Good evening. My name is Susan Johnson and I'm a member of the Roseville Area League of Women Voters. I will be the moderator this evening for the Ramsay City Council member at large candidate forum. I do not live in the voting district and cannot vote in this election. The primary election will take place on Tuesday, August 11th. There are three candidates, Justin Doll, who could not be here this evening. Deborah Musgrove and Kelly Mahusky. All candidates were invited to be present. On behalf of our host, QCTV and the League of Women Voters, I want to welcome our viewers and candidates. This forum is being recorded by QCTV as a public service. A full unedited recording will be posted on the QCTV and League of Women Voters websites. Editing is permitted only for official media reporting. Candidate forum clips may not be used for partisan political purposes. The League of Women Voters is a volunteer nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government. We work to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influence public policy through education and advocacy. The League does not support or oppose any candidate or political party. The views expressed tonight are those of the candidates. Our goal is to prov to provide voters an opportunity to hear directly from them on issues that matter. If your questions are not addressed during the forum, we encourage you voters to contact the candidates directly. The questions presented this evening were submitted by the public in advance and selected to catch a broad spectrum of community interests. A randomized rotation will be used to determine which candidate begins each question. We will begin with two questions that were provided to the candidates in advance. Candidates will have up to 90 seconds to respond to each of the first two questions. Next, we will move to questions submitted by the public. For these questions, candidates will have up to one minute to respond. We will conclude with one minute closing statement from each candidate. Candidates, our timers will signal when you have 15 seconds remaining and when you are to stop. So, please finish your sentence quickly because time limits are quickly enforced for fairness. You will be interrupted if you continue beyond your allotted time. For our first two questions, we have 90 seconds and these are the questions you were given in advance. So I will start with question number one, which is what is your motivation to run for Ramsey City Council and what experience and knowledge will help you to serve effectively? And we will start with candidate Musgrove. >> Thank you. Um, first of all, I want to start by saying thank you to the league for hosting tonight's primary forum. And I want to say thank you to the residents who reached out ahead of time to uh submit their questions as well as those who will tune in to watch the forum on um tape. It is my hope that in the general forum we will be able to meet in the Ramsey City Council where you can be present. My name is Deborah Musgrove and I'm running for Ramsey City Council at large. I am a single parent to two adult married recently married children and I am a member of the Ramsey City Council Planning Commission. I take the job of being elected seriously. Um, and with that, I would like to um let you know what motivates me. Um, to serve our residents and businesses by supporting responsible growth in government, to ensure that Ramsay remains a businessfriendly friendly community, to keep Ramsay a great place to visit and to do business. And to support the basic functions of government, including our police and fire departments, while keeping taxes low. My experience sets me apart from my opponents. As a former city council member, I have experience with city processes and being an advocate for residents, having demonstrated common sense governing that respects property rights and individual liberties. And I look forward to sharing more about that during our conversation tonight. Thank you, candidate Mahuski. >> Thank you. And I also would like to thank the uh League of Women Voters and all of the volunteers today that are that are here to make all of this happen so people can be a little bit more informed about the candidates running. So I appreciate that. Um I'm running for uh Ramsey City Council at large because our family chose maybe 15 years ago to put our roots here and at that time my my children were quite young. My youngest was two and we really wanted to be in a place where we felt like we had a little room to roam. Um, and so it brought us to Ramsay, the the land that we live on, we love. Um, and it really my my whole life has been about if I am integrated into a community, I feel like it is um I don't know if it's a calling or if it's just um a huge desire to be a part of the decisions that are made for whatever part of the community I'm in. Um whether it be um I volunteered with the uh when my kids were playing soccer, I was the assistant director for the Anoka Ramsey um soccer league. And um so that was it's just something that I like to do. And so being part of city council, um I think my background has a lot to offer for city council. And my background is in finance and uh process improvement. I've worked on budgets. I've worked on system projects. I've worked on a variety of different things that really help directly contribute to somebody