[Music] greetings I am John alov president and chief Mission officer of the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce and welcome to the Farmington City Council candidate Forum thank you to the candidates each one of you for attending tonight we'd also like to thank the city of Farmington for allowing us to use these wonderful facilities and their willingness to record and broadcast this event the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce is a 66y old organiz chamber organization that serves nine cities including Farmington and three townships while representing about 50% of the population of Dakota County the DCR Prides itself in driving business and communities forward through the power to connect we are the voice of business and work to develop vibrant communities through programming like this candidate Forum sponsorship of the Forum is a public service providing with the opportunity to hear the candidates discuss important issues face to face the views expressed here are of the candidates and not necessarily those of your DCR Regional Chamber of Commerce sponsorship of the Forum is not an endorsement by the Chamber of any particular candidate DCR chamber does not endorse candidates and before I go further I just want to thank Wendy and scotter timers for this evening as well for their service because that's important because we're going to start uh the candidate Forum with opening opening statements each candidate will have two minutes for their opening statements and two minutes for their closing statements opening statements will be an alphabetical order be beginning with candidate Cordis then proceeding to candidate Gore then candidate wilds and candidate Wilson closing statements will be in Reverse C alphabetical order the order of answering questions will be rotated candidates will have 90 seconds to respond to questions and we asked the candidates as hard as it may be to resp ECT those time limits uh our time keepers have the yellow 15sec sign alerting you that you have 15 seconds left to complete your response there's also a red sign we all know what that means means that your um time is over you need to conclude your sentence so we can move on to the next candidate the question for questions for this evening were submitted to the chamber by email they were reviewed by Committee of DCR public affairs committee members and edited for clarity and some were combined in addition this committee developed some questions based on topics of Interest they identified within the community because of time constraints we weren't able to ask all the questions that were submitted the Forum will conclude in about an hour so let's begin with opening statements it'll go candidate ctis candidate Gore candidate WS candidate Wilson so let's start with candidate Cordis good evening first I'd like to thank the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce and John alov for hosting this forum tonight these forums are an invaluable resource for helping our community get to know the candidates running for local office additionally I want to thank those who are watching this recording at home thank you for your commitment to learning more about the candidates running to be your city council members my name is Jake Cordis my wife Bridget and I are proud to call Farmington home just over a month ago we welcomed our son Oliver into the world and I couldn't be happier to raise him here in my hometown Thank You Bridget for sharing my passion for community and supporting this endeavor to represent Farmington professionally I've spent the last three and a half years working in business development for Finch and Daisy Consulting a nationwide consulting firm based right here in Farmington working with our leadership team we've grown Finch and Daisy into a national brand serving clients in real estate accounting and Technology Consulting personally I've dedicated the last 12 years of my life to serving our community for eight of those years I had the honor of serving on the Farmington Area School Board where I gained extensive knowledge of local governments responsible policymaking budgeting transparent communication and collaborating with others in addition to my time on the school board I've helped lead various Civic organizations including the Farmington area Education Foundation the dua's Planning Commission committee and most recently as president of the Tiger fan club I'm also a proud member of the Farmington rotary it's been an honor to serve our community in different capacities and I hope to continue that service as a member of the city council I'm running for the city council to focus on fiscal responsibility the growth and development of our business community and building strong Community Partnerships we and Farmington are at a critical juncture I believe that by focusing on these areas we can secure a bright future for our town but if you ask me why it's right here my son Oliver I hope in 18 years he will choose to stay here just as I did and his grandparents and great-grandparents before him Farmington can be a place where Oliver and all others can be proud to live work and play thank you Kenedy Gore good evening my name is Josh Gore uh two years ago my wife and I moved to Farmington um into a neighborhood on the east side of town um we've really enjoyed it loved the neighborhood um part of the reason that I feel I wanted to do this is to help the community um I feel like there are some issues that have Arisen that have caused some division in the community um and part of being elected is to serve the people that elect you and to do the things that they feel they need and want and I know in my neighborhood anyways there are a whole lot of people that don't feel that is happening and so my biggest reason for doing this is my family and making sure that my daughter can grow up somewhere she can be proud of and to hopefully give people people an option for a fresh face fresh Insight um and somebody who's more than willing to listen because I do feel that is the most important part of government if you're going to be an elected official you're being elected to serve the people that elected you so I just want people to know that there are people out there that still want to hear them thank you thank you Ken Gore Ken WS uh thank you Mr alof for having us out here this evening uh my name is Justin WS I have been a member of this community for the last eight years uh since I've built my home um over in the Executive Estates area um I have been uh a part of this community for my entire life my uh grandfather moved here back in 1985 um and is still residing here um in that same residence um I've uh been a part of this community doing uh attending local events like the uh Dakota County Fair um Mountain Dee days when I was uh real little and uh I'm glad that uh the community here is still thriving and I'm glad to be a part of it uh I'm running for the the city council here so that uh people out there that can uh be heard um I also believe that government is being part of serving the community that you were elected into and uh I hope that I can fulfill that uh as I move forward here and I hope uh we all can learn a lot from this forum and I'm glad to be