well we're going to we're going to get started so if you were listening to Vince Stevens he had the the rules for this forum so be civil to one another um talk about your policies do not uh criticize your opponents that are in the room and uh also we're going to give you 90 seconds we have our timekeeper Kayla here so she will keep us on track um we're going to use the same format that Vince did we're going to start um and go down the down the line and we'll rotate so the next person will get the next question um and so on so we're not asking the same people the same questions all the time or for starting so we're going to start all the way over here with uh Dave um by the by the way the first time you uh get the microphone tell us you're running for since they might not be able to read your on TV okay your your first question introduce yourself you running in your experience in city government government or public service hello thanks Steve uh my name is Dave pavali I am running for the uh mayor of the city of Columbus uh I'm running to solve some of the problems that I see in our community uh I am a seeker of Truth and information and knowledge I have a vision for our city uh I've been the mayor for eight years about seven and a half years ago I then started a visioning session which got the community's input for what their vision is I'd like to have that Vision brought forward again and have the community's input be part of the direction of our representative democracy that I love so dearly thank you very much thank you Dave my name is Scott Wendell and I'm running for the Columbus city council um since I was in about seventh grade I've had a passion for serving people in in my community uh in duno and in many many different roles on many many different charities and Boards uh I served uh three different communities as a police officer over the years uh and I'm interested in running for City Council uh because I have volunteered for the city in the past both on the Public Works Advisory Board road paving sub subcommittee I'm currently on the Planning Commission uh for the city I also am currently sitting on the Ramsey County um uh business Advisory Board they do good work with local businesses in Ramsey County to understand um hazardous ways compliance and make sure that the businesses are able to do that avoid uh any pitfalls uh with the state Regulatory Compliance uh running for city council again with no agenda no personal reason other than uh it's just a passion to serve the people thank you Scott my name is Ron hanra uh and I'm running for position of Mayor of Columbus I've been a resident of Columbus for 46 years I was a poli police officer in Forest Lake for 30 years I um was on the Planning Commission in Columbus in the late 990s I came back to the Planning Commission in 2018 and was a chairman for four years and I've been on a city council now for two years my reason for coming back in the uh from the 90s back to the 80s had to be job related I was working nights and couldn't make a lot of the meetings but another reason that brought me back was I uh I observed something in 2017 where one of our citizens was asked escorted out of a meeting and it was an elderly lady and I just thought to myself uh where are we listening to our community if we're kicking them out the lady uh uh was at a public hearing and I thought it's time to change government and right now I'm running because my opponent was going to run un Alone Again like he did the four times when he was elected so that's why I'm running thank you good morning my name is Jeff Allen I'm running for city council for the city of Wyoming people have asked me well what is getting you into politics at this stage of your life and I rephrase that and take the word politics out and substitute the word serving um this stage of my life I'm at asking myself what am I doing to give back to the community versus taking and I feel that this would be a great way to give back to the community by serving the people I also serve with the local Wyoming Lions as president and Zone chair currently I'm on the Eda board for the city of Wyoming and served on the past Park Board resident of Wyoming for over 25 years and I am a landscape designer sales and project manager for over 20 some years and that has taught me the value of big Discovery questions to find out what a need is and I believe a need is never a need until it's stated and then once you have the stated need then you can start solving the problem with options and looking at the cost of it what I will do to bring to the city council is a fresh ideas a fresh Viewpoint and a fresh set of eyes on current problems and future um future concerns conerns so Jeff Allen running for the city of council for Wyoming hi I'm Linda nanco Jager I am running for the uh Wyoming City Council I'd like to start by thanking the Forest Lake chamber of commerce for inviting me here today inviting all of us here today so we can get our message out to you I'm a 35-year resident of city of Wyoming I have I am currently in my fourth term on the city council I am running because I want to continue being an independent and objective voice uh for the people that I represent when I'm not doing city council work I am uh I am a two-time president of the Rotary Club I believe in their rotary model of service before self and um I tend to be accessible and I believe in giving of myself to the community I'm living in I also am a longtime volunteer in a program called chemist in the library where I do chemistry experiments with kids and just have a blast at it I think I just hit it all thank you thanks Linda I'm Brett onstead uh running for a second term on City Council in Wyoming um I have enjoyed