Based on the context provided about the Lakeville city officials and the content of the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker names. [0:00] [Music] [0:38] **Amy Kenra:** hello and welcome to the Lakeville city council candidate Forum brought to you by the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce I'd like to welcome those in the room and those watching via live stream through rebroadcast the chamber is hosting three candidate forums this year Lakeville city council Lakeville Independent School District 194 school board and a joint forum for he Representatives district 57a and 57b we would like to thank the city of Lakeville for the use of city hall for all three candidate forums as well as live streaming and rebroadcasting the recordings throughout the election season I am Amy Kenra with rent I am the immediate past chair of the chamber's board of directors and I will serve as tonight's moderator the timekeeper for [1:24] tonight's Forum will be Colleen labau of labo and Associates and a Lille chamber access and issues group member it is the mission of the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce to serve as the advocate resource and leader for near our nearly 600 members and the entire Lakeville business community in accordance with our mission we conduct these forums each election season so that you may get to know the candidates who will like to represent and serve our businesses and our residents we invited all three Lakeville city council candidates to join us for this forum the candidates in attendance who have been seated by random draw from my left are John burmel Dan Wolter and Drew Boxrud thank you all for your desire to serve and for [2:11] participating in this forum the format for this forum will be as follows candidates were sent a list of potential questions in advance we will random draw the questions asking as many as we can and have time for with the understanding that I as the moderator have the discretion to ask one additional question if I choose to our live audience and attendance thank you for being here we will not be taking any audience questions so we do encourage you to reach out to the candidates individually if we do not address topics for which you would like more information we do also ask that our in-person audience at City Hall please respect each of our candidates and our streaming viewers by refraining from noises and remarks that will disrupt the format and detract from the ability to [2:58] meet each of our candidates each candidate will receive two minutes for introductions and opening remarks two minutes to respond to each question and two minutes for closing remarks with 15 seconds remaining in each candidate's allotted response time the timekeeper will hold up a yellow card and when time has expired they will hold up a red card if you continue past your allotted time I will ask you to finish your statement with new question we will start with the next clockwise candidate each question will be directed to all candidates this is a forum not a debate we do recommend that you use your allotted time to answer the questions as they relate to you and your candidacy [3:45] and not to comment or respond to another candidate's answers we also ask that you respect each candidate and their allotted time and do not make comments to during or directly following their answer period this for is intended to get to know each of you and why you want to serve our community with that being said are there any questions wonderful let's get started each candidate will have two minutes for their opening remarks so let us begin with our first candidate John burmel [4:05] **John Bermel:** good afternoon uh my name is John burmel I was elected to the city council in 2020 and I am running for election in uh this election cycle for reelection would be a privilege to continue to serve our [4:32] community at uh on the city council I want to just take a moment to change thank the chamber for putting this together uh these forums are valuable uh they're a good way for people watching to get to know the candidates and to do some research a couple things about me personally I have lived in Lakeville for 34 years uh my wife Chris and I raised our two adult children here they went through Lakeville School all of the things that Lakeville has to offer I always said we haven't just lived in Lakeville we've embraced uh life here in Lakeville and this slake fill thing works the kids are off and on their own and and doing well um I also have uh two dogs and uh Chester and [5:17] Cairo so if you've ever walked on ipava Avenue across from Christina Huddleston you hit a plastic fence you've met our dogs uh professionally I am the chaplain at The Fountains at hosana which is a senior Le Living Community right here in Lakeville uh prior to coming to The Fountains I was the director of security and Emergency Management at Carlton College in Northfield and prior to that I served a 33-year career in law enforcement for the Apple Valley Police Department uh retiring as a captain having experience handling Municipal budgets and and making those tough choices and uh it's a privilege to be here and I hope you all get to uh know each of us uh through this forum thank you [6:02] **Amy Kenra:** and now we'll move on to Don uh excuse me Dan Wolter [6:05] **Dan Wolter:** thank you Amy and I want to also thank the Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce for putting on this forum and the other ones uh it's a huge investment I know for you in Civic engagement and uh I know as these other candidates can attest uh there there's there's not a lot of uh easy ways to get attention for a city council race to make people understand who you are uh and and to share the issue so I appreciate that I also want to thank the other candidates that are here it takes a lot to put your name on a ballot and to do the work and knock the doors and and and see KY office and our community is better uh because of all of us running for this office um I am Dan Wolter I'm the newest member of the Lakeville city council um I have served for about 21 months now so when it's less than two years like like with a baby you talk about it in months so if we get the two-year Mark we'll start [6:49] talking about it in terms of years people often ask um why did I seek a seat on the city council my response to that is is pretty simple like about half the people in Lakeville I'm new here I chose to come to Lakeville because of the quality of life because of Safe Streets low taxes great Parks a vibrant Arts community and all of the the great quality of life things that draw people here my goal on the city council is to work every day to help protect and enhance that and make sure that this is a outstanding place for people to call home thank you [7:30] **Amy Kenra:** thank you drew Boxrud [7:33] **Drew Boxrud:** hello Drew Boxrud um Echo their comments well thank you for hosting us all um start start out with um myself my wife and my two children have uh lived [7:34] here in Lakeville for about N9 and a half years and running for Council is something that's always kind of been in the back of my head uh something I've always wanted to do and uh careers I've had in the past have always kind of led me down that road I worked with uh had a line of Health in their EMS division I ran their Comm Center for 13 years I