part of it thank you thank you Ken WS keny Wilson good evening I'm happy to be here again my name is Steve Wilson uh lived in the community Farmington for just over 20 years now we've had our three children graduate from Farmington High School most recently Elizabeth uh this past year I love this community and I love serving this community I wouldn't be running again if it was not for my love of the community and love what we're doing here um the compensation to be in the city council is about $500 a month and one thing that I've always prided myself on during my term is showing up and being there being on the city council and showing up to the MonDay meetings every other week is really about 10 to 20% of the activities that we do um I go to Fire Department open houses um go to the pinning and swearing of of fire you of our new firefighters volunteer firefighters I show up at the senior center and engage with them I show up at Chamber of Commerce events for ribbon cuting and John you've been visiting Farmington a lot because we have a lot of exciting stuff here and I will say that the bu business Community is um at a pace that's thriving more so than it probably has in recent memory and that's going to keep going um you know as I look out at the next next four years um and I think Justin and Josh alluded to this there's going to be some really critical decisions coming up that are going to impact the future of Farmington the one component that I think I really bring to the mix is and I received a comment I've received this comment a couple times from residents that um I'm not afraid to ask the tough questions I'm not afraid to really dig into the issues and that's the type of council member you're going to get um with my reelection again thank you for considering my candidacy and look forward to the rest of our discussion tonight thank you candidates now let's proceed to the questions response order for the first question is candidate Gore WS Wilson and ctis and the first question is if you left here to colonize Mars what strong positive things about the Farmington Community would you take with you and try to implement in your new colony um so like I said I've only been here for about two years but one thing that I would definitely want to take with is the sense of community that we have how much people like being here um everyone that we've met since we moved here has talked nothing about but how great Farmington can be and has been um and hopefully will continue to be um another thing is just yeah M truthfully mainly that just how proud We Are of where we live thank you candidate WS well this is definitely out of left field but I like these kind of questions these are good um if I were to colonize Mars I definitely would bring I'd definitely bring the small town feeli with it um people that come together that are willing to help each other out that uh definitely can get along and uh become friends very easily cuz without that Community you really don't have anything that survives um especially in that climate but uh I just hope that uh you know that's one of the big things and if I to take one other thing it's definitely the steakhous that's coming too okay thank you candidate Wilson you know I'm I'm looking at this question John I'm really just trying to figure out who may oppose this question the council um but no I think um it's been hit on already there it's it's a weird thing because you know I talk to people and they're like well you guys a suburb are you a town you know what are you and you know even as we approach 25,000 people and you know then get on towards 30,000 I still look at Farmington as a talent and the reason I like that and and what I would bring in our fictitious Journey to Mars is that sense of community um it's hard to Define it but you know it's you know when something bad happens to one person in the community maybe a family is suffering the whole Community rallies you know when our sports teams are doing well when our you know athletic teams our you know Fine Arts teams from from the high school are doing well we all show up and it is really quite an amazing thing how much we as a community show up to support one another in good times and bad and that is remarkable I I it would be I'd be very surprised to see another Community like that and I'd love to bring that characteristic wherever I go thank you Kenny ctis John this is a great question like has been said it's on left field and I love it for the first question tonight it's hard to go forth answering this one because I think I agree with what everybody has said but uh to reiterate I think the the biggest thing that I would bring with is that sense of community you know in Farmington somebody told me this recently but we don't let each other fail whether it's businesses whether it's your neighbor we step up to the plates and we help each other out you saw it with wangs when they were going through difficulties during covid and people stepped up and we raised money to keep them open you see it on a daily basis if your neighbor needs help mowing the lawn or raking leaves or or you know this one hopefully it doesn't snow that much but if it does you know we're going to see our neighbors out helping each other plow each other's driveways so I think that sense of community that sense of helping each other out is really what makes Farmington special and what I'd bring with me to Mars sounds like Mars is going to be colonized very well if the far contingency has anything to do with it um the sponsor order for the second question is Ws Wilson ctis and Gore and the second question is as council member where do or would you go for input before making any major decision candidate W I believe this question was also asked during the mayoral forum and it's a great question um and there's definitely people in place um in certain areas that do offer great uh insight and knowledge one of them is being in this building here during noral operations there's a lot of people that work in in and out of here that have great Insight uh the second place then is is the people in the community your neighbors um the guy at the grocery store at the gas station whoever you got ask them questions learn about things um cu the people that are in that are on the ground are the ones that are that see most of it and those guys have the have the eyesight for that kind of thing so that's where I'm going with that one thank you candidate Wilson yeah I mean this definitely goes to the core of of serving the community um you know I think it was pointed out earlier that you know the city council is the very closest representative body to the people so you know you you you talk about we the people in the founding of our country um you know the people are out there and they absolutely have to be part of my decision making um and on any key decision I'm going to hear um and there's one really hot button issue out there and I've heard both sides and both perspectives so I'm absolutely going to be looking to the residents I'm going to be looking to the business Community I'm going to be looking to um you know the chamber rotary and others to gather their Insight because any major decision that's going to impact all those I'm also