[Music] we're going to do something that we haven't done yet which is let the candidates introduce themselves we'll start with Patrick Benner please Patrick tell us about yourself uh good afternoon everybody uh my name is Pat Benner uh I've been living living in Apple Valley now for about six years uh moved here with my wife Ashley we now have a beautiful 2-year-old daughter aah we're very excited to have her uh grow up here in Apple Valley we have a really awesome school district and also some pretty awesome neighbors uh my job my profession is working for asme Council 5 we are a labor union that represents public employees and my job is to get our members plugged in at the state capital actually working directly with representative huitt uh and representative Beerman to uh pass pro-worker legislation and I just like to bring some of that down here to Apple Valley council member Ruth grundal thank you thank you to the chamber once again for holding this forum because it's just wonderful for the community to hear all of our views U Ruth grundle I've lived in Apple Valley since 1988 um along with um council member um Goodwin both of us have Masters in public administration I have undergraduate degrees in urban and Regional planning and in political science my ba and Bs are interchangeable and I try not to use BS with the political side political science side of it I think for those of you who know me I'm a I'm a straight shooter um currently um Tom was here 40 years I've been here 27 years on the city council um so I guess I'm kind of the Newbie just kidding but the two of us always kept active um in representing the city on the state and not just locally but on the state and federal level and currently I chair the um National League of cities um energy environment and natural resources committee I also serve on the there was asked this year to also be one of 13 people across the country to serve on the leadership um for the national league of cities nom nting committee and I'm on the board of directors there um I have a very diverse background um I served as a board of direct Board of Directors for the Minnesota state colleges and universities where I was the elected vice chair um we were at the Fourth of July parade one year and there was a um gears um for the Metropolitan Transportation grants um which no longer exists it was ctib and gears and council member Goodwin came up and said you have to run for this position um it's the most important one could represent the City so I was elected from all of the cities in Dakota County to serve on the um to review Metropolitan Transportation um grants um I also um chaired the Minnesota livable Community advisory committee for 5 years um being shared doesn't mean you get grants but it means that you understand the grant process and um and can um have a better chance of receiving and the first year I think I was there we received the money for the splash pad at Kelly Park so anyway I'm staying active and continuing in new things and representing this city thank you Lisa Heber first I'd like to just say thank you to the chamber and Bogarts for hosting the candidate Forum today my name is Lisa Hebert and I have lived in Apple Valley for over 21 years with my husband Chris raising our son Ryan who is a senior this year in high school I believe I'm a strong candidate for city council because I'm a skilled collaborator who can bring people and businesses together to solve problems and improve our community I'm currently the chair of the Apple par Apple Valley Parks and Recreation advisory committee which I have proudly served on for five years and I'm really proud and enatic that um had hand and helping to plan and do the research to present uh the voters and the residents of Apple Valley with the parks Bond referendum that they passed and we now have $73 million to improve our parks and facilities in Apple Valley in addition to serving my Apple Valley Community I know firsthand how cities must work with the residents and businesses to get things done I do it every day in my role as a the public information officer and public services manager for the city of St Paul public works department I am looking forward to combining my volunteer and my professional experience in a new way as hopefully city council member um to serve my community here in Apple Valley thanks John redle well thanks again in uh chamber and Barts a great venue here as always uh my name is John rexal uh married to my wife Carol uh for 30 plus years we raised two children here in Apple Valley they attended 196 schools and we were very pleased with their experience here uh all in all been very happy with uh our entire experience here in the South Metro a little bit about my background for my education I was a career law enforcement officer I uh went to Inver Hills Community College obtain an associates degree I went back to school and have a bachelor's from Mardi University later achieved a master's degree with the University of St Thomas I also attended the FBI National Academy session 227 while I was employed with the city of Apple Valley um my background is working in local government I've had a lot of experience interfacing with our city council uh I've worked collaboratively with all levels of government especially around Dakota County but at a state and somewhat at a federal level uh I can get into more of that with you uh just looking forward to the opportunity to serve or continue to serve this community and I'm not I don't have an ax to grind I've been very happy with the way Apple Valley has been run uh our council's done a fantastic job I learned that uh Tom Goodwin was not seeking re-election thought oh that's an opportunity I'm going to to put my name on the ballot there public safety Public Works and parks are safe with me I'm going to make sure we keep them strong thank you I'm glad you brought up Tom Goodwin Tom has served as well um I'm going to ask a question that Tom has asked uh at a number of these uh events why would anybody want this job I'm going bounce around a little bit and um uh pass my questions out to so there'll be no specific order so just uh relax and and I'll call in you uh Pat what do you see the biggest challenges facing Apple Valley for the next 20 years uh so I think the challenges that we are facing uh over the next 20 years is probably just uh you know progressing towards a more urban environment we don't have too much space left in Apple Valley with which to develop um and