Welcome to the League of Women Voters Anoka County Commissioner District 1 Candidate Forum. I am Patsy Green, the forum moderator, and a member of the League of Women Voters of the New Hope area. I am I do not live in the district and I cannot vote in any of these can for any of these candidates. The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan civic organization, which does not support or oppose any political party or candidates for office. The goal of our forums is to help citizens become informed voters. All candidates for this race were invited to participate for the forums. Candidate Wayne Grimmer and John Heinrich are here tonight, uh and we welcome you to this forum. We will begin with two questions, which were provided for the candidates in advance. They have 90 seconds to answer each question, and we will start with John Heinrich. What is your motivation to run for this office, and what experience and knowledge would you help or knowledge would help you to serve effectively? >> Well, thank you for having us this evening, and first off, thank you to to you, Patsy, for moderating this forum and to the League of Women Voters for holding these forums to make sure that uh voters um are knowledgeable about the different candidates running. Um uh my background starts in uh service in the military once I graduated high school. Um always had a heart for service, and uh served in the Marine Corps for for 8 years, and uh two tours in Iraq in 2003 and 4. I was a field military police officer. Um when I grew up, I remember at an early age my grandpa, uh he served in World War II and he told me how important it is to serve others and and really commit your life to that. Things will come and go, but but people last forever is what he taught me. And so, I remember from an early age after he had showed me his Navy uniforms, I I knew that that was something that I wanted to do. My parents were My mom was a teacher and my dad was a pastor. So, I came from a family that really set the example of serving others and putting others first. Throughout my life, not just in business, but volunteering has been very important to me. I didn't get started in politics until I was asked to. There was an open seat for 35A and got started and served 4 years in the state legislature and now 2 years as county commissioner. So, thank you again for having us this evening and I'm John Heinrich running for re-election for District 1 County Commissioner. >> Thank you very much. Wayne Grimmer. >> Well, I too have been very interested in serving the public and serving other people. One of the things that I bring to the table is I have 20-plus years working as a project manager and one of the things that is key and important to that work is that you have all the responsibility and you have none of the authority. So, one of the things that I think is pretty critical when we're doing this work is that we have some authority as the commissioners, but we also are relying on the people that work with us and that work for us in their particular roles with the the county and that it's very important for us to elevate those people and make sure that they are successful and are able to do the work that needs to be done to be able to meet people's needs. So, I'm very interested in doing that kind of work, and that's where I'm going to leave it. >> Okay. The next question, what are your goals for the future of Anoka County, Minnesota, and we will start with Wayne Grimmer. >> All right. Um my goals for Anoka County are to really bring a fresh perspective into the mix. Um I definitely have seen a a lot of conflict going on back and forth between the city of Anoka and Anoka County, and I would like to see that change for the better. Um I would really like to see Anoka continue to develop. Um we've got an interesting mix of things across the whole county. Um in our district, we've got St. Francis, we've got Nowthen, and uh Ramsey, and then downtown Anoka. And each one of those areas presents its own interesting and unique challenges, uh and I think that it's important for us to acknowledge and work with each one of those particular uh individual um areas, and making sure that we're bringing something uh to the table that each of those respective uh populations values and and take uh and considers important. So, for example, uh St. Francis, they've been dealing with some uh safety issues. Nowthen is really in interested in preserving their rural character. Uh Ramsey is kind of an interesting mix of dealing with uh both a rural uh and a uh uh a core part of their uh uh development. And then Anoka is dealing with a lot of things that are around the county jail. I'll go ahead and bring that up. Uh and there's a lot of things that they need to develop and work through in that process as well. >> Thank you. John Heinrich. Do you want me to repeat the question? >> Sure. >> Sure. What are your goals for the future of Anoka County, Minnesota? >> Yeah, well, thank you. I One of my goals from very first start at Anoka County was to try to keep the property tax levy as low as possible while still being responsible to our over 2,000 employees at Anoka County and continuing the services that Anoka County is responsible for. A lot of the budget items that we have are pass-throughs from the state and federal government. And one of the big things that's been really frustrating is some of the cost shifts and the unfunded mandates that have come down from the state and the federal government. And trying to control those has been very tough. Right now, Anoka County is looking at possibly a under 9% levy coming up. We're still in budget discussions right now, but that's my goal. Coming off of a year, I voted no on my first year as a county commissioner to almost a 17 18 I think it was 17.9% levy increase. And so I've actually voted no against the last two levy increases and my hope is is that we can get around that 8% or lower