going to turn to our staff at City Hall so if a decision is coming to us uh presumably that has been developed by the staff um and so I'm going to be talking with Lynn about that I mean Lynn is the quarterback of the organization um she's the only person that the city has the ability to hire um so we trust her to lead the city but with any major decision it's going to be talking with the people and it's going to be communicating collaborating with our city staff thank you candidate Cordis yeah I think um three groups come to mind when I think about this question the first obviously has been mentioned already is the residents um I'll seek feedback from residents from the breadth of our community north south east and west um and like Steve mentioned the business Community as well because these people are living and breathing our decisions on a day-to-day basis so I think that's the most important group of people that we need to discuss uh major issues with the next group that I see as my peers you know as a a potential new member to the city council I'm going to look at people like uh candidate Wilson who's been here for a while and has some of that institutional memory to share of about things they've gone through in the past things that have worked and things may not have worked in the past and then finally excuse me the last group of people I would talk to as was already mentioned is the administration here working at City Hall but also the um individual contributors that work for the city of Farmington I think it's important to talk to you know whether it's Public Works Finance uh Parks and Rec talk to the directors but also talk to those people who are are out and about in the community working every day to make sure I develop a full breadth of of what's going on so the three groups would be the residents my peers on the council boards and commissions and then the administrative staff um here at the city thank you candidate Gore yeah uh so this question is basically been answered for the most part uh but yeah it's the people of the town the business owners um absolutely the staff and people here and then past uh City Council Members people people that have done it before and kind of have an idea of what's going on but most importantly I would say is the business owners and the people of the town okay thank you the response order for the third question is Wilson Cordis score and ws and the third question is District 192 superintendent reports that 25 languages are spoken at Farmington High School as Farmington grows and becomes more diverse how do you plan to integrate people with different backgrounds into the Farmington Community and to be clear this is in Farmington not in Mars okay not on Mars yeah thank you for that clarification ch um yeah there's no doubt that Farmington is becoming a more diverse community and I I think that's exciting um you know this uh a flavor of this question came up when we were talking about you know do we honor juneth and have a June celebration before it became a national holiday um you know as I look at this question um I do worry to a certain degree you know if you do certain actions is that going to you know potentially have an you know a consequence that you're not looking for I think as a city council you want to make sure that the opportunity is extended to everyone in the community to be engaged and participate um I remember talking to a number of residents of different different ethnicities the summer at due days and I introduced myself and you know had a great conversation and they're like you know how do we get more involved and I said we can show up at City Council meetings you can apply for a board of commission um you can you know serve in the city council and um so I want to make sure you know I think being a welcoming community that Embraces diversity and different thoughts and ideas really starts at the council by being respectful and welcoming and having that be part of our vision and Mission as a city to welcome everybody with a diverse perspective into our community and I think uh you accomplish those and that everyone does feel welcome thank you Kate ctis yeah I think this is very important you know we've all hit on it already tonight that Farmington is a welcoming community and we need to continue to remain a welcoming Community I think one of the first things that I would do um and this goes to one of the reasons why I'm running is to build those Community Partnerships let's talk to the school district obviously they're living and breathing this on a daily basis um let's talk to them and learn what they did well learn where maybe there were opportunities and we could correct those opportunities and do things a little bit better um to ensure that these diverse populations do feel welcome in our community I think the next thing that we would do um is look at where these these individuals might be interacting with the city um Steve alluded to you know us being present in the community as council members but I think also looking at you know maybe it's parks and wreck is their first interaction with the community making sure that our Parks and Rec Department is offering um programs that meet them where they are and I think the other area we need to look at is here at City Hall if somebody's coming here and English isn't their first language are they going to be able to conduct their business with people at City Hall are people here going to be able to translate for them or are they going to have software that might be able to do that translating for them so I think offering all of those capabilities will really continue that welcoming feeling in Farmington and and let these diverse populations feel at home thank you cidate Gore um I would say as kind of alluded to by the other candidates um the biggest thing is just making sure that everybody understands that they are welcome and that they're not excluded um I know we had a a small couple in our neighborhood that my daughter played with their sons in the park and when my mom was bringing my daughter home for the night and they were going home the mother stopped my mom and thanked her for letting my daughter play with her kids and my mom's like well I don't understand like I you're very welcome but and she goes there's not a lot of people that let their kids play with my kids at the different Parks we've been to and the different places we've lived and so that's a huge thing is just making them feel welcome making them not understand that it that they don't need to be afraid to come down here and look for help and that as a candidate C ctis alluded to trying to figure out what we can do to best provide them the help they need um be at translation or anything like that or going to the school district and maybe there's a few things they haven't figured out or but have ideas as to maybe we could do this to help the students integrate a little better and be able to be understood or feel more comfortable and I think that that's just the most important part is trying to do our best to make sure they understand that they're safe and welcome here thank you kandid W uh diversity is a great thing um and with diversity also comes a lot of culture and uh sometimes I believe