a lot of cities uh can struggle uh when growth stops um so I think that uh we should probably be targeting some uh more creative uses for zoning uh perhaps looking at combining residential and Commercial uh real estate uh so we can get housing on top of some of our businesses um which is not a particularly new idea it seems to work well in Rosemount in Burnsville uh but it could just be a way where we can tackle uh crippling housing on affordability uh at uh as well as uh possibly make Transit and sustainability all baked into the plan uh and make Apple Valley just a little bit more livable uh for folks like my daughter uh when she graduates from East viiew Lisa the world is changing and people are working from their homes and it's becoming more common what can the city do to improve internet speed safe delivery services and office services thank you I I think again people are working from home and we do have people going back to the office and really we are in a hybrid work environment so I think maintaining that flexibility um I do think that there's a lot of options and well we don't have a lot of options here in Apple Valley for our choices for how we're served with our internet and and um I just think that there is more opportunities for people to to um definitely explore that um I I think also making sure that there is spaces for people to do a lot of business and networking um we have great restaurants we have great coffee shops we have great businesses we don't have a lot of good community spaces or business networking areas I think that that is an opportunity to allow people to get out of their homes as well and and network and connect with businesses and other people as well council member grundal um what do you see the excuse me what's your vision and the needs of Apple Valley over the next 10 years I think one of the biggest issues we're facing right now is the Pea's chemical contamination in our water and it could cost a Apple Valley 16 Mill million and this is one of the issues that we've been dealing with on the um Federal advocacy level um I my name on letters to US senators I don't even know who they are I'm asking to um have um a limited liability um for the cities because we are not the ones who caused the problem and we're the ones that are having to clean it up and right now we're doing um a study of what it's going to cost us here in in Apple Valley so I think that's going to be a long-term um issue of how we um clean up our the water situation we have had several Wells that we've had to close due to contamination and so I think that's probably one of the biggest issues our water water quality thank you John rle the City of Minneapolis has just hired the first police officers that were not citizens of the United States as Apple Valley becomes more diverse will you support non-citizens working for the Apple Valley Police Department sure if they pass the background and if they meet the training criteria uh always want to be able to reach out to different segments of your community and if you have somebody that previously or still still is a member of that Community you can be far more effective with your communication and getting the facts and information you need uh out there for just crime prevention or in an investigation so yes Pat have you ever attended a city council meeting uh I've only watch them online I've not attended in person I'm afraid to admit okay thank you and Pat what skills do you possess that will make you a good city council member uh so uh like I mentioned I work for asme Council 5 as a legislative representative my job is to make government work for working people um so I have extensive experience in getting bills through a committee process uh you know running through a committee like hearing just you know abiding by Robert's Rules and Masons and that kind of thing and understanding what motions are proper and what aren't uh as well as just having a passion for a lot of different issue areas where uh I think there is some work that has been left undone over the last few years um my my background really is uh getting regular workingclass people into the capital to navigate really challenging bureaucracies uh and difficult scheduling issues uh and just making them feel heard by their government which I know a lot of folks really struggle with thank you John rle what should Apple Valley do to provide better job opportunities and fairly priced housing for its residents the better job opportunities I think you get behind your small businesses I've seen development through the years here in Apple Valley with some of these business campuses uh do whatever you can to help with the zoning and with developers coming in and producing those products is or if the small businesses succeed so does your uh so does your city so does your Society um the second part I'm sorry I'm blanket that uh fair fair price housing fair price housing that's a tough nut to crack because the land values are so higher so with new constructions it's very difficult to meet that price point currently though we do partner with the county uh for housing so if people are in need of housing assistance they can receive vouchers which will help go toward the rent as far far as purchasing homes there have been some creative programs in other suburbs uh I know Northern Dakota County had some type of programs where they had help first time home buyers uh would like to see or look into doing something that with like that with City staff uh also maybe look at some type of a grant program if we could get funds available to help people uh remodel or upgrade existing housing because we do have housing stock that is aging out in Apple Valley and is need in need of some attention thank you council member grandall what kind of process do you go through when you look at the budget the increase in tax taxes that are necessary to keep the city running what kind of steps do you take personally well I have to laugh because when we came in here today um council member um Goodwin said he wanted to do a letter to the editor and supported me and it was going to be one line tight with a buck um like I say um my education is in U public administration and um I spend quite a bit of time on our budget going through it and I ask a lot of questions um sometimes I'm not sure if they're welcome um but we actually did zero based budgeting with the um um with the police department many years ago and I know it's a lot of work I'm not suggesting