number this year. So that's a big priority for me. It's not government's money, it's yours. And so that's the that's my mindset when I go into budget discussions is to protect the taxpayer dollar. Another big one for me is public safety and ensuring that we make sure that we protect the public and and fund our sheriff's office appropriately and county attorney's office. Thank you. >> Thank you. Yeah, don't hesitate to ask me to repeat a question. >> All right. >> So the next question is the county board has approved acquiring a segment a segment of Van Buren Street to expand the jail footprint. What is your position on the decision and the process used for making the decision and we will start with John Heinrich. >> Sure, thank you. So, when I first threw my hat in the ring to run for District 1 County Commissioner in 2024, I got calls unanimously from the Anoka City Council. I don't know that I've ever seen all of the council members agree on one thing and they they called and I said I'm going to have your voice and so I've been an advocate for other options. I'm going to leave my comments a little bit short on this as you probably know or may know this is in active litigation currently for Van Buren Street, but I do want the public to know that the jail certainly needs to be built. It's only myself and maybe one other commissioner on the board to be frank that have been willing to investigate other options other than the downtown Anoka option and keep in mind this is something that was um had already gone forward essentially before I was on the board in 2024. It's not all wrapped up yet, but there's been some thoughts out there by members of the public that said I signed a resolution that would spur off the jail project and I wasn't even around when that stuff happened. So, wanted to set the record straight there as well. >> Thank you. Wayne Grimmer. >> Um much like my colleague here, I I think that we are um we're leaving a lot on the table in not examining and looking at different options for where that jail needs to go. Um I feel like there's a um a lack of imagination there, we'll say, um in terms of looking at the different opportunities in different locations this could go. We've been given a gift by the legislature in this respect that the um normally we would have to have the jail within the county seat in Anoka itself and we've been given permission to be able to look at different options um outside of the actual county seat and I think that it is behooves behooves us to be able to go ahead and look at those options and find some different solutions that are not in the downtown and would allow us to redevelop and do things in downtown that would preserve the historical character. >> Okay. Thank you. The next question, as a county commissioner, what measures, if any, would you support to reinforce or ensure voter confidence in our elections? And we start with Wayne Grimmer. >> All right. Um, well, I think it starts with um not undermining our uh voter um confidence by calling into question things that uh we don't really it doesn't make sense for us to call into question. One of our um commissioners has done that. Um Mr. Reinert, uh and I think that that's unfortunate. Um I think that it's important to be able to work with our partners. There was a uh a visit with individual last week uh to visit the commissioner chambers and one of the meetings and be able to uh share and be able to express the things that they need to do to be able to make sure that our elections are fair and they are safe and uh are being handled appropriately. So, I think partnering with folks like Indivisible uh and with other election integrity uh uh folks are very important with us. >> Thank you. John Heimlich. >> Thank you. Yes, secure elections are not a partisan matter at all. Everybody wants to make sure that their vote counts and that every legitimate vote is counted and it's counted correctly. Uh at Anoka County, one of the things that we do to help ensure uh confidence in the elections is the state legislature requires four precincts to be randomly chosen in the post election review oftenly often referred to as the per. Uh but post election review you're required to have four legislatively. Anoka County has actually doubled that and it we are now at eight. And so what this process looks like to give some people some uh perspective on it and some confidence is that there are out of 124 I believe precincts, eight are randomly chosen out of a hat if you will. And then those uh ballots are are hand counted to make sure that everything's correct. And to my knowledge we have had uh no issues with that. There was one time where it was one vote off. It turned out to be a human error uh not the machine. So but I'm very committed to continuing working with all groups that are concerned. Any concerned citizen about not just elections but the other things that the county does, we want to be able to um uh talk with them and and try to work through those those concerns. >> Right. Thank you very much. Uh the next question. How would you vote and why on a resolution to allow cities to decide themselves whether to use electronic poll pads or to use paper poll books? And we start with John Heinrich. >> Sure. >> And let me know if you want me to repeat the question. >> Yeah, so this is the check-in system that uh that you're referring to for um either the way we used to do it forever was we we find our name in the in the poll book and I think we sign and it's a paper book versus electronic. Um I I do believe in city autonomy. I think that the cities if they want to do that should have to pay any extra cost that it would take. Uh obviously it would be a lot less efficient than the way that we've done it the last few elections with electronics. Um but if a city wants to, I think we need to make a road map for that. We we haven't done that but I've been one that said let's let's figure out what way it