culture gets overlooked in certain aspects of life when you meet someone that's maybe doesn't look like you because they're from a different part of the world um being something that you can Uh I that I like to use to integrate is is to learn something about where they're from where what they do what their culture is um personal example I've got a a friend whose family is from um the island of Trinidad and Tobago and out there in the Caribbean they have a big event called Carnival that they celebrate on an annual basis I had no idea that thing even existed until I met with their family and i' I spent a lot of time growing up with them um so to me making them feeling a part of the community is is making them known that you understand where they're coming from and that you are aware that their lifestyle may be different but you're welcome to accept that and that you can use what you know to integrate them and be welcoming to them into your culture into our culture thank you so the response order for the fourth question is uh Cordis Gore WS and Wilson and the fourth question is Fon is a community with lots of green space and housing and not a lot of commercial space many residents want more places to shop dine out Etc what can and should the city do if anything to encourage businesses to move to Farmington we start with candidate Cordis yeah that's a great question I think the city council's main job in this is uh communication and relationship building communic with the the owners of the Green Space the properties that um could be for sale maybe not for sale right now but potentially in the future could be for sale communication with the local and Regional developers and communication with the the business owners the people who potentially want to locate or relocate their business here um I think it's important because right now a lot of the green space that we see as we driver on Farmington is locked up in egg preserve status which means it'll take eight years before it actually could be sold to be developed and I think being proactive in our communication with those bu or those land owners will let us future plan and see when potentially these plots of land will be um available for sale and then communicate that with the developers and the business owners to let them know additionally like I mentioned building those relationships understanding from the the property owners what their legacy might be what they're looking at when they're looking at getting out of the the farming business or the landowning business and and building the relationships with the the business owners and making that bridge between um property owners and business owners okay candidate Gore um I think the biggest thing is just as candidate ctis said is trying to find people that want to bring business into Farmington and what they want to bring and figuring out where like logical places to put said businesses would be um figuring out what green spaces are available when they'll be available um how willing people are to sell them because farmers are very proud people and some of them uh want that to be their family's Legacy so it may not be land that's available but um just making sure that opportunities continue to be available when you can make them so and just trying to bring in as many businesses as possible canidate WS well this is kind of an area that I do not have much all knowledge in personally um but if I did I believe that a lot of what I would would consider would has already been mentioned by the other candidates to my right here as as well being on top of what's available what's becoming available keeping communication with with those potentials uh whether they be a business owner land developer uh whatever you name it um but part of that is is keeping in touch uh making sure that the people that are on one end are aware of the people that are on the other end and that as the government body that we become the bridge between the two and we can facilitate any of those actions that may be necessary candidate Wilson yeah I really appreciate this question and actually the most important sentence or word in this is space and I think Jake alluded to this um you know as residents drive around the community and of course you know the continuous joke is or is the grocery store um but the reality is a massive amount of land in Farmington is tied up in either egg preserve which is correct it's about 8 years to take out after the landowner petitions or is just farming that residents or that those um farmers are choosing not to sell their land um you know there's a part of me that says gosh you know I just love love the heritage of our community and the farming part of it because once it's gone we're not going to get it back so it's going to be replaced by homes businesses what have you and that will happen in time um but again there isn't a lot of space to work with I will say though that rnl Trucking which is a major Trucking uh National Trucking industry you know is expanding 100,000 square ft just north um and east of pilot n Ro which is huge um and what can the city do the city in the last couple years the council's really prioritize this and we have an economic development team that is going out there doing amazing things and the fruits of their labor are paying off and I'm excited to see what's coming down the road okay thank you all right the response order for the fifth question is candidate Gore WS Wilson and ctis and the fifth question is what is your position on the growth and pace of growth in the city of Farmington should it be increased or slowed down and explain your answer so again let's start with candidate Gore um as far as the pace I think it's moving kind of as fast as it can for the most part um I feel like as candidate Wilson said there's probably not a ton of available space right now to bring in a lot of like brand new stuff um granted like a lot of people have said a grocery store would be nice but you got to work around what you have and what's available um but I don't necessarily think that you want to slow down progress but it's whether or not you have the ability to increase it at this current time and that's the big thing you got to look at and research and figure out if where where you can and can't bring in new businesses or if people are moving out and repurposing what they have at the moment K Wilds uh the pace of growth can actually separated into two separate halves one being residential residential growth has been absolutely fantastic the last several years in this area um all the way back to 2016 when I built uh my residence in the executive States area there was several homes that were being built at that same time it was a busy neighborhood I've watched uh all of the new residential up on Pilot Knob come in the last few years that place has gone absolutely crazy and it's wonderful to see all the new people coming in and being a part of and joining our community the business side of of growth um is a little slow I believe I don't see much new coming in I wish there was new new coming in the magic grocery store we like to talk about a lot around here um being one of those that we kind of joke with but um the business what we have is wonderful I do wish