in uh council seat. >> Thank you. The second question which was given in advance is what are your goals for the future of the city of Ramsey? And we will start with candidate Mahusky. >> Thank you. Um my my goals for Ramsey, there's there's many, but I'm going to summarize them into three things. It's growing smart, spending wisely, and living well. Those are three things that are really important to me. And in talking to different people in the community, I feel like that's where we're aligned in what it is that we want for our lives within Ramsey. And I think about growing smart is really all about we know Ramsey's growing. The core is growing so fast. And it's about getting ahead of the growth and making solid decisions before the growth happens. Don't have the growth and then try to figure it out later. It's to actually choose and deliberately make decisions based upon what we want for Ramsay. Um, the spending wisely is really thinking not just about me. I'm a taxpayer as well, but the spending wisely is looking at the people that live in our community and we want to make sure that their taxes aren't high. We want to be spending on money things that they want to see in our community, which I know sometimes can be different, but we can if we talk to people, we can find out what they want for the community and how they want to spend our money because it is our money. It's not just mine, not just the cities. It's it's our money that's bringing it to the table. And then the living well to me is really about um making sure we have um beautiful parks, we have um great neighborhoods, we have a safe community to be in. So, those are the things that I would like to to see for the future of Ramsey. >> Thank you, candidate Musgrove. >> Thank you. Um, my big picture goal for the city of Ramsey is to continue to build on my commitment to maintain a fiscally responsible city. One of the things that I did or participated in with the council during my term was to uh ma or to establish a road maintenance fund. And this fund has made a significant difference in the funding and the um outcome of road reconstruction projects in the city of Minnesota or sorry in the city of Ramsey and it has helped with um making sure those projects stay on task as well as coming in under budget allowing for more projects to be completed. Um I support um governing with um wants over needs. And that sometimes is difficult. It is sometimes nuanced and in the weeds. But I think if we always look at governing with um what we want as a city as far as our wants versus lots of things that can be extra money um extra costs that are not needs um that can be more challenging to manage a budget. Some smaller, more specific plan or things that I support are the Mississippi bridge crossing. Um, with the recent legislation, the legislature has said that we can decide as a city to have 18 voting days versus 46. So, I support the 18 days. Um, as well as working on Highway 47 safety um and business develop and in that area um and completing some trail connections that have um been started. Thank you. Next question. Now, this next round of many questions I'm going to ask you haven't been given in advance. In today's highly partisan climate, how will you ensure that you represent the residents of Ramsay fairly and without bias? And this will go to candidate Mahusky to start with. >> Thank you for that question because I I think it can be challenging. Um I think one of the things that I bring to the table is um very strong listening skills. I've worked for a Fortune 500 company my whole career and we have I've been on different projects where if you don't listen you don't succeed. And so uh I think that's a really important piece. Um, an an example of of when uh listening has been important is a crisis group that I helped create in the last 6 months where we helped um individuals that were in crisis and instead of assuming we knew what they needed as time goes on. Change is always happening. Instead of assuming, we asked people, "What is it that you need? What is it that you want?" And I can see that same perspective. If we listen, we know what people want. If we don't take the time to listen, then we're not we we we're gonna always lead with what we think is best, but this is a whole community we need to speak for. Thank you. Candidate Musk Gro, >> can you repeat the question, please? >> Of course. In today's highly partisan climate, how will you ensure that you represent the residents of Ramsey fairly and without bias? Well, I think that we all come to the table with biases and I think that if we deny that, we're not being honest. I think that to listen to what people have to say before you make a judgment decision as well as get both sides of the position and sometimes that requires us to think outside the box even because there might even be a third or fourth better decision or idea. So I think that to come to the table with ideas, willing to listen and also finding um ways to think outside the box and how we can make things better for residents in Ramsey knowing that we all bring biases to the table will will be a better way to solve problems in Ramsey. Next question. What do you think will be the future of the Northstar station in Ramsey? And I'll start with candidate Musgrove. Well, I think there's a couple options. Um that uh it will no longer exist. Um not