think and um recently now I'm working for Woodburry in their engineering department as one of their project coordinators so I've kind of seen how how the whole city government works from the other side and that really is what kind of pushed me to want to do this finally and just from being seeing how everything's done from the inside [8:22] um it's really something that I pride myself on is um working through decisions logically and I feel like that's something I can really bring to the table and having um providing everybody with a choice to have three candidates I think is important um so yeah that's what I'm here for right thank you [8:56] **Amy Kenra:** thank you for those opening remarks now we are going to move on to our candidate questions um each candidate will have two minutes to answer each question I'm going to randomly draw the questions and this question is going to be about transparency and then we will stand uh start with Dan Wolter [9:08] transparency is a key to good governance how do you plan to ensure there is transparency regarding decisions and directives in our community by both staff and councel [9:21] **Dan Wolter:** thank you for the question Amy I think the first uh most important part of that is for council members to be ambassadors of uh city government and What's happen in city government to take ownership of the deliberations that we have on on issues and projects and so forth to be out in the community and available um so that uh you know it's it's not a lot of you don't get a lot of automatic feedback on things you need to seek it out many times we have rigorous transport we have uh rigorous transparency laws uh in this state as well and so everything that we do is actually transparent but as we all know [9:54] you know I've been on the council as I mentioned 21 months I can count on one hand the number of public hearings I've been in that have had people at them I think Amy you were at two of them actually um so I appreciate that uh so I think there's also an obligation for constituents and and the citizens of of of Lakeville to be engaged and be aware as well um but first and foremost it's about the elected officials it's about being out and available uh and transparent and also just seeking feedback on the issues that are uh that we're considering whether it's franchise fees or whatever we need to when we're out in the community ensure that we're seeking feedback and people's thoughts on those issues thank you [10:41] **Amy Kenra:** Drew [10:41] **Drew Boxrud:** well um as far as transparency goes I think uh the answer the question is part of the question uh transparency is [10:41] key and I agree with Dan that a lot of um a lot of what is done in Council is required to be transparent and it should be um nearly everything that a council does is required to be transparent I mean there's only a few times when councils are allowed to have closed door meetings you know for things that shouldn't be public like um negotiations for contracts and things like that but that information gets public eventually anyways so all that is open for the public it's just a matter of people wanting to engage and and get that information as far as staff go um there's a lot of directives that are given by Council or [11:26] by the city administrator I'm not sure how much of that is available to the public some of that is a little bit hard to find um it would be great if that was um more widely available for everyone and then as far as the public goes for um transparency the city does a great job with engagement and it's again like Dan said it's kind of on the public on how much they want to become involved and how much they want to engage with the council and with staff um to become involved and be a part of the process the more they're a part of the process the more transparency is there thank you [12:13] **Amy Kenra:** moving on to John Bermel [12:14] **John Bermel:** um great question and I think it's a uh it's a significant question um I [12:14] think the first key to transparency is being involved and being available uh it is very difficult to hide something or be secret when there's a personal connection so personal connections are critical to transparency and uh open communication from that uh the other thing is is to be clear um I believe I believe that it's best to use Clear simple language even in complex issues there are issues that are very complex but I think citizens and I think staff want to hear plainly and clearly what's on our minds and we want to hear the same and the constituents want to hear the same thing to the people uh also it's important to be accountable uh defensiveness is not [13:00] helpful for accountability or for transparency uh we need to listen and even if we don't don't agree with what somebody's saying I think it's very important to really hone in on that and listen and try to get somebody's perspective if we get defensive right away or start to argue there's no transparency there because transparency is a two-way street and then you know take responsibility uh you can't just say well well you know um I tried my hardest but it just isn't possible it's I think we need to take responsibility for our comments we need to take responsibility for our votes and we need to be able to look at people and go this is why I I did this um I also agree totally that [13:48] it's a two-way street uh everything here is available every meeting there's a lot of chairs in the chambers here their broadcast you can sit in here every meeting we give the opportunity for public comments so I would invite our community to do that and I think those are the keys to uh to solid transparency thank you [14:21] **Amy Kenra:** moving on to our next question this one is going to be about taxpayers Lakeville continues to be one of the fastest growing cities in Minnesota and the demand for amenities services and Public Safety resources is constantly increasing for years Lakeville has experienced such growth because of its competitive tax and fee [14:33] position in recent years and with current proposals on property taxes and fees it appears this Competitive Edge may be waning how will you work to address the needs of Lakeville in a way that does not overburden taxpayers and continues the growth the community has enjoyed we will start with Drew Boxrud [15:07] **Drew Boxrud:** thank you um in my work with uh wood bearing the engineering department and also at uh Ali EMS we were participants in Grants and Partnerships and I think that is a a huge source of income that the city has already tapped into and that is something that they should continue to do um everybody likes free money free money does come with strings [15:18] at times so that has to be careful because sometimes that free money does have uh some strings to it that are um a little bit more uh a little bit more more um honorous than they should be but um that's definitely something that should be continued to be pursued quite a bit um also the franchise fees that have already been looked into is something that I think uh is a great thing to be looked at and that can be done selectively um many other cities of our size and similar demographics already have franchise fees like this um we one of the few that don't that is of this size and in this area in um our [16:05] region um and like I said it could be done selectively so it's not hitting