can make sense. We've had some cities just plain right res saying that they're not going to use the electronics. So I'm not sure exactly how that's going to end up working out. Um there there might need to be um um you know, a judge might need to make a call on that in the future, but just in general, I am for more city autonomy in in the sense that it might be appropriate. And again, they would have to bear any any costs, so that we wouldn't have extra cost to the county taxpayer for the extra time or or lack of efficiency it may take. >> Okay. Thank you. Wayne Grimmer. >> Um I would like to echo uh what John said. Uh I I don't think that there's any harm in allowing individual municipalities and areas to do their own thing as long as it follows the overall rules of the Secretary of State uh and the county rules for uh vote counting and elections counting. Um I will not belabor beyond that. That's that's all I have to say about it. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Discuss strategies you would employ to stimulate economic growth and attract new businesses to Anoka County. And we start with Wayne Grimmer. >> All right. Um I would say that uh the biggest thing is for us to be able to uh build our infrastructure um and make sure that the uh that supports the growth in the businesses that we have. Um one of the things that's really challenging is we've been kind of playing playing catch-up with Highway 65 uh for several years now in in the context uh that we built things up more quickly than the roads and the infrastructure can support. Um and so I think it's very important for us to to do that thing first, which is focus on roads uh and infrastructure to be able to support the businesses. Uh another great example was the Highway 10 corridor. Uh there was years ago where that uh had actually scared away a couple of businesses because uh the traffic was so bad that they were ready to go ahead and and establish a business in the area and decided at last minute not to. >> Thank you. John Heinrich. >> Well, I I do agree with my opponent uh as far as uh road infrastructure, that is that is certainly very important. That's one of the things that businesses look at. The the parking lot that was Highway 10 in the as you come through Anoka into Ramsey did scare a lot of businesses away. Um uh a gentleman actually, Jim Deal, one of the developers around there really helped. I want to give him some credit. Um he just passed away not too uh long ago and uh Wayne and I knew both knew him. Um and uh but he was really instrumental in helping bring that Ramsey Gateway project uh to uh Highway 10 and the third lane there really helps as well. Aside from that, we have um we have a economic development authority at the county. They need to be continued to be supportive. Some very sharp individuals that are um that are active in finding developers and um other partners in uh further developing Anoka County. Another one is just keeping our tax base reasonable um and trying to one of the things I'm committed to doing is lobbying not just here in our state, but also in DC uh to stop this uh cost shift and unfunded mandates. Uh that's really hurting not just us in Anoka County, but our local cities and another counties as well. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay, kind of along that thread, what do you see as the most pressing needs for infrastructure or capital projects in Anoka County? And we'll start with John Heinrich. >> Thank you. Well, my opponent, Wayne, brought it up, but uh Highway 65, we have got all turned our attention towards that. The before I was on the Anoka County board, I know they were very active as well as some of the others I mentioned, but um the other legislators and and um have come together and really got that project done. And so we're starting to see that that group really coalesce and have kind of one one voice and and one mission to get funding for Highway 10. We did actually just secure an $18 million grant for for I'm sorry, not Highway 10, but moving on to Highway 65 at at this point. So that's that's very important. I'll talk a little bit just quick about so there then county buildings. We do own some some properties and we've really been on trajectory because of the staff really in the past 5 or 10 years before I was around, they really started to nail down continuing plan on how to make sure that we maintain our buildings correctly. And so respecting that county taxpayer dollar and I'm just really proud of the team there that we've been able to invest in ensuring that our infrastructure stays up-to-date. >> Okay. Thank you, Wayne Grimmer. >> Uh would you restate the question? >> What do you see as the most pressing needs for infrastructure or capital projects in Anoka County? >> All right. I obviously I think the the biggest expenditure we're looking at over the next few years is the jail. We've got a huge amount of capital that is going to go against that. It looks like in the budget somewhere around $180 million at least earmarked to start with. I don't know what the full cost is ultimately going to be, but that is that is the big elephant in the room. So I think that there's that that is going to suck all the oxygen out of the room in terms of what the other capital projects are and we need to figure out how we're going to get through that and move on to the next part of the projects and things that need to be done. >> Thank you. Okay. What are the key environmental challenges Anoka County faces and how would you propose addressing them? And we will start with Wayne Grimmer. >> All right. Um environmental challenges, that can be read so many different ways. Um so on environmental, I'm going to look at this as kind of the the big picture uh and more of an economic thing. Um so realistically, one of the things that my colleague John mentioned is unfunded mandates. Uh I think that that is a huge economic challenge for Anoka