so sure about all of the details on that. Um or that it could possibly be a connection to um a bridge across Highway 10. I think that there um is a great uh opportunity for some decision makers to come to the table and look at what cost values um that area would bring and if we can make a way to um incorporate a few things into that um existing structure and make it work for the residents. I think that is a win-win for the taxpayers as well as for residents. >> Candidate Mahusky. [laughter] Thank you. Um to I'm going to be honest is I have no idea what's going to happen with it. I think um but I'll walk through the process that could happen that would make a decision about what would happen with it. It's people bringing ideas to the table, taking the time to listen, making sure that no matter what decision is made, we look at the budget like what do we get? What do we pay? We can't have more expense to the t and have additional tax burdens to the residents. So what can we do with that space that could actually benefit the residents and not be a tax burden? So I think it's it's conversation. What does the community want? What should we be doing with that space? I I love the idea of the the bridge that being a connection spot for the bridge, but that's an awful lot of space to just be a connection spot. So I think it can be more than that. Next question. With Northstar commuter rail no longer serving Ramsey, residents have fewer transit options and greater concerns about commuting and regional connectivity. How would you improve transit access for Ramsey residents? Candidate Musgrove. Thank you for the question. Um, I have not heard re residents in Ramsey complain about transportation with regard to the train. I know that it's transitioned through the county and the Met Council because fiscally it was not supporting itself. I do understand though that there are some things that can help with transportation in the city of Ramsey and that would be metromobility. I have heard from residents who said that Metro Mobility being extended out to Ramsey would be a good thing for them and being um able to have transportation through with Metro Mobility. So, um not sure if that's an issue that rises to the top where um we would be in the city of Ramsey discussing more transportation issues or if that would be more of a state legislature um uh discussion. >> Thank you, Candidate Mahusky. I think that's a great question. Um, similar to Deb, I haven't heard the day-to-day challenges that people are having, but I also haven't done outreach for people who are using it for business purposes. The the biggest complaints that I've heard is not being able to get down to games. So, it's to figure out what what is the gap now? understanding that gap. If you don't understand the gap, you can't really make a plan for something to replace that gap. So, it's really to take the time to understand that and then to tackle it. Um the metro mobility, I've heard the same thing them it coming out here is an attractive thing, but again, how will it be used if we if the train um wasn't being used that much? Is metroobility even needed? Like what does that look like? And it's all again about taking the information and um looking at the cost, looking at the benefits. Is there a need? I don't know what Ramsay's need is when it comes to to that the transportation. >> Thank you. Next question. Regional discussions continue about adding a bridge between Dayton and Ramsey to help ease traffic. Would you support building a bridge between Dayton and Ramsey to address congestion challenges across the northwest suburbs? And let's make this a lightning rod. Give me a yes or a no. >> Yes, I already said that in my opening statement on my goals for Ramsey. >> Okay. Candidate Musgrove or I'm sorry, Mahaskki >> is maybe a [laughter] with more information. That's fair. Okay. >> Yeah. With more information. I don't think it's I don't think you can say yes or no without more information. >> All right. Question eight. The Ramsay City Council has recently faced public scrutiny over partisan debates. How will you model civility and nonpartisanship? And we'll start with candidate Mahusky. Yeah, I think that's a great question. Um, I think it's setting strong ground rules. Are we speaking specifically about the city council meetings themselves or just in general? >> I'll repeat the question. Thank you. >> The question is, the Ramsay City Council has recently faced public scrutiny over partisan debates. How will you model civility and nonpartisanship? Yeah, I I think to be honest, it's to set it is to set the clear ground rules about what city council can and can't bring to the table. If there are partisan topics that are being brought, that's a question we should be asking ourselves as a city council. Does it meet the requirement that we've set as a council? Um I think about ethics. I think about um conversations like how do we behave together? I am a strong believer in having a strong uh ethic um policy that everyone needs to follow and there's maybe some ramifications if you don't. >> Candidate Musgrove. >> Thank you. I think I'll try to hit it. Not sure if um uh we'll hit the whole concept of it, but I think that the processes have to be laid out and that people have to be allowed to have discussions and even debates where people bring their different ideas to the table. We're