everybody the same way and then I think if we did our if we do our tax rate growth slowly enough it can be done in a way that doesn't um doesn't eat away at that at that benefit that we have right now of having such a low tax rate because we do have a very low tax rate compared to the rest of the county and our county has a low tax rate compared to the rest of the counties in the state so even if we do have our tax rate increase some it will be still lower than much of our surrounding communities thank you [16:51] **Amy Kenra:** moving on to John Bermel [16:52] **John Bermel:** I want to start just by I really [16:52] want to take a moment uh to acknowledge the economic pressures that our community is feeling as I door knock I hear This Time After Time After Time I was door knocking with a couple that came home from the grocery store we had a long talk uh people are feeling inflation they're feeling prices and this is a a huge issue to people and so I just I want to recognize that um I agree our tax capacity rate has been the lowest in the county for years this year we'll see how things shake out if it isn't the lowest it'll be number two uh so we are in a great tax uh a great tax position and I people I want people to [17:38] uh to recognize that um in terms of strategies for keeping us competitive uh I see three things uh one of them is just partner opportunities uh opportunities that we have uh to invite outside agencies to help fund our initiatives a great example of that is a safer Grant we just got awarded that Grant uh which will be very helpful as we move our fire department to a hybrid Department uh that will help defers a significant part of the cost for uh at least three years I think we remain strong in our fiscal policies uh Lakeville is unique uh we have a finance committee that gives Some solid advice we have fiscal uh policies [18:24] that address um our our Surplus our budget surplus IT addresses our debt levels uh those policies have earned Us in the time that I've been on the council a AAA credit rating and finally uh just maintain that AAA uh Bond rating um with good savings and Good Financial policies people want transparency and they want to know what they're paying for and I think that's the biggest thing thank you [18:59] **Amy Kenra:** John moving on to Dan Wolter [19:00] **Dan Wolter:** I want to start off by acknowledging um Lakeville is already in an extremely strong competitive position we do have the lowest tax rate in Dakota County we have no franchise fees now whereas most of the communities around us have had those uh for for quite some time to fund [19:11] everything from Public Safety to uh street lights um and as John said I I I totally agree and totally can understand and relate to the pressures people are feeling it's it's it's tough out there with interest rates High the cost of of feeding your family and living a in a home is high so that just weigh weighs on me heavily every time we talk about fees or levies and I think that's the most important um important uh part of this discussion is to make sure we're understanding how it impacts people with that said we have enormous challenges uh in front of us especially in the public safety area with the growth of this community where it's 75,000 people we hav't kept pace um when it in terms of police most people don't know we have a part-time paidon call fire department [19:58] that we're gradually transitioning to a hybrid one um those are going to be some big Investments um and we need to be uh mindful of that and we need to make sure we're clear and communicating to people the value of those um just like I'm hearing from people at at doors the importance of the quality of life I'm hearing or excuse me the um the pressures economically I'm hearing concerns about public safety and the need to ensure we're making those Investments so it is a really tough Balancing Act I think the onus of this question I think probably goes back to the current franchise fee discussion and I was uh I will say I went into this the discussion on it as a proponent of it because I think it's a it's a new and Innovative way to fund some of uh city government one of the concerns that I keep hearing especially from people in the business Community is that it is putting part of city government on autopilot we pass it once and then let [20:44] it go for 20 years so we don't have that deliberation each year so that's of concern to me and I have to admit I'm somewhat undecided on that issue right now so I'd love to hear from people as to what they think about that thank you [21:18] **Amy Kenra:** thank you and for our next question we will start with John Bermel this one's on strategic priorities Envision Lakeville was created to serve as a road map for the future of the city how have the Community Values and strategic priorities of Invision Lake Lakeville been carried out and what still needs to be addressed [21:31] **John Bermel:** well I think what's been carried out um in what we've done well is just a sense of community and [21:31] belonging uh people thoroughly like living in Lakeville and this community has changed I mean I've been here for 34 years but even in the last couple years this community has changed in the last year I've been to a dwali celebration a Chinese New Year celebration a cricket tournament and one of our newest showcase Parks is going to have a Cricket pitch in it so I think that we're doing very well in welcoming uh diversity into our community and I just people appreciate the small town feel that we have in Lakeville um it's it's a large city but you still feel like you live in a small town I hear that frequently uh in terms of Natural [22:17] Resources uh our Park referendum uh made some improvements to Trails and to Ritter Farm Park so we have a a host of natural resources available and we have a high quality life here people rate that high in terms of improvement uh some Diversified Economic Development uh it would be good to see more commercial uh development uh more robust uh represented in the community in a connected community in terms of Lakeville this has always been a bother it's we have three zip codes three City addresses and three school districts that we are there are people that live in Lakeville that quite frankly I'm not sure they realize they live in Lakeville and I think that the more that we can educate people and have them understand that the more like our business area [23:04] especially our downtown uh would be uh used and uh housing options one person out of every five who works in Lakeville lives here and it would be good to have some housing options where we can increase that number and keep uh our Lakeville money in Lakeville with people living and working here thank you [23:42] **Amy Kenra:** moving on Dan Wolter [23:42] **Dan Wolter:** I just want to Echo what John said about people sometimes being confused as to where they live because of the ZIP code issue because I went to somebody's door and she argued with me for a while that she lived in Rosemont so I relatively new to the community um we had to have that discussion so I I totally agree on that um every business every level of government every nonprofit needs to have a strategic plan and vision en Vision Lakeville is that for the city of Lakeville we I believe [23:51] it was 2013 that it was first passed and uh has been updated every five