we had a little bit more um more variety of things that we could participate in as as residents in this community but overall farmin has been a great place and I'm happy with the way we're going candidate Wilson yeah I would say um you know Josh gave uh gave a perspective that I agree with the pace of housing but I would also add the type and mix and diversity of housing um has I think been a real big success of Farmington over the last two to three years um you know you look at the corner of you know third nelm you know kind of the biggest isore in the community has turned into a really attractive um market rate Department called The Emory um we have um active adult 55 plus Community vaa that's out there we have a new apartment complex again market rate apartments that are coming in town homes along with single family homes and that is all going to actually drive business and that is why you know unfortunately we don't get all the the nitty-gritty details from our economic development team but there's a lot of activity going on um in the business area yeah yes you know I I wish I had a vending machine and could you know could press A1 and out pops a restaurant and A2 pops out a grocery store I mean we'd all love that but the reality is um with both housing and with commercial development the market rules so the market is going to dictate but what we can do as a council and we can do as a city is Advocate build relationships and set the table for Success k ctis yeah I think it's very important to look at this in two Hales like um candidate Wilds had had mentioned um I'll touch on the business side of things first I i' would love to see that increase the pace of that increase um I think uh alluding to our previous answers on the last question maintaining those relationships with not only green space Property Owners but owners of properties that are uh potentially have the potential to be redeveloped um so having a new business coming and take over an old property and Spruce it up and and put in a new business new to our town um is important so I think maintaining those relationships maintaining that communication and promoting those opportunities is very important on the residential side of things uh maintain or increase the level of growth is important um like Steve said we've got finally have uh developments diverse developments throughout the town um multifam uh Town Homes uh Senior Living um communities that will really meet our residents where where they need to be whether you're a first-time home buyer you're looking maybe not to buy a home but to rent um or you're looking to downsize because your kids have hopefully stayed in Farmington but have moved out of your home um and are living on their own but now you and your spouse need something a little smaller in a senior development um I think maintaining that diversity and that pace of residential growth is critical as well okay the response order for the sixth question is candidate Wes Wilson ctis and Gore and the sixth question is it's a long one sorry about that what specific experiences do you have uh and uh what initiatives have you undertaken to prepare you for the responsibilities of serving for the city council and specifically how do you believe these equipped you to address the needs of the Farmington Community for candate Wilson who's already served on the uh city council what is your greatest learning while you served on the Farmington City Council that will Aid you going forward this is a loaded question first person is a candidate wild sorry Mr alof I spoke out there um this is a load question um it's a lot to take in experiences that I have and I've undertaken um I've uh spent most of my working world world in the automotive industry um I part been part of several facets of of uh dealerships um with dealing with uh guests that come in looking to get vehicle serviced looking to purchase parts for their own repairs looking to to purchase new or used vehicles um so I I have a a little bit of experience communicating with people who who have different needs in different areas and and trying to communicate with them uh one thing that um I've learned is that there's a language as far as working in an industry I I have a lot of car language that I speak that someone who's not fluent with that would understand some of um so you got to be able to learn how to speak the language of one faculty government and then two of residential Community um so that's that's the one kind of a piece of experience that I've gained in my in my life that I'll be able to help moving forward and kind of address and hopefully I can make that that connection all right I I don't know why I was uh singled out for uh just one perspective I feel like I should answer the whole thing um you know I am going to answer the whole the whole question I mean the experiences that I think help shape whether or not you're going to be effective as a council member is really being out there in the community I mean you can't hide in your house and kind of you know read social media and figure out if that's a good idea bad idea you got to show up you have to participate you have to engage and you know the responsibilities of city council as I pointed out is to do that in my line of work I'm an insurance agent I have my own business and I primarily focus on serving our senior community um through selling Medicare related policies and one thing that that's showing me is how different every consumer is which is really how residents are too everyone is different um and and knowing that and being aware of that is really really important somebody can look at one issue one way and another person can look at it entirely different neither answer or perspective is wrong or bad but it's different um the greatest learning and and honestly this was baptism by fire I'll see if I can squeeze Us in quick when I served on the city council from 2005 to 2010 the community was super divided over where to site the high school somehow you have to find diplomacy um and collaboration to find a win-win for everyone thank you candidate Cordis I've already touched on my experience over the last 12 or so years in the school board and on various boards and commissions and Civic organizations in our community um but I think the most important thing I've undertaken over the last six or eight months has been um attending City Council meetings city council workshops and Eda meetings um decisions we make are not made in a vacuum um issues that come before the council in January have been coming before the council for months ahead of that and there's important pre-work that needs to be done to have an understanding of what decisions you're making when you start in this office so I think that's been the most important undertaking that I've um done to prepare myself for this specific spefic role but just like Steve said showing up is important when I was on the school board I dedicated some might say too much of my time going to community events sporting events uh musicals band concerts Cho concerts you name it I was there and I think just ensuring that people can identify Community leaders and know that they're approachable hey I saw that guy at the football game we talked about