we do that with all departments but I really think that we should always start kind of at zero and start working up what's working what isn't instead of always saying this is our budget let's add to it um so I guess it's just scrutiny of the budget great thank you Lisa Hebert what's your solution to make Apple Valley a safer place to live work and play I love Apple Valley and I I think we do have a great place that we can live work and play and it is a safe community and really appreciate the good work of our police and fire that do keep us safe every day I think making sure that we are one working together with them um I know that they do a great job of getting out and educating and working with the residents and the businesses and providing those services and I think that's first and foremost key that we keep that going and that that dialogue um the second thing is also making sure that they do have the right resources training and support to continue to Serve and Protect and make our community as safe as it can be and whether that's you know making sure that they've got some tools um you know Naran things like that that that are really important to address all the different changes and and issues that we could face and that they're ready for it council member grandall we've just built a new fire station we've got a police station coming on board where's the money coming from how are we buying these things the the money is coming from bonding and everybody will be expecting with the parks referendum and some of the um infrastructure needs that um I think our taxes have been very low um in comparison to most cities in the metropolitan area and we are going to have to be bonding for um for some some much needed um infrastructure in Apple Valley um so it's going to be bonding thank you did that that was a question yes where's it coming from bonding yep good uh can I say one more thing sure um so um the good news is that Apple Valley we have um two AAA Bond ratings with Moody's investors and S&P Global rating and so once again in August it was reaffirmed with our AAA Bond bonding um rating which helps with what we pay um for the bonding dollars so it does save um taxpayers dollars that we do have um ample reserves and things that these National rating organizations um find us to be I guess they reir reaffirmed to my saying we have strong financial management practices and an ability to maintain stable Financial operations so we do have challenges ahead of us thank you so John based on that we do in Apple Valley pay some of the lowest taxes in the county are there Services we're not getting as a community I don't believe so uh I would just like to point out though with your tax bill and I'm very aware of how the budget works by the way many years of experience in that uh in that area but uh with Apple Valley you actually get a little bit more than a lot of other cities you don't get assessed for your roads they come through to uh rebuild your road reconstruct that and put in new sewer and water you don't get an assessment for that that is included in the general budget I think a lot of people miss that point that's a big deal I get elected I'm going to make sure that does not go away uh as far as the public safety uh area we are fantastic and it's not about numbers with police officers and fire it's about quality you hire topshelf people you train them well and you equip them well that's how we operate in Apple Valley we're not the biggest numbers wise but we have a very professional staff good thank you Lisa what skills do you possess that would make you a good council member first and foremost I am a collaborator I'm a people person I love community building and I love Apple Valley um as I am really proud again that I have been serving in Apple Valley and the parks and recck advisory committee and also again working with in a city um I I believe that I do have a unique set of skills that I use every day to bring residents and businesses together and I am not afraid to ask the tough important questions do my research and actively gather input from our residents and businesses and again the key I think is collaborating and communicating with people to address the current concerns and needs that they have so we can all work together to improve our community now but also I think it's really important to be planning for the future and what those needs and challenges might be John the city draw is sometimes measured by its restaurants entertainment night life do you feel Apple Valley's done enough to bring and support the food and beverage providers such as brew pubs night life entertainment I think I think we stand up favorably but I'd like to see more I'd like to see us become a destination uh there's a lot of travel in around the South Metro Area especially you get just north of the river and if we can draw people down here I we have some attractions like the zoo uh we do have some good restaurants around here but let's encourage more of that we had a brew P or two that wouldn't hurt either I always like to see additional businesses in town and keep people here that live here not spending their entertainment dollars here but also draw people from outside great thank you Pat are there services that we're not getting in the community because we're not spending enough at the at the city level well I'm actually really more concerned about uh about the public the public employees that we have here in Apple Valley uh they actually presented to the city council talking about how their family health insurance has become unaffordable and I believe this is also an issue that is affecting our Law Enforcement Officers um It's a situation where some of these guys are losing $1,000 uh a month out of their paychecks to have their spouse and their children uh be covered on a okay health insurance product uh it's a situation where uh many of them feel like it is about time to leave uh because they simply are looking for someone who will uh treat them a bit more respectfully and recognize that they want to be able to have their families on this public health insurance option um so it's an area where I think uh it wouldn't take too much money but we might be able to really make a difference in these uh these guys lives council member grandall what's your favorite places in the city to spend time does that mean we're advertising for a certain business sure Bogarts we love Bogarts okay um I don't know that's that's probably the toughest