not going to always agree on things. And the only way to get out some different ideas is to talk about them. There's been several opportunities for this to happen when I've been on the council where we've had different residents come forward with different concerns and we've had a process of being able to hear them, let them speak, us present ideas, the staff present um different concerns, safety concerns um and then we come to um a decision but everyone being allowed to be participators in that process and that process is what kind of directs the outcome. But I think being able to speak is important. >> Next question. Rising call volumes have strained emergency services, prompting the city to add staff, including a fire inspector, to help cover demand. Are additional steps needed? Candidate Musgrove. Well, first of all, I'd like to say thank you and welcome to the new fire chief in the city of Ramsey. Um, I did serve on the joint fire council when I was a Ramsey city council member and I understand the importance and the need um for fire services in Ramsey. Um, part of what changed for some of these increased calls is that um the fire uh department went out on medical calls as well as uh for fire alarms. So, um I think that knowing that and seeing the potential for that to increase, I think that um having the inspector on to be ahead of some of the problems has been a great asset for the fire department. Um I um know that there's a lot of intricate uh parts, moving parts within the fire department. So, I support them and I appreciate this um addition to their department. candidate Mahusky. >> Um, so the I guess my answer to the question is um do I do I support additional um firefighters? I think what Deb had said um Deborah had said was around um that they're doing calls that are not necessarily fire related but maybe medical related. So I don't know what other options are available to us. I know for mental health services, we do have the option to pull in county resources. So, I think it would be really great for us to look at what other options do we have that might be different than us adding headcount that would increase cost at maybe a greater level than using services outside of the city of Ramsey and see what those partnerships could look like with people who are already doing this role in other areas. Um, I think that would be one option. I don't have the answer to what the the final solution will be. I think it's important that we have a safe community. I don't think anybody argues with that. Um and if it takes extra headcount to do that, then that might need to be happening. >> Next question. What approaches would you support to address affordable housing? And we'll start with candidate Mahusky. Yeah, I think affordable housing, I think for all of time, has been a conversation. And I think that Ramsay needs to have um an option for affordable housing to keep a diverse neighborhood to allow um people who maybe are in retirement and they have a fixed living um and they they can't really increase their costs. they can't maybe afford um something, you know, prices continue to go up, interest rates are higher. So, it's um and I actually had I had a resident actually ask me about people who um you know, investors who are buying up homes and increasing the rent and that was a really big concern for them. And that would be something I'd like to really understand and learn more about because I think it's important for us to keep Ramsay families here. We need to have affordable housing. I don't know what the right answer is, but it needs to be explored. >> Thank you. >> Candidate Musrove, >> would you repeat that question, please? >> Certainly. What approaches would you support to address affordable housing? So I think some of the approaches that would have to occur to affect the affordable housing in the city of Ramsey actually happen at the legislative, state, and federal levels. Um there are policies that are not um geared towards uh affordable housing. um the the things that we can influence and affect on the city council level um are are little in comparison to what the state legislature, maybe the county, but I think the state and the the federal government um we have a lot of different types of model um housing um options in the city of Ramsey. Um, and so I think that Ramsay um has done well with growing the city housing um and variety as well as maintaining our rural u atmosphere of the amenities that people have come to Ramsey for. Okay, next question. What would your priorities be for redevelopment and revitalization in the city? Do we have 10 minutes left? Is that correct? >> Okay. What would your priorities be for redevelopment and revitalization in the city? And I'll start with candidate Muski. Part of me wants to say it's it's happening already. Um the core is is growing at leaps and bounds. The splash pad opened on July 1. I think it's to continue to grow brings more growth. oftentimes I think where I would really love for Ramsay to be careful and what I would like to participate in just I'm a very strong checks and balances person is as we look to grow don't make fast decisions if it's not the right thing for Ramsay it's to slow down and I don't mean to stop the pace the growth and development is something that's really serving our residents um but it's also to take the time to make the right