years since um I think uh we do good job in ensuring that every uh action uh everything we vote on fits under that umbrella and how it relates into each of the five strategic priorities outlined under Envision Lakeville um I had the opportunity before serving on the council to serve on the cultivate a sense of community task force which was a special task force created uh just to focus on that that one piece the sense of community and it I had the opportunity to chair that organ that that group as well um it was a wonderful experience to get to see the University of Lakeville how this this community has gotten richer culturally and in terms of diversity and faith and and the array of [24:37] uh of of qualities there um much of what we looked at for that was we we met with the folks from ppra we met with the Arts um Art Center to find ways that we could strengthen the Multicultural aspects of things and I'm proud that of of what's happened in that front Mark pan prag has had a number of the the the cricket tournament uh the Asian food festival last year and then the Arts Center has also Diversified quite a bit that they do uh for the summer concert series so I'm proud to see that I think that's important um it is for me the priority probably the biggest piece out of Envision lakevi that we need to work on is that sense of belonging and placemaking um that is one that's always going to for any Community that's bringing in new people that's going to be uh an issue of concern and something we need to continue to work on so thank [25:23] you [26:02] **Amy Kenra:** Dan Drew Boxrud [26:02] **Drew Boxrud:** I want to start with um if you haven't read through some of the information on the Invision Lake uh Invision Lakeville go read it it's really interesting um I read through a bunch of the 2023 update that's on the uh City website and some of the responses to all of the um Citywide survey is really interesting I love reading through that stuff um some of the answers to the survey about why they love Lakeville is great we love the small Town feel but we still get to have all the great Services of being in a city you know how how do we how do we keep all those great services but keep [26:09] the small town feel you know all these issues that you know how do we play both sides of that coin are the same things that are coming up in a lot of second ring suburbs um like Lakeville um so that's something that most cities are dealing with how do we how do we keep that small town feel but at the same time be really welcome to everybody else um that hasn't traditionally lived in the second ring suburb um a lot of the wording changes that they had recommended and adopted from that 2023 update um to be more inclusive I think is awesome um I don't know if that was part that you were on but if it was great work oh all right um just I think I think that was awesome [26:55] just because words matter and how how it how it's worded really um really makes it truly inviting to people on how um how they're seen and how they want to be how they want to be heard in the community um one other thing that I thought was really interesting from the Invision Lakeville report was uh that it mentioned our debt and I think that is something really important is that we have very low debt in Lakeville and I think uh that's something very important to keep going um John mentioned the AAA rating and I think that is very important to keep going thank you [28:13] **Amy Kenra:** with our next question Dan Wolter will start and this one is going to be on [27:42] connection given that the Lakeville chamber is a business advocacy organization tell us specifically about your connection and involvement in the local business Community [28:26] **Dan Wolter:** thanks Amy um so I actually am I I work for a company that I believe is one of if not the largest employer in in Lakeville depending on what what data you look at so I uh was involved with the chamber before uh serving on the city council um and engaged in those activities um also at the at the state level I'm uh incoming chair for the Minnesota retailers Association so specifically have um expertise I guess and connections on the retail sector which I know is really important uh to us as well um as a council member I have [28:27] really really um I saw the Chamber of Commerce as being uh a great opportunity to immerse myself in the business Community ever since uh starting in January of 2023 um I think there's been maybe two ribbon cuttings in that time that I haven't haven't attended and there have been a lot um there's no better way to see how this community is is growing and thriving than than getting to go to the to the you know grand opening of a new tattoo parlor downtown or a a dog grooming business so I appreciate that and I think it's really important for us again it kind of goes back to some what my answer to an earlier question we need to be ambassadors for our city uh and that includes understanding and knowing those businesses being customers I think there's also a joke with the chamber ambassadors every ribbon cutting I tend to become a customer of whatever that [29:13] business uh is um I actually moved my mom into a different uh assisted living facility after going to that ribbon cutting so I really try to engage uh and take ownership as a dog grooming business in those uh in those businesses uh I really think it's important whether it's business or other groups that you're accessible that you're responsive uh to people to ensure that you're understanding uh their issues to me that's the highest expectation of leadership is is that level of Engagement uh the business Community has an important role in this community obviously as uh not only as employers but in providing critical Services we all hear about restaurants and the need for more restaurants and and such so it's really our job to make sure we have our arms around that and we're connected uh to to make make meaningful impact [29:59] there thank you [30:31] **Amy Kenra:** next up is Drew Boxrud [30:31] **Drew Boxrud:** all right so um start with my wife and I are uh small business owners ourselves uh nothing that you know we can present you with a steak and potatoes or anything like that but um so being small business owners we have um we have a craft business that we operate um but it's not like I said it's not uh brick-and mortar type of thing we did uh participate in the downtown craft fair last year and that was a lot of fun uh my wife also has her own business that she runs for her main job um I've also consulted with uh Lakeville links the indoor golf simulator that's over by cro [30:46] 50 and 35 in that area in the same building as the school district uh consulted with them pre-opening and uh actually bartended with them I was kind of in between jobs for a little bit there and that was a great experience um to help them with the pre-opening with their bar setup and what all they need to do with um hiring bar bartenders and getting all the Safe Serve certified and all that and then uh the other thing that really is important to our family and we try and invite all of our friends and our extended family is is really to support all of the local restaurants and breweries and businesses you know it it might be cheaper to go up to Apple Valley and go to Home Depot or Menards [31:33] but it's really awesome just to go down to Ace