question and I spend a lot of time in the city um one of the things I like about the city is I in a half hour I can be the two Banks Target Walgreen Walmart Walgreens and be home um because we're a nice Square um city as I think of the favorite place I suppose I could could say City [Laughter] [Music] Hall I do enjoy um our our our Parks I mean uh I I enjoy our parks and I spend a lot of time great we're going to take this time now to let you do a closing statement and um we're GNA send you off as a candidates for city council and we'll begin at this end here John rle tell us why you want to be on the city council well uh I started working here as a patrol officer in 1987 concluded my career in 2022 um that's about 35 years uh worked through the ranks I've worked with the citizens of uh Apple Valley throughout that time as a patrol officer as interacting with people not always in a pleasant way but uh you have to know the community quite well and know every every nook and cranny of this town and then as I Advance through the ranks so you've got to know people at different levels including interacting with some of the folks here a lot of the business people so love the community call it home raised our kids here I said that already love the school district I love the parks I wish I had Ruth's question there we spend a lot of time in levanon Hills not all that's in Apple Valley but really do enjoy the park systems and we have a couple of gorgeous Parks right here that belong to Apple Valley so it's it's a great place to live uh I've got in my brochure too keep it a great place for Community let's keep it that way it's a great place keep it great for youth Working Families and seniors and one other thing I am a team player I know how to work with others and collaborate on things I have a great deal of experience especially in the Emergency Management Area when the chips are down I've been there and I've done it you know what it was like going through Co in the civil unrest I was in a leadership position I don't say I did everything uh but I worked well with other team members and we accomplished a great deal during that time especially here in Apple Valley so I was proud to be part of that I think I still have more to give thanks thank you Lisa Hebert thank you again thank you to the chamber and Bogarts for hosting us um in this forum again I I really want to keep Apple Valley as the city of choice for people to first and foremost live here work here do business here recreate and enjoy all the amenities that we have in apple vality and to do that we go to we keep the basics and we work with you as residents and businesses to get the job done of making sure that we are building and maintaining in our public infrastructure we're keeping a very safe um Safe Community for all that we're stewarding our wonderful investment in our Parks our pH facilities and our programs we continue to Foster that economic growth and development we keep growing and again making people wanting to choose to do business and own businesses here in Apple Valley and we do that by Leading those Community conversations with you and for you so again I look forward to working with you our businesses our residents and working for you with you so that we can strengthen our community here in Apple Valley for more information for me you can is available on our we my website at vot lisah herbert.com and I hope to earn and your vote and support by November 5th council member Ruth grandall thank you um sometimes we're referred to um when people talk to me instead of Apple Valley they call us Happy Valley um we find um residents and businesses that um are pleased on the um the path that we're on and so I would like to be reelected to keep us on the path that we are on uh earlier we have we saw races that are partisan races um we work very hard on the city council to be nonpartisan um we work together very well we might have a few shouting matches behind closed doors but when we come together we come together for the the good of the community um so I guess I'd like to keep us on the path and one of our biggest goals is to keep our our bond so those are some of my goals of wanting to be reelected so thank you thank you Pat Benner all right well uh first off thank you to the Chamber of Commerce for Mr cerick uh and for Bogarts for putting this together this is a really awesome resource that uh that you've uh set up here I also want to thank my wife Ashley my dad and everyone else that's here uh just for supporting all of us uh running for offices really effing hard so uh the support means a lot uh I wanted to get more more involved uh in our local politics uh because I have an amazing set of neighbors and they uh made it clear to me from the moment I moved in that what they were building was a community um and they were going to work at it and and we have um so staying in close uh contact uh hanging out pretty much every week that is work uh and I want to bring that Spirit of uh working to build community here to Apple Valley uh because it really is uh a unique place it's something I have not experienced anywhere else that I've lived um I think I would make a good addition to the city council because uh you know since 2018 I've worked with uh union members and empowered them to pass laws that have changed their lives uh expanding uh un uh unemployment insurance to K12 workers uh getting paid family medical leave to nearly every worker in the state of Minnesota fixing our roads and bridges making it harder for hmos to profit off of our illnesses making College more affordable at our public universities and saving uh mental health and uh uh addiction medicine facilities in Greater Minnesota which I worked proudly with Republicans to do uh you know it's uh it's a thing that I might be young but I'm no newbie to government uh and uh I've heard quite a bit at the doors that there is a desire to keep our city moving forward um and to not be afraid to be a little bit bold but also compassionate um I am definitely a collaborator I want to work uh with council member grindall or uh Miss Hebert or Mr reigle uh and everyone else on the city council to keep uh Apple Valley a stupendous place to live but also to get some things done that have been stuck for a little while um that's all we got thank you thank you these are your candidates for City Council of Apple Valley again Pat Banner council member Ruth grundal Lisa Hebert John redle vote for two in November thank you [Music]