the offensive line he's super approachable I'm going to talk to him about a grocery store I think that's the most important thing you can do as a community leaders is just be approachable and and make sure people know who you are cidate core um most I don't have a lot of experience directly with like local government or or things like that but my entire career has been spent as a heavy equipment technician um working on pieces of equipment that if they go down you can literally shut down an entire job site um and understanding that when you're dealing with different groups of people or different businesses they all have different needs um that you know you don't want anybody to be down for too long you don't want anybody to feel unheard you because at that point then you're going to start losing business and if that happens in a community you can very quickly start losing community members you can very quickly start losing businesses in your community um so I feel really one of the most important things is just like candidate ctis said is being there putting yourself out there making sure that people know you are approachable making sure that people know they can talk to you and making each and every person feel important and understand that their opinion matters their views matter their needs matter thank you the response order for the seventh question is candidate Wilson candidate Cordis candidate Gore and candidate wilds and the seventh question is do you support the rezoning of the Farmington Technology Park data center use why or why not well at least we have a softball question you know um the comp the comprehensive plan you know if somebody were to ask me you know what is something that keeps you up at night making sure that our guiding documents which I believe are the Strategic plan of the city are um are managed well uh a comp plan for those of you that don't know every community in the Twin Cities is required to have a comp plan the Met Council requires it every 10 years you update it um so where am I going with that and how's it how does it relate to this question well it's Central to this question um I have significant concerns about the rezoning um now keep in mind the city council has not seen this this issue as of yet the Planning Commission has um I think it's very easy for a community to be kind of sucked in by all the big money and all the big promises that are made um and I know other communities are doing that um but I will say it at least with the information that I've receiv received so far the resoning is very concerning to me for a number of reasons of which I'll expand on when we get to that point um and so at this point I would not support that rezoning candidate Cordis yeah like Steve I I do have some questions still that are outstanding but at this this point I do support the the proposed rezoning um I believe this project does bring a much needed Economic Development into our community um and and personally I I'm of the opinion that it's not the job of government to get in between a land seller and a land buyer um so those are some of the reasons that I I would personally support this but like I said I do have some concerns that are out there um hopefully that those concerns are addressed in the all alternative Urban areawide review the the study that will be coming um out in the next few weeks and should those concerns be addressed in a matter I find sufficient then I would be in favor of this moving forward candidate Gore um I would say as far as the rezoning no I I'm not for it um I feel to an extent from the experience I've had with it being at several meetings and stuff like that it it's the way it's been gone about just seems odd I mean you have an entire group of hundreds of people begging for this to not be done and outright feeling like they're just not being listened to period um and I I talked to a lot of them because ironically it's my neighborhood as well um and I have no problem with business I have no problem with advancement um I have no problem with data centers if they're built in the proper locations um but as far as the resoning of this I there there's too many unanswered questions there's too many things that people don't seem to be able to tell anybody else um and some of them are answers that as candidate ctis says will come out with the information that will come out in the coming weeks but other stuff is is things that you should have a general idea of that you could put out there as hey this is you know what we view happening and this is and nobody seems to be able to give those answers Kate WS well here's the hot topic for the night um as I mentioned before I'm in the ex cutive estate's neighborhood so this uh particular topic does hit quite close to home uh for me um at this juncture there there is a lot that goes on to a project this large Mr Wilson mentioned the comp plan you mention the a a I believe is the Acron a r yeah I can never get that yeah um so there there's definitely a lot that goes into it and I've been kind of tuned in the last several months and looking into this as it kind of grows and and comes about um but at the current juncture uh with the information that I have and the understanding that I have I would not uh support this particular rezoning um because it would take away one of my favorite golf courses okay the response order for the eth question is candidate Cordis candidate Gore candidate ws and candidate Wilson and the eighth question is education is important as considered by many as critical to City growth and development but manageable tax levels are also important do you support the upcoming District 192 bonding vote why or why not that's a great question um I do um in short my answer is yes I do I have mentioned before I served for eight years on the Farmington School Board um I know and I trust the administrators in Farmington I know and I trust the current school board members if they say there's a need out there and I personally with my history know there's a need out there there's a need out there and unfortunately one of the driving reasons for that need is unfunded and underfunded mandates that came handed down from the state of Minnesota and the federal government and unfortunately not just in Farmington but across the entire State those mandates are being forced upon the taxpayers to bear the burden and this is just the the result of those unfunded mandates so yes I do support it um the good news is uh in the next two to six years there's going to be a lot of uh existing debt that falls off so yes we'll see a little bit of a tax increase right now but due to the debt being paid off for the explosive building that we did about 20 years ago um will actually end up seeing a decrease of taxes between the next two and six years kened core um I would say yes and I have a daughter that just started kindergarten um and I hopefully she will go through her entire academic career here in Farmington um and I I want her to have access to all the things she needs access to um I know it gets hard when you start talking about raising property taxes and stuff um but with different programs and stuff like that you can hopefully find ways to offset it um and make it a little easier