[Music] Thanks so much for joining us here on North Metro TV as local decision 2025 rolls on. And in studio now is Dale Stays, uh, running for Lino Lake City Council. He's an incumbent uh from the council. And Dale, we appreciate you stopping by. And we always like to start out by asking the candidates, why are you running and in your case for reelection? >> I am. Yeah. This is not my first rodeo. I'm excited about uh another four years of this because I enjoy getting into getting involved in city city governance. Um I feel like I can bring my experience to the forefront and um add value with the every transaction that I do and I like to be able to uh get get involved in uh local stuff and uh seeing all the changes coming. We've started a lot of large projects and uh like the water treatment plant and such and I'd like to uh see it to completion. What is Lino Lakes doing right at this point in time? >> Right. Uh we are keeping our community rural, but we are also in the world of growth as far as we have some new opportunities for um especially over on the 35 East side. We've got a lot of new development going on there. Uh we are definitely trying to keep our taxes uh every dollar spent as wisely as possible. Uh yes, we you know takes money to run a government, but we're trying to spend that money wisely uh so that we can u manage our funds effectively. Uh we've got some great staff. We got some great leadership within the city staff that run the day-to-day uh running of the city. And I'm excited about some of the new people that we've got on board. We we definitely our staff numbers have increased since the beginning when I first started, but with the rrookery and stuff that has really increased our numbers and uh I think the rrookery is another thing that I think we're doing well. It needs to be continuously improved just like everything, but uh uh those are kind of some things that come to mind. >> The uh city has come up with a master plan for the northwest main area. Uh are you happy with the uh with the vision of of that piece of land that coveted piece of land? >> The coveted piece of land that we've been talking about for a long time. >> Uh yeah, we've been uh planning that for a year. We took a year off from any development to occur. It's called a moratorum so that we could take that time to take resident input and understand what is it that that area should look like 30 years from now, 50 years from now. Um I think a 100 years from now we're not going to say, you know, I'm disappointed that we spent a year or two plan this out correctly. Um so we've got the master plan. Um there are some things that maybe should be tweaked a little bit. We've moved it over to uh master plan. We've done the AU which is the environmental assessment which is needed as well. And now we're merging it into the next phase which is the comp plan. The comp plan is really the guts of what that area is going to look like on paper so that when a developer or anybody that wants to come in, they know what the rules are that they have to do. Um, that area is definitely one of the areas we're talking about a lot, but it's going to be a slow process just like we saw Watermark. It took a long time that started before I started in 2012 and it's still being developed. So, uh, this is going to be an area that's going to be talked about for many years and, uh, we want to do it right. >> So, patience is the key. I mean, you'd rather be a year later than rush it a year sooner and maybe regret it. Am I right? >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Everything that, you know, everything takes time, especially when you take community input and stuff, which is very important uh, for that kind of area. Um, you know, we got to take the time to do it right. And there's a lot of entities that play that also want to speak their voice. >> Any other spots in the city that, you know, where development is a possibility? >> Sure. Uh, I think I'm excited about the area over by Wil, what we call the Wilkerson project over by uh, uh, County Road J and U 35E area. We've got a lot of big new development there. We've got a new bridge going in. We've got lots of new trails. We got roundabouts. three three possibly four roundabouts going in there. Uh that Wilkerson project is going to be a big one. It's going to be not in anybody's necessarily backyard. It's going to be on the side of Lo and it's going to be a nice area to serve a different kind of community that we maybe don't have and it's going to allow us to have our density where we want it and uh it's right now they're fighting over water and sewer and those kind of things because there's so many entities that are involved. >> Yeah. and logs. I know the city prides itself on having that that buolic charm where you feel like you're very rural, but you're in the Twin Cities metro area close to a lot of uh you know, >> shops, supermarkets, sporting events, theaters, etc. How do you find that sweet spot? Because the Met Council says by 2050 there could be, you know, a 30% increase in growth. So, you you're going to grow, but how do you do it the right way and maintain that small town? First of all, I appreciate North Metro showing a video recently of the 2050 plan and having Congress seeing the face of that North Metro North Met the Met Council person that represents our area. >> Yeah. Never had seen him before. So, it's somebody that we should be seeing more often because that entity is an entity that we want to make sure knows our needs and understands our desire to keep us uh not as dense as what they want us to be. Um, we have a road infrastructure that can't handle that much density and we have to make sure that we have enough uh slow slow growth in that area so we don't have issues with our water and sewer as well. Unfortunately, the Met Council manages the sewer aspect of it. So, >> do you feel like Lino Lakes moving forward can have an even better relationship with Met Council? >> Well, it's a a lot of it's a state issue. Uh Met Council is definitely an unelected body that doesn't um always play as well as what we as the municipality would like. Um, but I think uh we need to play a greater role with trying to tweak Net Council's idea of what they want for our area. >> Now, tax bumps can be inevitable. It looks like it's going to go north to the tune of 16%. Some of that uh related to uh you know, fire protection and things like that. >> It's a it's a tough pill to swallow, but can you rationalize it? >> Sure. So yeah, we when we first started, we had started uh back in 2012, we had a sub sub10 million uh budget. Now we're up to 15 million, I believe, is what we approved on uh Monday. And that we set the high point. We can always go down from now until December. Um but yeah, the fire department is uh an entity that they originally asked for 3 million. We got it down to under a million now. Uh but the fire department is an area that was lacking in the proper funding in the past and so we're playing a little catch-up with them. They've always been safe. Uh but we need to get our fire department up to the specs that uh Dan Lier who is doing a great job leading our group has made a case that we really want to make sure that we understand their needs and uh the fire is definitely an area that we're taking a lot of our bump from our increase. Um, also everything is getting more