a decade on the Mendota Heights Planning Commission, five years of it as chair, and 13 years on the Airport Commission, including six as vice chair. Their stated priorities are public safety, with police given the tools, training and infrastructure to address the volume and speed of traffic; fiscal conservatism aimed at low taxes, high home values and a larger tax base; and protecting the city's character. They say officials must listen to residents and business leaders and uphold the rule of law.

A fourth candidate, a small business owner, emphasizes civic resolve and skills in consensus building and creative problem solving, along with legal experience in arbitration and mediation. This candidate calls preserving the community's unique character the top priority, praises the city's police and fire services and its engaged residents, and promises a transparent, open and responsive city government. They add that government should manage public money responsibly and make sure no entity gains at the community's expense.

The fifth candidate has lived in Mendota Heights for 14 years and served the city throughout that time: eight years as public works director and city engineer, four years on the Planning Commission and the past two on the City Council. They also spent 22 years in the Air Force and Air National Guard as a civil engineering officer. Their priorities are delivering police, fire and public works services efficiently, long-range maintenance and capital planning, and keeping the city's spacious, open feel. They describe government as providing services that are hard for individuals to supply themselves, such as infrastructure, emergency services and planning, while ensuring a level playing field with opportunity available to everyone.