Based on the biographical details provided in the transcript (former Apple Valley Police Captain, current Director of Security at Carleton College, and elected to the Lakeville City Council in 2020), the speaker is **Councilmember John Bermel**. [0:01] **John Bermel:** [Music] in the past I was a police captain for the city of Apple Valley Police Department I had a 33-year career there I retired in 2018 shortly after I retired I became the director of security and Emergency Management at Carleton College down in Northfield over the years in Lakeville here I've done a lot of volunteering heavily involved in Youth Sports Church scouting youth activities as my kids went through high school and all those activities were great because they helped me create a lot of solid relationships and really become a part of the community of [0:46] **John Bermel:** Lakeville so rather than just living here our family participated to the fullest and everything that Lakeville has to offer and it was it was really good what I found is I was kind of jonesing for an opportunity to serve and started considering running for Lakeville city council checked in with some of my close friends and I was encouraged to uh to give it a try and I got elected in 2020 so this is my first term on City Council there were no in terms of why I ran for Council there were no particular issues it was just a desire to continue to serve our community and to find a way to uh to lead I enjoy leading at a policy level it's exciting [1:33] **John Bermel:** in Lakeville we're a fast-growing community and there are lots of decisions to be made about the growth and how that impacts our future and that is really what attracted me to running for the position of Lakeville city council so in our free time my wife and I like to just take day trips we love doing that I enjoy camping like remote camping and I umpire baseball and softball and that keeps me really connected to the Youth Sports side of things and if I do have the opportunity I do enjoy making cheesecakes so in terms of my priorities on the council really it's the basics people [2:20] **John Bermel:** expect the city council to provide them with parks with Public Safety with roads with utilities all the infrastructure and so that is my main priority is keeping those things in sync especially with the growth in our community in particular the park Bond referendum is a significant development for our community and so paying attention to how that is being carried out particularly antlers Park we're very excited for that Avon Lee Park we're just starting some of the design on that and all the other parks and trails that are included in that those are my main priorities I really want people to understand that I'm accessible if you look on the city's [3:07] **John Bermel:** website under the city council page you'll see my email address you'll see my cell phone number I've had a great no number of conversations with members of the community we might not always agree but I can give you my guarantee that we'll walk away from that conversation and you will be heard and your perspective will be considered [Music] thank you