Hardware and actually talk to somebody and have them answer my question about why in the heck does this thing not work and actually have somebody talk to me and say okay yeah go to this aisle and grab it and it'll be set so supporting the local businesses I think is huge and we really try and push that with all of our neighbors and friends as well thank you [32:11] **Amy Kenra:** moving on to John Bermel [32:11] **John Bermel:** uh I I grew up in a small business household my dad was a barber he owned a barber shop for 42 years you owned a barber shop in the 70s you know what hair was like in the 70s we ate a lot of mac and cheese when you 80s came and the crew cuts came back we moved up to Hamburger um so i' I [32:19] appreciate small business and I appreciate the web there and I appreciate the way that businesses support each other I've seen that my entire life including Lakeville um I've supported our business Community for 34 years by doing the things like going to Ace Hardware versus a a bigger place coming downtown to to get something maybe to eat uh I think this is probably a very one of the most important questions in terms of economics and keeping Lakeville money in Lakeville when we support our local businesses we're spending money that is going to be spent Again by people who are investing their lives in our our community and so economically it's a great way uh to keep uh keep ourselves flourishing uh in terms of chamber [33:06] involvement um I became involved with the chamber when I became involved with the council and what an opportunity to network what an opportunity to help other people Network I get asked I'd like to think about starting this I know who to call to connect people to try to grow our business community so I think that's that's huge and the events are significant in terms of building relationships that are going to help our our business Community I participate in the events I love the ribbon cuttings I love the events access and issues those types of things um and we need to make decisions that support downtown like uh design and lighting and stuff and I'll just close by saying this if anybody doubts uh the veracity of my [33:54] commitment to the business Community I go to a barber in town wonderful thank you [34:31] **Amy Kenra:** moving on to our next question this one is on support how will you support City staff in their efforts to Market Lakeville as a business-friendly destination to potential new and re excuse me relocating businesses and we'll start with Drew Boxrud [34:41] **Drew Boxrud:** uh first of all I want to say um I don't know how much the city staff needs to be supported because they're already doing an awesome job um if you haven't looked through the city website look through the city website and all the stuff they have on there for businesses [34:43] um there's great resources about um what you need to do if you're moving a business here what you need to do if you're trying to build like uh build an actual building what you need to do if you're coming in to buy an actual building that's already pre-built they have all of the information already laid out there and to me that's that's huge already having that information out there some cities don't have that set up and ready to go and I think that one that's huge so great job City of Lakefield staff I think that needs to be supported and needs to be continued um and then the second thing um supporting the different departments [35:28] um with flexibility when needed if somebody comes in with a business idea and they want to put uh a business that doesn't meet the exact zoning requirements on a specific Corner maybe it meets the spirit of what is supposed to be in that area but not the letter of it so maybe something that needs to be changed and worked through um with planning and through Council and that kind of flexibility is important and and can easily be um tied up and have somebody turn to a different city if it if it's not work through easily so that flexibility is is important and again great work to the city staff to already have that [36:13] website full of resources thank you [36:34] **Amy Kenra:** now we we'll hear from John Bermel [36:34] **John Bermel:** I I agree I mean the point I would make on this question is flexibility is key uh we're at this point where a place and I don't know if it's a place just in our community or a place in history um or an area where era where technology and our community needs are growing and changing at such a rapid rate some of the processes and policies that we have uh can really be outdated very quickly and so we need to be flexible to uh to adjust to that couple examples um some warehouses that uh that went in where we did height variances and the reason we [36:58] need to do the height variances is because the equipment that they use to move stuff up has changed and become so much safer that they can put things higher and had we not been willing to do that those uh businesses might likely have gone elsewhere uh so we need to be able to do that uh just recently we approved a zoning change for a small business that wanted to move from one location to downtown and we had the flexibility to look and act in the spirit of of what we're looking at uh to make that happen so I think that's very important for us to be flexible I think we also need and why I know we also need to be supportive of Staff publicly uh I'm always always take the opportunity [37:45] to tout how good our staff is because I don't know if everybody in Lakeville knows how uh capable the people are that work for them are and uh so I think those are probably the two keys uh to supporting City staff thank you [38:21] **Amy Kenra:** let's move on to Dan Wolter [38:21] **Dan Wolter:** so we are really fortunate to have um an outstanding team in our Community Development Area um with Tina goodroad and Katie Bach we've got a lot of new energy there a lot of new ideas um which I think are really important and then also I want to give another shout out to the chamber they work in tandem with the chamber uh which which serves as another cheerleader for the community in articulating the values that we uh we provide to to to businesses so I I love that relationship of working together with staff uh and [38:32] and the Chamber of Commerce um we the other this this week at our work session we received the uh Economic Development uh commission's long-term Vision there for some ideas uh in the economic development space some really Innovative stuff but some again some things that may have some some tough decisions one of the ideas was to create an economic development Authority which means to bring more resources to economic development but again that means a another form of Levy so we as a council I think need to make sure we're looking uh with a with a forward-looking eye at some of those ideas to be supportive where we can uh to be mindful of uh of the need to support that growth um and I think the other important thing I mentioned the the economic development commission the most important thing for for people in a city council role I [39:17] think is to utilize others expertise as well um none of us have the expertise in in in in what a new business in the industrial park might necessarily need but we do have those those um those individuals on the EDC and other roles within the city and we need to make sure we're