decision for Ramsay so if a business comes in and they are very excited about being here, but they're not the right business for Ramsay. I think we need to make sure that our council is listening to the people to find out what they want in our city. >> Candidate Musgrove, >> I'm super excited about all the growth that's happening in the core. Um, when I first got on the council, we worked hard to try to bring in businesses and we've set in um motion some policies and some directives. I think that helped that one. We said that um we're going to look after our roads and our parks and we established a park re um rehab fund where we're going to keep um and maintain our parks and we're also going to look at our roads and infrastructure because the people that want to come here want to know that our city is wellmaintained and I think that helped put aside a lot of issues that were bubbling at the top but not really working well for the residents in Ramsey so we could focus on bringing in businesses and we have done that and it's been a pleasure to see the growth in the core businesses the amenities that residents in the core have wanted are here and we are excited to share in those. Okay, next question. If someone comes to you wanting a change in a city code, how would you go about deciding on that matter? And we'll start with candidate Musgrove. So, the city code um can be changed in many ways. It's usually a process. Staff does a lot of background research for us as council members um and we take to heart some of the things that residents bring us because they are very good ideas. I'll give an example. We had a developer come in and and let us know that our city had a way higher um saw uh management um plan with new developments versus other um cities. And we looked at that as a council and staff and compared the the differences and because of that we were able to adjust our code to a more reasonable um uh requirement. for we have residents come in and talk about different concerns that they have with the code and we go through that same process inquiring getting staff information finding out what works well. We recently had one where we are going to be doing a different type of tree inventory for some of the heavier more dense areas of trees in the city of Ramsey. >> Thank you candidate Mahowski. So, I would I would say I don't think I would jump right to how do we change the code because we have to understand the why somebody would want the code changed. We'd need to understand is that what most residents want? Does it make sense? So, I think it's important to listen to our our residents for sure. And I think it's important to understand where they're coming from because sometimes changing a code might actually not be the answer that's needed. And changing a code takes time. Maybe it's a simple change in process. Maybe it's something different than changing the code altogether. Thank you. Next question. Give examples of how you have been able to work productively with those who do not share your opinions. Candidate Musgrove. Thank you for that question because being on the council means that of the members on the council, we bring together our different ideas and we do not always agree. And I can say that I have worked with council members that I agree with as well as those that I do not agree with. But being able to come to the table um being forthright about what um your position is on an issue, being able to have those needed discussions has been very helpful. And um I think it we spend way less time trying to get to a point of a conclusion on a decision when we're we're honest and forthright and just bring those um issues out. Um so I think we have worked well as a um council when I was there because we we knew and respected each other enough to be able to have those difficult conversations in order to come to a resolution that was best for the citizens of Ramsey. candidate Mahaskki. Yeah, I would say almost every day in my in my role um in finance is that I mean part of part of what we we do as a company is we bring different minds together to challenge each other and I think that without that we wouldn't come to the to the right space right the the right conclusion for for the company I work for and so I think it's really important to understand where people are coming from the why behind their opinions. Um because if we don't understand the why, we're going to we could just chase back and forth about um the same conversation over and over again. But understanding the depth behind their their opinion is really important. I also think what is really important is that when somebody has a has um an opinion about something, I think it's really important to understand that that's a point in time, right? We all have agile minds. We all have difference of opinion. We learn more. We we um talk to more people and it's important to just let that let that be known. >> Thank you. >> Do you agree that it's important to attract more businesses to the core while limiting additional town homes and apartments? Why or why not? and we'll start with candidate Mahusky. >> I don't think I can answer that because I don't have enough information. Um, so some of the things that I would consider is do we have enough businesses to support what the residents of the core want? But it isn't just the residents of the core. I'm in rural Ramsey