expensive, labor is getting more expensive, our insurance is getting more expensive, and um, yeah, we will have to see a bump this year. >> What uh, would you focus on if you get back on the council? Any any priorities? >> Uh, one is I'd like to make sure that we have in using North Metro as a tool uh, having more broadband choice. Right now, as you know, we if we want cable TV, we have to go to Exfinity and we as a municipality own the easements in the road. And so part of that tool is that we can use them for u understanding our franchises and being able to offer more uh fiber optics and offering greater broadband choice. Uh the other thing I'd like to see is a slowdown or a rec kind of uh consideration for the cannabis use for the city. Um, I'm not against cannabis because that's a legal that's a statewide legal issue, but I don't want our city to get involved on regulation, enforcement, and then also profit from it. So, that's kind of where I draw the line. Uh, there's going to be uh dispensaries in our city, I'm afraid, but we're going to I'm going to do what I can to slow it down and be but still be legal. Uh, but a lot of that's driven from the state. But, uh, that's one thing that I have a passion for to make sure that that area doesn't p, uh, in the next four years. You know, we have more of a cannabis kind of a feel in our city. Um, just, you know, especially if it municipal owned. Um, but, uh, those are two areas that I want, but I also think that our city is going to grow at a natural rate. And I think, uh, having that area by 35E and both by County OJ and Main Street is going to be an area that I'm really watching. And I think that's going to be a a good growth area for us. >> On the subject of cannabis, are you getting the kind of road map you want from St. Paul, the state capital? It seems to me that it's uh all these cities are out on their own island, >> right? Yeah. I don't I don't think cannabis is something that St. Paul's managed well. I think we need to manage it differently and it's really outside of our municipality control, but St. Paul's going to do what they're going to do and hopefully the smart legislators can um be able to handle this better. But uh I'm don't like the the effect of what cannabis does to a community. >> All right. There's a new uh catchphrase in Lo Lakes. Dark sky. >> Oh yeah. >> Explain that to me and it it sounds kind of cool. >> Yeah. So, dark sky is a concept where we want to keep our area so rural that telescopes work and that bugs and environmental stuff can uh work. I don't know if I am totally on board as far as turning off street lights and uh those kind of things, but in general, you know, the uh you know, you go out to the rural areas and the dark sky is a concept that uh some people are enjoying and I think our area is going to see a balance of that, but I don't know how it's going to actually be, you know, we're not turning off our street lights. or not. Um, you know, but we can maybe tweak the way the lights are controlled and those kind of things, but uh it's definitely a term that uh I learned this this uh campaign and um yeah, it's interesting. >> Do you feel like it might be an issue when you knock on doors and talk to voters? I think for a small group of people, but I think a lot of people, we like our landscape lighting, we like our normal lighting, we like, you know, there's a public safety element to having some kind of lit, but if we can balance that with a wide diverse people, I think, uh, you know, we can we can work multiple groups of people. >> Being an incumbent, how how have you uh grown into this position on the council? Yeah, that's a good examp good good question. I mean, I have learned a lot. There's so much boring stuff that goes on in government and there's so much exciting things that go on in government. Um, the areas of the an elected official has different uh responsibilities than a non-elected official does. We have a an election certificate from a legal standpoint. We can't say things that other citizens can say such as if we have a new development that's coming in until the facts and findings come out, we're legally bound not to be strong for it or against it because we haven't heard all the implications of what this development or this new business is coming in. So facts and findings is a term that they use legally that until an elected official gets the whole story, we're not doing justice to the private land owner to say, "Hey, we're against it." Until we've heard the whole story from staff, and that comes through facts and findings. That's just an example. It's something that I've matured over time. We can't just be a quick no on something or say a strong opinion like we might be tempted to online. We have to use judiciary prudence to make sure that we do it right. >> Is there anything about Lino Lakes that needs to be fixed or improved? >> Well, continuous improvement is something that I am a big fan of. You know, there's always things that we can improve on, whether it's um processes. I had my uh tires changed recently and I was getting a text message or a app that auto automatically told me when I was in the when my car was in a bay and when it was out and completed and that kind of stuff. Why can't we bring that kind of stuff to city government? When you're going through city, we need to modernize ourselves to be up to the same point where the private sector is. And that means having the tools in your pocket and maybe having less interactions face to face and more digitally using your phone or doing other things. And I think that's an area that I really feel we're going to have to evolve too. Government tends to be slow, but I think we can jump some hurdles if we have the right leadership and the right uh tools that are in place. >> And finally, your chance to look the uh voters in the eyes and say, "Hey, you know, this is why you should vote for me." Why is that? Sure. I mean, anytime you have more than two people in one room, you're always going to have different opinions. And I strive for understanding all the opinions. And I think I can do a good job of understanding what people's opinions are, and I'm asking for another four years to be able to take the experience that I do have with the city and take it forward. Um, I think, uh, I have some good experiences and some new ideas that I think would suit the city well. And uh if you support me, I would encourage you to put a sign in my yard and uh go to my website which is stage.com. >> Are you passionate about being a council member? >> I am. I I love the idea. Um there's a video on my website that says what if I don't win and it's a a video that's probably about 8 10 years old about a guy named Gerald who doesn't win and he's as boring as I'll get out. But he's uh enjoys talking about polit he enjoys talking about the city and all the intricacies of it. And my kids will tell you I'm really a boring guy when I start talking city stuff, but I do have a passion to talk about stuff that a lot of people may not understand. And most people want to talk about other things and sports and that kind of stuff, but I enjoy talking about uh how a city is run. >> All right. Well, thanks for joining us. >> Yeah, thank you. >> All right. Very good. He is Dale Stays, a Lino Lake City Council candidate, currently an incumbent, and this is Local Decision 2025. [Music] Heat.