relying on that expertise and not trying to to to to fit it into maybe what our vision of a specific industry uh is um finally I do think again I mentioned it before I'll probably mention it a couple more times we all need to be advocates for our community um when there's a new restaurant that's launched in the Twin Cities looking for an area um whether we're whether it's the mayor or members of the council we need to be looking for ways to reach out and make sure Dave's Hot chicken or whatever is looking at at at Lakeville [40:02] and that we're singing that uh singing the value of of our community thank you [40:40] **Amy Kenra:** let's move on to our next question this one is in regards to law enforcement and we'll start with John Bermel local police departments are dealing with an increase in crime opioid use calls related to mental health and medical alerts due to an aging population while at the same time are seeing a decrease in law enforcement career interest what if anything do you feel needs to be done to ensure that we are one meeting the public safety needs of Lakeville residents and businesses and two attracting law enforcement professionals [40:47] **John Bermel:** thank you this one warms my heart um that's my professional background uh I'll start by saying this when someone in our community calls 911 [40:50] uh they expect an officer to show up who is well equipped well trained capable and knows our values and so those are some of the keys to recruiting police um I have had the professional responsibility to recruit and hire police officers and I can tell you it's highly competitive and it's fast moving and so you need to have a Competitive Edge uh pay is one of those I support policies uh that uh uh support paying a competitive wage for our police officers top-notch training and equipment and community support and police officers want to know that there are opportunities inside their department so those are some of the keys [41:36] to recruiting and Lakefield does a very very good job with that uh we have a uh very professional Police Department uh they do very well with their training and the officers have lots of opportunities um I also support policies uh that address the programs that are front and foremost now with law enforcements mental health uh the county has invested in in uh mental health professionals to be with the police department and to help with that uh that's significant for our community and it's also significant for the police officers uh there are peer support groups um that are going and those are the things that police officers are looking at when they want to work come and work in the community how am I [42:22] supported what's our training what kind of equipment do we have and lastly how does the community support us and it's best I I I always whenever we get an opportunity like to uh to break up the professional uh well run Police Department we have thank you [42:55] **Amy Kenra:** next we'll hear from Dan Wolter [42:55] **Dan Wolter:** when talking about Public Safety I think it's important to acknowledge my two um counterparts up here John burmel as a career as a police officer and drewy you're EMS professional as well so I want to thank them for their service in those roles this is a community that has always had a strong appreciation uh for Public Safety uh whether it's law enforcement or whether it is a volunteer fire department um we've got people that [43:08] are willing to to to to answer the call and that is that is critical uh for for for any Community um I as I've mentioned before I think Public Safety has to be the council's top priority um it's what I'm hearing from people uh as their their concerns um and also just the growth of the community we've we've grown grown rapidly and we need to ensure that we're keeping Pace uh in in both police and the professionalism of our fire department like I mentioned before those are going to result require some Investments and uh this this next Council will have some some major decisions to make there to ensure that we're keeping Pace um on those issues um I want to Echo what John said about Community Support as well um you know one of our state representatives Jeff Woody retired police officer started an [43:56] initiative called law enforcement 365 initiative um after the tragedy that happened in Burnsville um last a few months ago maybe maybe a little longer uh you know one of the concerns is we want to show Law Enforcement that we have their back 365 days a year and not just uh at the time of the funerals and when we put the signs in our yards that we want to as as an way of operating we want to make sure that law enforcement knows that we've got their back and that is one thing that would be a priority for me uh on the council in the future thank you [44:40] **Amy Kenra:** now we'll we'll hear from Drew Boxrud [44:40] **Drew Boxrud:** well this is one uh that I wish I had more than two minutes on so um as um when I was at Alina EMS um running the Communication Center there we use the [44:42] medical priority dispatch system it's a big fancy way to say we ask you a whole bunch of questions when you call 911 for medical um Dakota County EMS or Dakota County Communication Center uses the exact same system and I know that our Police Department here here in Lakeville goes on a lot of Medicals I think that it could be cut down quite a bit Dakota County like we did it at Alina they know what they're doing they've gone through certifications and I think um a lot of the Medicals that police and fire are sent to could be dialed back everybody wants to get a quick response from everything but police don't need to go on a medical where somebody rolled their ankle at a softball game you don't need everybody [45:30] there you just need an ambulance there to help the person and get them to the hospital um so I think that's one thing the reason I bring that up is because on the questions that we got uh Medicals was mentioned on there as well um one other thing that can help alleviate some of the officer time and uh is red light and uh speed enforcement cameras this is a pilot that have started with uh Minneapolis and state patrol and I believe one other city as well I think that's something that the city council can can get um be supportive of it's not something that obviously we can pass but I think it's something that um we can support and it takes a lot less effort and a lot less time for an officer to go through and [46:18] go through the red light tickets or the um speed enforcement tickets with the uh cameras than it does to actually set out there and enforce it and that is still something that's very important and I have a whole lot more to talk about with recruitment but I'm going to run out of time thank you [46:51] **Amy Kenra:** we are down to two questions the second to the last question is about Workforce we need to continue to develop and support strategies to recruit and retain qualified candidates for the in demand positions available in Lakeville the city is an active partner in the chamber Lakeville Works program designed to create awareness of in demand careers in Lakeville how will you support this [47:03] partnership and work to ensure that Lakeville has the services and amenities that will attract the workforce to fill our jobs go ahead Dan Wolter [47:40] **Dan Wolter:** well I want to thank you for this