serving serving for the last four years and feel like I've made a big difference in the city uh and trying to keep up communications with the uh the residents of the city and our big project right now is uh developing our uh Public Safety uh office unfortunately the price has gone up in that and we're still trying to get uh funding for that and I've been working at the capital and at the uh National level to try to get funding for this building and I I want to see this project uh get through it's one of the things that we really need in this city is is a new public safety building thank you again that's Brett Aon for Wyoming City Council thank you member onstead my name is Lisa Iverson I am the mayor of the city of Wyoming I am running on a post um this is my fourth term or I'll be into my fourth year as an elected official uh eight years ago I had a vision for for our city and I'm proud to say we have accomplished most of those goals which include a Veterans Memorial in history walk uh a road plan which is updated yearly and it's based on wear and tear criteria and we plan for future equipment needs and large per per um purchases in uh five years into the future um with my leadership we have become transparent with our meetings that you can watch on YouTube or live stream the night of our Council uh most importantly we give all our residents the opportunity to speak at our Council meetings I am running again because there is one thing I have not been able to finish and that is our public safety building our Public Safety in the city of Wyoming is of utmost important to me and to our community that they remain safe so I have one more thing on my list to do and that is to get that done during that time I'm up at the state capital when I'm not doing my day job I'm at the state capital I'm talking to all the different senators um and House Representatives I'm also talking to Federal um elected officials as well so um when I'm not doing any of that you can find me live on um Facebook sharing all the great events Wyoming has to offer including the ms150 stom out suicide Touch a Truck and even the scouts at the Pinewood Derby event thank you very much I'm Lisa mayor of Wyoming how will you connect with your constituents and get more public in the average person in your community yeah excellent question and something I'm very passionate about actually um Columbus does like you said uh a very good job in getting the information out out there on public meetings after the fact uh both on on video I'm kind of a geek I like reading minutes have read minutes for for years and years and years but I don't think we're doing enough I think we can do a much better job by utilizing a lot of different modern Technologies and you may think that sounds a little weird coming from somebody in my generation uh reaching out to our citizens and informing them on things especially things that are coming down from the state that we're required to address that the citizens may not know about I our feedback uh podcasts certainly different types of U meeting and uh social media out there we're we're pushing that out uh to the citizens manner that that's acceptable and F user friendly to them that could even maybe be holding Town meetings of some sort uh I think it's important to to do that and and push that out thank you Scott that's an interesting question um sometimes I think you have to let the public your constituents know that you're open and when I say open that you're willing to and I think at our meetings when I listen like before a Planning Commission uh even before we start the issue if it's somebody in there for a permit or or variance or something I would get up and go greet them meeting explain what's going to happen the operation the protocol and ask them if they have any questions so a lot a lot of our constituents out there never really meet with the people who are so when they come in there they they don't know what's going on and it's just like a public hearing you got to allow people to talk and we never had in any of my meetings a time limit which the previous uh back in 2017 had a three minute time Lim I think we got to let them talk and you got to listen and you're going to learn and if you don't learn then you shouldn't even be in that office and I think once you build that Rapport have no problem calling you up I last time I ran I told them that I walk in the park at 5:30 in the morning if you want to meet me I'm there and by God a few of them stop and talk so I think that's the way be open thank you yeah so how would I connect with um people I think all these are great examples is you have to be open to them um one thing is um trust you have to have their trust to come to you you have to have their trust to um have them share their ideas with you and when I've been out door knocking so far um talking to people literally going up the before and knocking on their door and introducing myself um it's amazing how many people are um hos Hospitality um friendly and really will like to to talk to you about um just life in general very few people person has talked to me really what I would call politics they just want to know who I am what am I about and then in return I ask them who are you and what are you about so going forward if I do get elected for the city of council I would extend that type of invitation like hey I don't walk at the park but I'll be happy to meet with you at McDonald's or I would be happy to talk to you after the meeting um a lot of times the best brainstorming happens is during the meetings so just being oneon-one and talking to people open-minded and having the trust that they can um confide in you are key issues so how have I been connecting with