and I go to the core and enjoy what's there as well. So I think it's not just the people that live there. Um, as far as the number of houses that are there, I'm seeing developments not just at the core for housing in Ramsey. So, um, I'd be very curious about whether adding more businesses, um, I don't even know if the houses are all full right now. Those would be all kinds of questions I would ask to really be able to to state my deci, my thoughts on that. Um, but it would be really digging into the information, the statistics that are already available. I'm sure with some some polls from the systems at city hall. Um, so I don't know the answer to that, but I do think people are enjoying the growth and the businesses that are coming. The variation of businesses is is making people happy. >> Candidate must grow. >> So part of what dictates whether we're going to have more houses in the core or more businesses and retail um or otherwise is our zoning map. And so some of the areas in the core um are zoned for housing, retail um etc. And once the uh retail, excuse me, the housing is completed, we are not going to be having more growth in that area for um residential h housing, high density um building. I think what's mostly left is uh retail. Um, and I think that we're going to continue to see more retail um, come into the business or into the core area and support um, Ramsay. And um, I think that what um, is really nice is some of the amenities that are coming in there now are ones that people have asked for for a long time. And I don't want to name any specific ones, but I think residents are very happy and pleased with some of the retail that is um is present in the Cornell. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um I'll ask one lightning round question. Should the city fly the new state flag, the old state flag, or no state flag? And we'll start with candidate Mahusky. I would fly the new state flag. This is way more information is needed than a lightning round question, [laughter] but I'm already on the record as saying that I do not believe the process was good for bringing the new flag to the state of Minnesota. I have already voted for the old flag or the traditional flag. And um I would just encourage people to go look at the seal and how that has changed and there's no controversy with it. >> Okay. You each have one minute to give closing statements and we will start with candidate Musgrove. Thank you uh again to the league for hosting um tonight's forum. Thank you to my opponent for uh participating as well as Justin for participating in the race. Most of all, I want to say thank you to the many residents who have connected with me already while I have been out campaigning and who have pledged to support my campaign. In this race for Ramsey City Council at large, I am your conservative candidate. With your support on August 11th, I will advance to the general election. I am confident through conservative governance, Ramsay will continue to be a great place to live, to do business, and to joy our rural community natural amenities. I respectfully ask for your vote on August 11th. Vote for Deborah Musgrow for Ramsey City Council at large. Candidate Mahusky. >> I'd also like to thank um each of you for being here tonight and for those who are going to be watching later, people who submitted questions. And I I think it's really important to recognize that those questions really matter for people to make um an informed decision. It's the first step. And I think like Deb said, getting out there and campaigning, people can really talk to us and understand what we're about and to see um who is right for for their vote. Um I'm really running again because our family, you know, put their roots here. I really believe that um I believe in our neighbors. I believe in future generations in Ramsay. Like I really hope as my kids have become adults, I hope that they come back to Ramsay and and stick around. And so I really want to build a Ramsay for them and for my grandkids that I hope to have someday. Um I really believe that we have some amazing things in this community. Um one of the things that I would say is that just my my background within finance and budgeting and working with people change management has a really good fit for what a council member would do. So, I hope that you I can earn your vote. >> Thank you. I want to thank all of the candidates, those that were here speaking to voters and those who could not be. It takes bravery to run for office. You have to put yourself out in front of the public. You have to express your opinions. That's not an easy thing to do. So, congratulations on being candidates. Two candidates will be chosen in the primary election to go on to the general election. We want to thank QCTV for video production this evening. We appreciate your time and your expertise. Thank you to all members of the ABC League of Women Voters for their work in making this forum possible. There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to do one of these. Viewers, thank you for your interest in becoming informed voters. If you need to register to vote or update your registration, you can do so online at vot11.org. That's vote411.org. If you are interested in the League of Women Voters, visit our web page at lwvabcmn.org. org. Again, that is lwvabcmn.org. Most importantly, please vote.