question because I think Lakeville works is is a model uh program uh public private partnership um that I know we've touted with people outside of Lakeville as well it's a great model uh I want to applaud uh the Lakeville school district for being part of that and being such such great partners with the with the chamber um the city as you mentioned has been a partner in that and I I think we need to redouble the city's commitment to that program we have a lot of departments within city government that would provide good opportunities there as well whe and their their professions where there are people retiring out um whether [47:49] it's water treatment whether it's Street Maintenance whether it's law enforcement there's a lot of opportunities there that we could uh work with Lakeville works on uh as well I also one of the things that's kind of I have a background I worked a little bit at the University of Minnesota for a number of years and higher education and one of the things that's kind of loomed for me is that we need some higher education presence in in in the city of Lakeville as well um you know we've got great relationships with our community and technical colleges and I I I want to be mindful of the potential at some point to get some higher education presence here to to support this goal but um again I I just I want to give a shout out to Krista Jack on this one I I believe I've sat through her Lakeville Works Spiel 20 times in 21 months um and I'm a True Believer I'm a True Believer and and she [48:35] invites us as City Council Members to be part of some of the programs with high school students and when you see the enthusiasm that they have to have been exposed to a new career option a career option that they may not have considered it really is uh really is heartwarming so uh this is a great great initiative that we need to to continue thank you [49:13] **Amy Kenra:** next we'll hear from Drew Boxrud [49:15] **Drew Boxrud:** all right so when I first read this question I was assuming that it means what will Lakeville do to have employment for people that work at Lakeville the city of Lakeville is that what the question is meaning? [49:15] **Amy Kenra:** the question is more intended for the citizens of Lakeville how do we create jobs or the jobs that we have in Lakeville how do we continue to [49:22] encourage residents of Lakeville to reach out to those employers and yes keep the people living in Lakeville working in Lakeville [49:22] **Drew Boxrud:** okay and yes keep the people living in Lakeville working in Lakeville okay so at first I read it as how do we as city council encourage people to work for the city of Lakeville if that was the question then my answer was going to be benefits benefits benefits because if you're working for the city you're usually looking for a job with benefits and pay is usually second switching to that question what they're actually asking um the Lakeville Works partnership uh I pretty much agree with what Dan said and I don't have a better answer than that [50:07] so thank you [50:38] **Amy Kenra:** on to John thank you John Bermel [50:39] **John Bermel:** thanks yeah I I love uh Lakeville Works um it's interesting when my kids were going through high school they felt an intense pressure to uh to pick a college to go to a four-year Institute and my kids had friends that that wasn't the route that was meant for them that you know they the ability to just work and fulfill uh what you're good at I love Lakeville works because it takes and it shows opportunities for people uh that they may not see or hear from their peers at school and it provides a lot of [50:53] opportunities I agree with Dan that it would be nice for the city to be able to double down and to get uh people working in some of the jobs uh that Lakeville Works program would lead them to I think for us it's important to leverage our networks to provide opportunities uh when we hear of a business that's going boy I just can't get anyone to come and do stuff with us well we have this ability to we have this program Lakeville works at The Fountains at hosana we we are full of high school students we do a mcaps program I would love to see a place like ours uh incorporate continue to incorporate Lakeville Works into that and provide uh career opportunities for people uh that is you know a path outside of I I'm the product [51:39] of a tech school I I when I came out of high school I went to a tech school and uh I had opportunities uh to get exposed to law enforcement through ride alongs and whatnot and I think it was very valuable so I'd like to leverage our networks I'd like to leverage our City's offerings um and just make sure that we continue to provide opportunities and keep our eyes open for them and then finally um just to be present and to support these events I think it means a lot to these students to see city leaders uh recognizing what they've done thank you [52:23] **Amy Kenra:** and lastly the fun [52:25] question what do business is on your personal wish list for Lakeville we'll start with you drew Boxrud [52:29] **Drew Boxrud:** okay I have two answers um one if it's a business that I'm going to be a patron at then it's an all you can eat sushi restaurant because although we have some sushi places uh I would like an awesome all you can Eat Sushi Place partially because when I go to those I can just order stuff that I like and then my kids can try all of it and when they don't like it then I can eat it uh um if it's a business I'm going to own I feel like there's a really big need for um like a multiport facility so um my two daughters uh play softball and my one daughter plays soccer so there's big [53:11] need to get into like uh the cages in Burnsville or batting cages or like the Dome at North High School there's a lot more need for that kind of facility so that was be that would one that I would like to own a big huge Warehouse that you can adjust however you want have people in there practicing all the time thank you [53:52] **Amy Kenra:** John Bermel [53:53] **John Bermel:** all right so there are certain people in this room that know what I'm gonna say uh but really two things that I would I would say number one a Scheels would be amazing uh a large retailer uh that addresses a variety of people's needs uh Scheels would be wonderful in here uh but my my True Heart rests with [53:59] White Castle um I would love to see a White Castle in our community so what I'm thinking is this if we can attract and draw a Scheels here that would have a White Castle and part of the parking lot we got her set we're all good perhaps a White Castle food truck a White Castle perhaps that's a good idea I'm gonna write that down thank you [54:33] **Amy Kenra:** Dan Wolter [54:33] **Dan Wolter:** mine's a little different uh and that it's technically not a business but um as an animal lover myself I think one of the things we're missing in the South Metro is a Humane Society um you know we've got a great one in the Metro the Animal Humane Society but if you look at their map you got to drive all the way to Golden Valley to see dogs and cats um and I know there was one in Burnsville [54:44] uh for for a while and the land use disagreement resulted in it it closing but I think one of my big surprises that I've had as a dog lover is uh the number of doors I'm knocking I I I swear there's as many dogs as people