people ways my phone number is out there both my landline and more these days my cell phone feel free to call me I take long walks at least twice a day I have people to me while I'm walking and discuss their concerns with me I mean I even had one guy drive past me do a UI and come by to talk to me I have a council Facebook it's Linda ncoer Wyoming Minnesota City Council on that page in addition to posting pictures of the city I post the agenda I post the syn of what is on the agenda you can go to the city website and find it you can go to my Facebook page and find it I also have a meeting memo I put out to uh people who asked to be on it where I give a more in-depth synopsis of what's going on B on what is in my packet uh and on top of that when I go door knocking I do have people come up I mean um yet Sunday I had at least two people come up and to express their concern which I then promptly relay to the city administrator so that they can be dealt with in a timely manner and once I know that there's action being taken I can go back to the people and follow up with them because one thing I believe up is very very important uh one of the way going out and talking with people I found that there are some concerns and one thing that people really do like is that that uh things are published uh our videos for Council are put on YouTube I've also one of the ways I've been going out and meeting people is we have a new dog park in town helpful in getting that uh put in place and I use that dog park and I've met so many people at that at that Park that just want to talk dogs and politics starting with dogs ending with ly and I just I get so much information from people on that uh and they really do love that dog park it's been fun being on the campaign Trail to see people say you know what I really love this city I City and I think we're doing a great job because of that I I I really see the the positive coming out when I'm out on the campaign Trail it's it's not quite as easy knocking on doors any running but you're still trying to meet people and talk with them whether it be at the grocery store at McDonald's wherever but it's it's a heck of a lot of fun I I hope to continue to do that this in terms of um getting out and talking to our residents um before I was mayor I was president of the Wyoming area Business Association and it was very frustrating not to be able to get the information needed um for our business decided to run when I became mayor the biggest priority at that time was to make sure that we did become trans transparent that we did have open meetings that people were allowed to come and speak we may have a three-minute limit but I think most you that we always go over that three minutes whenever they need to we also allow our residents to speak on an issue when um we're talking about that particular issue during the meeting so we will allow uh input from our at that time so um I just believe that also when before a meeting starts and we have um a room full of people I am that person shaking hands introducing myself talking to them what's going to happen well my uh personal cell phone is all over the place so um it's easy to get a hold of me at any time and being mayor I get a lot of emails good and bad and we're able to address them right away and um get and get their concerns answered with respect and I think that's the key point right there is everything needs to be done with respect and we have put that in place in Wyoming over the last eight years question now it's thanks Steve um I moved to Columbus in 1997 and the biggest uh thing that I noticed back this is a little bit pre website that um there was no website so one of the first things I did even before I was on the council is I built a Columbus website for people to get the information out of with my own money and my own uh efforts um I think information via a couple ways it can either be pushed out or you can have people go get it well pushing information to people is far more effective than expecting someone to go search to a website to find the information so I'd be all over having the sending out the workshop minutes as well as the uh uh the council minutes even before they have been adopted because right now there's a big delay before the last night's minutes are posted because they have to be adopted so I I would be for putting them out in the preliminary fashion um I also am very available uh I'll tell you right now my phone number is 65124 77 call me anytime I get very few people that are willing to take that step and actually call and and discuss something but the PE few people that have done that it's been a great experience and I've been able to uh answer the um as to the uh three minute rule um when I was mayor for eight years we did have uh a three minute rule we never really held constant to it but you need to have some sort of structure so that when someone goes repeats thems over and over and over again like I could right now but I'm not going to you have to shut them off so here you go Steve I'm shut off that's that's pretty good um Ron this next question starts for you yep uh recognizing that Minneapolis and St Paul have a tremendous amount of crime currently doing or what will you do to keep crime from creeping into your community well uh I think a lot of people out here probably don't know that a third landmass City largest in the metro area so we got 47 I think seven uh miles square miles it's bigger than Forest Lake and it's bigger than we H currently have two deputies that we contract to uh NOA County Sheriff's department and they work 12-h hour days or periods uh right now I'm really surprised that being in law enforcement for 30 two years that the number of burglaries are