on the pocketbooks of people that are you know already dealing with high interest rates and and things like that that are already making mortgages and stuff like that High um but yeah in short yeah I absolutely support doing what we can to help the kids and with their education okay candate WS uh the short answer is is also yes um I have a first grader and another a three-year-old coming up as well and um being as as someone who is a participating taxpayer in this community I I do want my children to have what they need going through the school system um that I had when I was growing up too so I definitely would support uh a levy going forward Mr ctis mentioned um there are two coming up I think one is late next year and I think the other one is like 28 something like that and that so that overall at the end of it will go down when those two fall off so he's correct there will be relief coming shortly afterwards so having one calendar year 12 to 18 months worth of a little extra is something I I can definitely manage and I I would agree that this is something that we need to do okay candidate Wilson yes I absolutely do support the the um the leev levy referendum that's going to be coming up um I'm kind of on the other end of the spectrum as uh uh for you three gentlemen I've got I just spent 18 years um with three kids going through the public school system and they all had a really positive experience with Farmington and our school district um the information about how the money works and and dollars falling off is correct too um the the one part that I do want to bring up too which I think it's lost in a lot of residents I think there's a lot of distrust in general with schools and you know what are they doing be in closed doors and you know all this kind of stuff but yet we rally as a community with everything that happens in the school from the robotics team to the band to every sports team what have you um and I think the part that cannot be overlooked when a community supports this is the health of the overall Community is risen because residents move here and it's a really high percentage based on the the perception or their communication with other people about the quality of the school district it's one of the biggest reasons people choose to move to a community um so supporting the school district is I think important um and I certainly hope it does pass um in November thank you well we're almost there the final and last question number nine and the order is candidate Gore candidate WS candidate Wilson and candidate Cordis and the ninth question is the vision question so decisions that you make and the things that you drive will make an impact not only on the current Farmington but also on the future Farmington and so describe what you see Farmington looking like 25 years from now based on the decisions that you're going to start making now and we start with candidate Gore um it's always a hard question uh i' I'd like to hope that there's still a sense of Community but I mean not to say that it would go away but I can't imagine farmington's going to stay a tiny small town or have a tiny small town feel forever I mean it's already expanding reasonably quickly residentially um but I yeah I I guess my my biggest thing is I just hope that it's still a happy safe place for the kids to grow up and and people to live and the people still want to come here um but it's it's it's kind of a difficult question that I say I don't I don't have a great answer to KY wse well 25 years from now is a long time um I hope it uh it thrives I hope the the way that farmon is going now that continues to do so um we've got a lot of new new new faces that come in the Comm Community um I like to see it grow I like to keep it seeing growing um uh I hope in that 25 years we get we get this magical grocery store we like to talk about a lot um but uh it's it's looking good I hope it continues to look good um I who knows I hope maybe in 25 years we're looking to build a second high school you know do what Lakeville did when they blew up now they've got two and who knows maybe we'll have a second one and uh it looks good so I'm hoping it stays that way KY Wilson all right so in 25 years I'm going to be 80 which feels a a teeny bit terrifying maybe I shouldn't have volunteered that for the for the home audience listening to that um but actually I find that relevant because one of the things I'm most proud of that we accomplished was to completely renovate our our senior center of which I'm a member of you can be 50 and over so if you're 50 and over and you you're not a member uh here's your invitation um but the reason we did that is to it was part of the vision that the community would continue to thrive well into the future so we're making uh more Open Spaces expanding areas and really making in a welcoming environment to our active adults and seniors in the community I Envision Farmington to probably be about 12 to 15,000 people larger I think we're going to have um at least one grocery store we'll we'll pop up then we're going to have a a lot more diversity of housing we're going to continue to see our Parks parks and trails expand um and I Envision that we're still going to see a very much a thriving downtown we're going to see more industrial happening and I actually believe um you know it's hard to Envision when you're getting bigger but I I do Envision that we are still going to be a community with that same Community spirit that has always defined Farmington I just think it's going to be really tough for that to go away and I look forward to it cidate cordus you know we started out the evening with a really fun question we're going to close the evening with a really fun question unfortunately John I forgot my crystal ball at home so I can't give you an exact answer but I can tell you what I hope you know a lot of people talk about we want Farmington to be the next Lakeville we want Farmington to be the next Apple Valley we want Farmington to be the next Rosa I think we all want Farmington to to be Farmington continue to be successful to continue to grow hopefully someday get that grocery store we're all talking about but I want us to stay Farmington I want us to be successful and I want to maintain that Hometown feel that we've all talked about repeatedly tonight that we're all proud of you know and I said it earlier tonight you know hopefully in 25 years my 25-year-old son at that point um will be buying his first house here in Farmington because he's proud of his hometown just like his dad and the family before me and and that's truly what I hope that we continue to be proud to be Farmington we continue to thrive and yeah and we have that grocery [Laughter] store all right uh thank you candidates um only at a ECR candidate Forum can you go from Mars to 25 years in the future so you we're good we're good sports and uh and working that on I appreciate that so that brings us to our closing statement so candidates will have two minutes and the response order is candidate Wilson candidate WS candidate Gore and candidate Cordis okay all right well again I want to thank uh John and the Chamber for hosting the event tonight and my fellow uh uh candidate um you know I signed up to run