County and for the municipalities within Anoka County. Um and that that seems like it's going to continue at least in the the near term uh under the current administration. Um and we're going to have to be really creative about how we um keep things low in terms of our taxes, um but at the same time making sure that we fund the things that people are really dependent on uh and uh are very important. >> Thank you. John Heinrich >> Thank you. So, one thing that's an environmental challenge, maybe I'm not sure if this was the um the aim of the the questioner, whoever asked the question, but um one thing that's on the radar as far as transportation goes is there was uh vehicle miles traveled uh legislation that was passed, I believe, in session of '23, and I really encourage the legislature to relook at that legislation. Um there are some just essentially regulations that um possibly are are unnecessary at some level. Maybe that legislation was put forward with the best intentions, but we're talking could be, you know, doubling the cost of some projects. And already with the skyrocketing cost of some of our transportation projects, um that could be that could be very harmful. Also, there's uh protected species um alongside of our roadways where there's different grasses that grow and things like that. So, for the legislature to work with us and and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and others that are that are have a stake at the table um to make sure that they're listening to our county engineers, not just Joe McPherson here, our chief engineer at Anoka County, but um a lot of the other counties throughout throughout the state um do have uh very sharp individuals that um can really lay out to the legislators maybe something that can make more sense and we can protect the environment and still have uh uh good infrastructure. >> Thank you. Okay. When funding is limited, how should the county prioritize affordable housing, public infrastructure, services for health, and public safety? And we'll start with John Heinrich. >> Yeah, good question. So, that's always the $64,000 question, I guess, is um how to uh cut up the pie uh cuz there's only so much and with the state and federal government again with so many cost shifts and and unfunded mandates, um there's about if we do end up passing a budget around 9% I could say upwards of 4% of that is just new cost shifts and and unfunded mandates. Um so, that makes it really tough. But yes, there needs to be a balance. Public safety is is obviously very important. Everybody wants a safe community. Funding our sheriff's office has got to take a priority along with our health and human services. A lot of that's more pass-through funding. And so, we administer the county really is an administrative arm of the state as far as a lot of our human services and and helping people take care of themsel- that have a tough time taking care of themselves. Um so, there needs to be a safety net there. That's very important. Um affordable housing um the county does own a few um buildings uh for that, but um we're working with the cities and our economic development authority to ensure that we do have the the right prop- the the proper metric of different housing options available. And then, as I talked about earlier, just the upkeep on the facilities that the county does own. >> Thank you. Wayne Gremmer. Would you like me to repeat it? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. When funding is limited, how should the county prioritize affordable housing, public infrastructure, services for health and public safety? >> Um you know, I I'm kind of a an individual that uh looks at this as a a holistic picture. It um we often look at things and say, "What's the priority here?" But, in when we look at the big picture, um none of the things that we're providing are truly optional. Um the health and human services, it's really critical. Uh providing affordable um living and capability for um for people who are aging with dignity is is a really critical issue in in our county. Um and, of course, um making sure that uh uh the sheriff's department has what they need to be able to do the things that if they need to do to make sure we're safe and and covered and protected are all critical things. Um so, I I think it's really important to look at it from a perspective of we have to do all the things, uh and we need to make sure that we're just working together to find the right solutions. >> Thank you very much. Um the county is very politically divided. How do you handle working with people who disagree with you? And we will start with Wayne Gremmer. >> All right. Um well, I what's really critical in this role, especially, is it is a non-partisan role. And one of the things I think we um often forget in this politically charged environment is that um there is a there are people who really truly uh care deep in their Oh, I got I saw a green light there and then it went away. Um that really truly care that uh things are maintained in a uh non-partisan way. So, I think it's really important to listen to everybody, uh to be able to um you know, try to find ways to solve problems together, and for us to work with each other to actually get things done. Um and that means, you know, not just listening to each other, but trying to meet people where they're at, uh and find the solution. >> Thank you. Uh John Heinrich. >> Thank you. Well, uh it's all politics, but certainly at the county, it's a lot less party politics. After serving in the legislature where I got a uh heavy dose of what partisan politics looks like from a first-hand seat, so to speak, um I'm actually very impressed with uh the staff and my colleagues I've worked with on the board um in just in the last uh under 2 years at the ability for us to do our best to put our best foot forward and put any party politics to the side. Probably 99% of anything that we vote on is not really