in Lakeville now um cuz every door you knock at um you get a bunch of barking and it's usually multiple dogs so I think that would be a great addition but following the precedent here of having two uh in terms of res restaurants uh my the one I would love to see is Wingstop um many people here haven't heard about it it uh I I I pretty much lived in it briefly when I lived in Iowa during covid um it's it's a wonderful uh if you like wings so all right thank you candidates now we are going to move on [55:29] to our closing remarks and each candidate will get two minutes for their closing remarks so we will begin with John Bermel [55:38] **John Bermel:** I just want to say thank you again for the opportunity uh this is a a good forum for people to uh to get to know us a little bit better it's been good to participate with two other candidates that have the best interest interests of our community at heart um and I appreciate uh their commitment uh to run for office and and to want to serve you know my priorities people ask what are your priorities my priorities quite simply are the things that you elect City Council Members to do uh pass a reasonable Levy support Public Safety support roads support our Parks and [56:16] Recreation to provide opportunities for people and a good quality of life um I'm really proud of some of the things that we've accomplished and what I've supported in my time on the council uh the finance policies I mentioned earlier that have led to a AAA Bond rating I hope people understand the impact that has on our community financially positive impact the park uh the uh successful Park referendum uh youth advisory commission we have now invited the youth into speaking into City issues uh that's huge for me the rental registration ordinance which I believe will help us keep our single family neighborhoods and our multi housing rental housing uh good in terms of quality of life and and [57:03] condition and uh The Envision Lakeville update was huge and this transition from a high from a paidon call to a hybrid fire department those are all things that I've supported that I'm very proud of us as a council uh that have done uh I love Lakeville I want to continue uh to provide solid leadership here I believe experience matters and finally uh if you have any questions about uh my positions on things things that you didn't hear answered here you can reach me at 612-790-180 or go to electjohnbermel.com thank you [57:48] **Amy Kenra:** John Bermel Dan Wolter [57:51] **Dan Wolter:** thank you I also want to thank the chamber again for holding this event for [57:49] bringing us all together and and also my fellow candidates for um putting their name on the ballot for stepping up uh to serve the community of Lakeville makes us a better Community uh because of it so I have had the rare and unique opportunity to represent the people of Lakeville now for 21 months on the city council and I was appointed to this position and that to me I think has put a higher burden on me in terms of what I do every day wake up every day trying to find new ways to meet people engage the community to listen to put my ear to the ground and my thumb on the pulse to understand what the people of this community want um I've I've tried to do that diligently uh on a daily basis um my uh priorities are threefold Public Safety fiscal responsibility and low taxes and quality [58:35] of life in that order I think we can do all those things I know it's not going to be uh easy to balance the tax challenges uh with uh with the needs of the community but I I feel like I'm up for that that task um I am new to Lakeville I moved here for the great quality of life and my job on the council is to protect enhance that quality of life and make sure more people can have access to it I get asked quite a bit about my yard signs which have a bulldog on that and I I have to plead guilty I just wanted to show off my dogs um and anybody who's talked to me for more than 10 minutes I will get the phone out and show you the dogs but the more they're English bulldogs and and Bulldogs are a rare breed they're never the most attractive or athletic person in the room or dog in the room they're not the smartest dog in the room but they're the most stubborn and they're often the hardest to convince [59:22] that I think reflects a little bit about my style of leadership I'm stubbornly committed to these goals uh that I've outlined tonight to make Lakeville a better place to live and we'll work tirelessly to achieve them so uh again if you want more information uh www.danwolter.com has more information I'm Dan Wolter I would appreciate your vote thank you [59:57] **Amy Kenra:** thank you Dan Wolter Drew Boxrud [1:00:00] **Drew Boxrud:** uh start off by saying thank you for having us here and uh just want to touch on a couple things so uh my previous employment I think is uh a great place to start working in a L and the EMS and the communications center my work with Woodberry and the engineering department has helped me work in a city to see the other side of the of the business I guess and then uh I I've also been a [1:00:09] police uh Reserve officer uh for Centennial Lakes up in the northern suburbs and like these two have both said I love this town um we moved here because you know we moved here from the east side of St Paul it was a good experience for the age we were um but we wanted to come here and raise a family and this is this is what we want and this is this is the place we want to be and the place we want to stay um when we are trying to figure out what our slogan would be for the campaign we were talking with one of uh one of my daughter's uh uh teammates and uh her mom said well your your slogan should just be well [1:00:56] trust him with our kid so you should trust him with the city um it didn't quite make the cut because it was too long but I I really liked it so um I would appreciate your vote if you need more information about me drewboxrud.com and uh everybody should vote coming up in November thank you [1:01:31] **Amy Kenra:** drew Boxrud well with that being said on behalf of the businesses and residents of Lakeville and the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce I would like to thank each of of the candidates once again for your desire to serve and for participating in this candidate Forum I would also like to thank the city of Lakeville and staff for the use of the facility and recording our forums as a reminder the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce is holding three candidate forums this year [1:01:42] Lakeville city council Lakeville Independent School District 194 Board of director Board of Education and a joint forum for House of Representatives district 57a and 57b all candidate forms are being conducted and broadcast live with rebroadcast on lgtv Channel 180 on Charter and on the city of Lakeville and Lakeville Chambers YouTube channels you may contact the chamber at 952-468-2020 for the link also an important note the Lakefield Chamber of Commerce has not and will not endorse any candidate in any election this year so on behalf of the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce board of directors I want to thank you for watching and please remember remember your vote matters we like to see you out [1:02:28] voting on November 5th thank you for watching and have a wonderful night [Music]