again because I truly enjoy serving the community um and I value all the relationships that I built in the community and I think I serve for the right reasons I um believe I have a common sense approach to how I serve um I show up I'm there and I make sure that the voice of the people people are hurt um you know we're approaching 25,000 people now and it's as important today for voices to be heard and collaboration with residents with staff with Council peers as it ever was um the work of of the council is going to become incrementally more complex over time but I will say one thing that has been really fun over the past couple of years is to really build a great team and and he use an analogy from one of my favorite sports teams you know I look at the leader that we brought in with Lyn Gorski you know who you can almost say is like you know a Kevin oconnell you know he's the big picture he's the head coach of the Vikings and what Lynn has assembled similar to um our beloved coach of the Vikings a great team and that great team has executed on a vision that we have set out and I'm really excited that that we have that vision and have created that Vision um and we made it really important to prioritize the employees of the city who are going to spend their career here we're here for just a limited period of time but they're maybe going to spend their career here I want to continue serving them continue serving the residents and uh do it in a common sense way so thank you very much kened w uh thank you Mr alop for having us out here this evening um this has actually been kind of a fun panel um as a first kind of dip into local government um and I'm glad that I be a part of it uh I want to thank my wife at home who uh kind of encouraged me to come out and take part in this and I hope uh all things go well regardless of every how everything goes um I I'm proud of this community I like being a part of it uh I like living here I like enjoying the I like the the scenery I like coming downtown right out here and and kind of get that Old Town feel a little bit some of the buildings that have been up here for quite a while it's uh it's a nice feel I I like it I hope that outside of that our town grows um in the right direction I hope we get we get better um my boss at work always talks about being a servant leader and um I hope that I can fulfill that role if uh if it comes to it um because I like this community I like being a part of it um and I want to thank the candidates here to my left and to my right this is this has been wonderful I hope going forward that we all make the right choices and get this community going where it needs to go Ked G I want to thank everybody involved for having us here uh like Justin said this has been really fun again a very interesting uh look that kind of first dip into uh City politics um I also want to thank my wife and my daughter for supporting me and and pushing me towards this because um it's always something I've had a lot of interest in uh but it's also been something that makes me anxious because I you know it it's not in my comfort zone it's not something that I feel like I'm necessarily naturally good at um public speaking and stuff but I'm very protective of when I attach myself to a community or to people I'm very protective of that and I want everybody to have the things they need as I said earlier I feel when you elect City officials National officials um their job is to then make sure that the things they promise you that got you to vote for them are the things that they work for not to just turn around for personal gain or because you know somebody has some Big Shiny thing that makes them feel like oh okay why maybe I should do that um it's about the people um it's about making sure Farmington stays as strong as it is now and has been um and the sense of Pride I lived for a while uh in a small town in Iowa uh Forest City and it was like I again it was a feeling like this and I I've loved it and ever since I moved away from there it was lost until we moved here to years ago and I got that back and um it's it's just been huge to to feel that sense of Pride again for where you live and want to see it do well and want to see the people there Thrive and get the things that they need thank you kened ctis I'm gonna try to keep this short for my closing I promised my wife I'd be home at a reasonable hour although I think I timed it right that I missed the 7:30 feeding and hyper change but uh again I'd like to thank the chamber for hosting tonight's event you know I really think it's been an enlightening opportunity to hear from all of the candidates and attendance tonight who'd like to lead Farmington for the next four years additionally I'd like to thank you fine gentlemen uh for stepping up and putting your name on the ballot it really says a lot about all of your character um to to be willing to step into the arena like this there's a quote that I've long lived by never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world World indeed it's the only thing that ever has American Anthropologist Margaret me spoke those words decades ago and they still ring true today if I'm elected I'll be a committed and thoughtful city council member who is dedicated to bettering our community that's my guarantee to you I hope my answers tonight help shed a little light on why I'm running and what I hope to do if I get elected if there are any questions out there please uh look me up on Facebook and and get a hold of me and I'd love to have a further conversation I truly appreciate your support and uh in this election I really want to make Farmington a place we can all be proud continue to be proud to call home the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone for participating in our Forum the city of Farmington for their services and their this wonderful public space they share with us we especially want to thank our um candidates uh for being a part of the democratic process by running for office even when it's not comfortable um and uh for being willing to serve the community and to speak with us today and again Wendy and Scott are timers who I think kept everything on pretty much on track right they didn't have to come up and and I move anybody along at all which was great uh the DCR chamber is a Regional Chamber with a power to connect we strive to drive business and communities that we serve forward if you're interested in finding out more about the what we do and how we make a difference uh please visit DCR chamber.com um DCR chamber.com will also have recordings posted within a week under candidate forums and you can you can watch this um and share it with um with friends and other people to to pay attention to um and a reminder that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month please schedule your mamogram appointments or make sure those you you love do that because early detection saves lives last um I want to thank everyone in the audience for viewing um because part of democracy is paying attention to what's going on and becoming knowledgeable before you vote and make sure you remember to vote on or before November 5th because it's your civic duty [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music]