party political, again, but it's all still politics. And so, what I've witnessed more is commissioners disagreeing on the politics of the day, on maybe the the right strategy, um or or the right ordinance or resolution, and it ha- it actually crosses both what you would figure a party lines a lot more than you think. One of the things I'm committed to is trying to start um a mantra of a rotating chair, where we can kind of take that party politics thing out of it and go maybe more on on seniority. The chair of the county board is is right now set up to be more of a figurehead name and yes, you might get more interviews, you sign off on things, but you're wielding a lot less power than maybe a normal chair of a legislative committee. If people want it's a little bit different than that. >> Okay, we have time for one last question and I'm trying to pick one that we can get accomplished before we go into closing closing statements. Um if new resources were available, which one area of county services would you feel most needs additional resources first? And let's see where where we we start with John Heinrich. >> Sure. Uh well, as more funding come becomes available, I'm kind of looking at this in the sense that maybe we had some of our own money still versus the keep saying it the unfunded mandates and the cost shifts. Um if those weren't there, we could invest a little bit better into our road infrastructure, um which would be important, but also supporting those that um really support our community members that are um experiencing um homelessness or lack of housing uh at the time. That's something that's kind of hit the radar locally in Anoka a little bit in District 1, but this is obviously not just a city of Anoka issue. Um this is um countywide and um the search for housing looks many you know, different to a lot of different people and so being able to work with our partners that have been proven um to really be able to help people where they're at, I think that would be a wise investment. >> Thank you. Wayne Grimmer. >> Um I would say and echo of the of the some of the similar things there, which is um I think focusing on uh homelessness, opioid addiction, um different things that cause homelessness, you know, mental health services. There's all kinds of things that we could probably be doing a better job of and I think it's very important for us to be able to invest in those things. One of the things that I I think that people get worried about you know and we've heard this from downtown Anoka where they they have some concerns about people who are homeless, who are out in the street in the very public areas where people can see them. I would encourage people who are seeing that kind of thing happen realized to realize that that is just the tip of the iceberg. They they are only seeing what they are seeing and there is more to it than that that needs to be helped. >> Thank you. We're going to move on to the closing statements. You have one minute for your closing statement and we will start with Wayne Grimmer. >> All right. Um so um my name is Wayne Grimmer and I am looking to be your next Anoka County Commissioner. I think that it's really important for us to work together to be able to get things done and I think that my colleague here has done quite a bit of work on the Anoka County Commission as a commissioner and I am looking forward to being able to do some similar things but from a different lens and perspective particularly regarding affordability and regarding aging and dignity and things like that. So I would really appreciate your vote this coming on and I will now turn things over to my colleague. >> Okay, John Heinrich. >> Thank you. Thank you, Wayne. And yeah, I appreciate you being here this evening. And again, thank you to the League of Women Voters for hosting these forums and for all of you that are watching at home or on your phone somewhere. And I'm not sure what time you'll consume this, but it's evening evening for us. So, good evening to everybody here. Um but I I really have enjoyed serving this community for quite quite a few years, four years in the legislature and now coming up on almost two as a county commissioner. The role of the county commissioner in a non-partisan space is really an opportunity to work with with everybody. And I feel like I've done that well. Looking forward to doing it if you'll elect me to another this term would be a four-year term. I took over for another commissioner and so I just finished off the last two years of his of his term. That's why talk about running in 2024, but this seat would be a a four-year term. Looking forward to still investing in safe roads and bridges for our community, keeping the public safe. It's not government's money, it's yours. Protect your tax dollars and the integrity of our elections and confidence in the secure elections are really priorities for me. Thank you again for having us this evening. >> Thank you. The League of Women Voters of Anoka Blaine Rapids area thanks Wayne Grimmer and John Heinrich for speaking to voters about the issues and running for office. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions. Also, thank you to QCTV staff for producing the video of this forum. If you're interested in watching more candidate forum videos or in learning more about League of Women Voters, visit our website lwvabcamn.org. We encourage you to share links to an of entire candidate forums. Sharing excerpts or clips is prohibited except for official media reporting. Information about absentee voting, in person and by mail, can be found on the Secretary of State's website mnvotes.gov. Other election information, including voter registration, can also be found on the Secretary site Secretary of State's website at mn votes.gov and at League of Women Voters vote411. Your vote is your voice. Make your voice heard by voting in the general election on November 3rd. Thank you all.