down in our community and we keep an eye on it I'm Del liaison to the sheriff's department so I do talk to uh the uh Jessica Slavic a lot about what's happening in our community if anything's happening in our community it's the idea of um mainly traffic right now we do have a casino and a lot of people uh incidents over there that's pretty well down also loves Trucking doesn't have a lot that even though a lot of it is transits and being in law enforcement um you might be maybe a lot about uh community policing and I think it's the same thing as a council person you got to be out in the community knowing what's going on because some people may have something happen and don't think it's nothing or I'm not going to give it to the or whatever but that could add on to what the neighbor had down the block but I think we're doing pretty good in our our community right now is that the Bell yeah so earlier this morning I believe person mentioned that government has threefold they believe is roads police and education and police obviously or Public Safety is a huge facet of government so with that being said um I would support Public Safety um obviously I would Echo support the the growth and building of the new Public Health Building in Wyoming or um the public safety building in Wyoming support the police wholeheartedly and I I believe the city of Wyoming Police Department is doing a great job being out in the community with the national light out um being visible and accessible I just recently see to I believe they're doing I'm paraphrasing it uh but like a breakfast with a cop um over in um McDonald's in Wyoming so you can go and meet them so I think if police can be recognized as u a resource versus uh gosh here comes the police you know they they can be much more appreciated and then more utilized in our community and I think the city of Wyoming is doing a great job by breaking down that barrier so as a future city council I would support any with the police department um with the new building new police cars or even new employees so thank you I read the police call sheets or now it's that's on our website every when it comes out and I'm pleased to say we do pretty well with you know keeping crime down and nothing too serious happening um and that's B our we have a fantastic police force that is out and about when I walk I see them I see them in the Parks I see them driving uh I see them out in the community and that I think really gives the town a feeling that they are safe and that uh we work cooperatively with our police I mean it's just wonderful thank you I've been a a correctional officer for Ramsey County the very area we're talking about for the last 30 years and I can see where crime has been and where it's going and it's not going down it's not soon uh for our department our Police Department we're currently down one officer and we're trying to hire it's been difficult uh I've talked at the national level with presidential C to tell them we're having a hard time hiring correctional officers we're having a hard time hiring police officers but the city of Wyoming has beening doing a fantastic job of hiring really good officers I'm I'm really uh this is a great town to live in a great town for our police to work in but we need to keep making sure that we're uh affording the best and we recently gave a uh a cola increase to our officers and Market adjustments so that we can retain those officers and I don't want our city just become a place that officers go to to learn how to become cops and then we need to retain those cops that we've trained uh well and that's what's going to keep our city and our community safe thank you Mr anad very well stated so I don't know how much I except for this um during my day job I travel all over Minnesota and I see cities that um have invested in their the police in their police department whether that's with a public safety building or them all the things that they need to be successful and that is something that I've been promoting since I've been mayor the last eight years um our community our police officers are communitybased so um they have learned to situations instead of force I know that um I'm always very proud of what they do besides just being here in the city they were recently at Dunkin Donuts in Hugo um helping to promote Special Olympics exciting um coffee with the cops is coming up as well so um they're also very engaged in this uh Elementary School level and Junior High and Senior High so very proud of our police and know that um they do and I will never let them down in terms of my belief on what they do and continue to believe that they deserve the best possible from us thank you turn again your turn again thank you well as a conservative I believe truly that police is one of the duties of government um I would in Columbus we have a very unique our five acre minimums and very sprawling area um I think there's a lot of Education that has to happen in Columbus um it's great to have the police we do need to get our CSO officer back um but we do need to educ public on simple things like don't leave your garage door open make sure that you your fire fire um detectors and all that stuff's working but you know mainly we got to make sure that we protect the so that they can protect themselves because Columbus is five six seven minutes away from for no matter how many cops we have on on duty the other thing is roads so you know the roads the safety of the roads is really how they're designed and there's a lot of design flaws in Columbus where a lot of our roads come through at a crazy angle and they don't meet at 90 degree intersections so that needs to be fixed as well uh speed limits or uh drastically down to