My aim in running for office is to keep Ramsey a safe and fiscally responsible city. By supporting policies that keep taxes low, focusing on city needs, supporting the police and fire departments.

I have had a history since moving here of jumping in where it makes sense at the time. My strongest skills for this specific position is I've had 25 years in finance. I have been I've done budgeting. I have done project projects. I've done managed capital. I have done a lot of process improvement, which I think is really a great thing because I know this the city um administration does a great job at bring bringing different things to the table, but process improvement saves money.

I think it's really important when I have someone say to me, I may have to leave Ramsey with my family because we can't afford to stay here. I care about that. I care about that deeply and I hope that the rest of our council cares about that and we take it seriously and that we look at how we're spending our money.

While out listening to the residents when campaigning, I hear residents concerned about fast growth in Ramsey and how the taxes are continuing to go up and they are not seeing a direct benefit. Concerns range from increased traffic, unsafe use of e-bikes on the sidewalks and parks, and their streets is not on the 10-year road construction plan, to name a few.

But I would encourage all residents to go out and look at the Ramsey summary statement. It's from the Met Council and I have posted it on my website musgroveforramsey.com. You can click on the Met Council Ramsey 2025 summary statement and there you can see what Met Council is guiding for the growth in the city of Ramsey. This is the Met Council's projections. And as a council, I will advocate for less of that overall growth, understanding that growth comes as purchase agreements or plans or projects come forward.

That's a great question, and I think the next 4 years will build the next 20 years. So, it's to not just think specifically about the next 4 is what I would say that 2050 plan is probably a better a better way to envision what Ramsey could be. [...] Another area is um protecting rural Ramsey. That's a really big conversation that I have when I'm in when I'm in Ward 1 is just and it's not that they they don't want any growth. It's more around like keeping those large lots, keeping it rural.

A mandate is a mandate, right? We we have to um we have to work with with what the mandate tells us, and if we don't have the funding to go with that mandate, we're going to have to figure out other ways to pay for it. Does it mean an automatic increase to taxes? Not necessarily. We could get creative. We could put our heads together, especially if we could bring our community together. I suspect that people would have ideas of other ways to save money.

Um of course, mandates are an increased tax on residents without them having really an input in it. Um I say that sometimes it's worth pushing back on. I know that we've pushed back before as a city council on mandates from the state. I think that that does have an impact on what legislators at the state do to communities. I think working with our legislators is important, having a relationship with them. That is how we got Highway 10 funding.