limits that are creating a false sense of security that people it's 30 miles an hour on a road where they think oh well now I can push my stroller and and do my jogging and it's really not safe so I I would review that a little bit and uh and we got to get some trails in Columbus uh being a fiscally conservative guy I am for Trails because trails are the things that allow people to communicate and uh um enjoy the community than Scott yep thanks Dave and Steve thank you you hit on two of my favorite subjects so it makes it easy on me um obviously being a former police officer I have for Public Safety I also have some insight information on on law enforcement and Columbus having been an Anoka police officer and knowing very well a lot of the deputies who have served Columbus uh going way back uh maybe some of Johnson um I can tell you that in an NOA County at one time that Columbus is where your veteran police officers wanted to go because because it was quiet and about the safety of of Columbus we are not Minneapolis we are not St Paul law enforcement is in crisis St Paul is hurting so bad for cops that they have disbanded all of their special just to cover the streets that's not the case up in Columbus and our citizens that are moving to Columbus a lot of them are trying to escape that that crime area so good news for the citizens of Columbus you're city is safe very well by the enoa county sheriff's department and I know from being kind of a geek and in political science and following Columbus that um there was a a time when we looked into having Department I will tell you right now just an entry level boots on the ground police officer because law enforcement is in crisis is making over $100,000 in the Twin City's metropolitan area and then add on a one .7 for for benefits that's expensive we are saving money by Contracting with with Anoka County and it's a win-win for all of us all right we are almost out of time so we're going to give a 30 second and if you have want a little Direction on your closing statement maybe it can be what is the major issue um facing your community and why are you running to fix that problem and how are you going to fix it so we're going to start with you yeah thanks Steve thanks Steve um the major issue facing the city of Wyoming I go back to my days as landscape design sales B2B sales is Discovery questions so right now um I don't have a specific concern with the city of Wyoming I think it's a great place to live but I would continue to seek out asking questions as I'm door- knocking and once I get on the city council if it's God's Will and that I would continue to listen to those concerns um what I bring to the city council again is a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of viewpoints on subject matters so why she and what makes me stand out one quality that makes me unique is my Independence and my habit of Thoroughly researching all the matters that come before Council I asked lots and lots of questions before the meetings during the meeting time after the meetings and finally I when I'm in there when I'm on Council I will continue to speak up for those in the community who feel like they don't have a voice at City Hall thank you our primary concern right now in Wyoming is is making sure that we uh build our public safety building uh our police uh department is 2 three miles out of town and it needs to be we also need to work work on developing our industrial uh complex and uh modes of transportation of the city I really think that we need to work on our Trails we need to make this city a bigger and brighter place so um I've already talked about our um public safety building what I'm going to talk about that many don't know as a mayor of um inago County uh the previous four years I've been working with a large Coalition of Mayor Sprout Min who are working to stop state elected officials from legislation taking away our rights as a city to plan housing developments in our community and place it in the hands of the state unfortunately this week it this work is going to year because there's more and more support on the state level and we can't have that the cities are ours thanks Steve for mayor to keep Columbus rural the five acre minimum is the big thing for me always has been always will be get the vision of the people Implement their Vision be their representative for the people treat them with respect and show the the show the morals and principles that are dear to me explain them to the people and let the people vote for someone with the experience that I've had over eight years okay thanks Dave uh couple things I I think Columbus is in a good place uh and we've got some excellent leadership on the city council two things number one fiscal disparities act we're paying into this program to the state and we're not getting our fair share back um if we want to continue to keep our tax rate down which we're doing uh that's one program some current city council members are working on right now to get our fair share the other thing is is we don't have the population to qualify for our percentage of sales tax um so we're paying into that and not getting that well those are two things that we can attack to keep our taxes low in Columbus thank you Scott y well I I have to say that Columbus is running very smoothly uh our tax levy is the lowest in inoka County townships and cities and we plan to do that again this year but I think we all have something in common here and it happens this Friday it's homecoming for the Ranger and we all have kids or grandkids there so go Rangers beat the ponies all right thank you very much everyone let's give them a round of applause [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]