Owatonna council candidates meet in forum

Once again, there was more agreement than dispute during a local candidate forum.

This time, it was three Owatonna City Council incumbents – and the residents who are challenging them.

A fourth seat is also open; incumbent Dave Burbank is running unopposed and didn’t participate in Monday’s forum.

The common ground was made clear with Peng Olson’s response to the first question, which asked for each candidate’s top two priorities for the city.

“Ditto, ditto, ditto,” she said, after the other five had answered.

Olson, who is challenging incumbent Dan Boeke for the at-large seat, said her priorities included some combination of the previous answers: housing, community engagement, and strengthening the workforce.

“It boils down to communication,” she said. “I feel there’s a little bit of a disconnect between what’s happening with city government, and where our residents are fitting into the problem-solving and decision-making.”

Housing, Olson said, should be “not just market-rate, high-density development, but starter homes, emergency housing. We have an opportunity to come together and build some consensus, to be innovative” about employee recruitment and retention.

Another area that saw agreement was the candidates’ personal approach to handling controversial or complicated issues.

The keys: listening and fact-gathering.

Molly Kerr, who is challenging incumbent Brent Svenby in Ward 5, said she’ll head “back to the community, to find out what’s important to them. As a council member, it’s not my opinions that should be conveyed – it’s what the community wants. There will always be difficult issues brought up; it’s about doing what’s best for everyone.”

First Ward incumbent Nate Dotson said he’s always willing to explain his decisions, and that the current council “works for the best interests of the city, even if we disagree.”

His challenger, Seth Madole, said “controversy, debate and open communication are healthy. How do we get the best ideas on the table; how do we create diverse thought? It’s through open communication, and sometimes that’s controversial.

“We won’t always be on the same page,” he said, “and that’s good. We need additional people involved in the decision-making processes. We have to be out seeking that information, not waiting for the community to come forth with it.”

Nearly all of the candidates cited tax increment financing as a way for the city to continue to build upon the revitalization that’s started – most recently, with the downtown streetscape project.

“I’m a big supporter of using tax increment financing,” Svenby said. “The city still collects taxes on property before it goes into a TIF district, and once the property becomes de-certified, we gain that additional tax capacity.”

Svenby said the city will see about $650,000 in new tax capacity over the next five years, as seven TIF districts become de-certified.

Dotson admitted there are “different opinions on the TIF program itself; generally, that’s worked very well” in Owatonna.

“You’re growing tax revenue for a time, and in the future, you garner significantly higher tax revenue, so that really helps with the tax capacity growth,” he said.

The candidates – including the incumbents – diverged a bit when discussing the preliminary levy increase of 9%, approved by the City Council a few weeks ago.

“The proposed levy is right on,” Svenby said. “We’re using a three-year strategic plan … our department directors know what areas to spend the resources, in order to meet the priorities of the plan.”

Olson said it was too high, “with the caveat that I’m still learning about the city’s budget and how decisions are made. I do believe the city’s accomplishing some really great things, but I’m not so sure the city’s listening. What formed that strategic plan? Is it the voices of the community?”

 Boeke, the at-large incumbent, said he struggles with the issue.

“Who do I actually really represent here?” he asked. “Do I represent the city of Owatonna, to keep this entity rolling the way it’s rolling? Do I represent you folks in the room, who are going to open your tax bill, open your utility bill,” with a projected 40% increase in natural gas prices.

“I’m struggling with the 9% -- and I have looked at the budget,” Boeke said.

“It’s the city’s duty to be fiscally responsible and sustainable at the same time,” Kerr said. “We need to make sure we’re looking at the processes of all levels of government and making sure the taxes are spent responsibly.”

Madole came prepared with numbers.

“I have a difficult time justifying it when I look at these numbers,” he said, with just 2.2% of the total tax capacity coming from new construction growth.

“The rest of the growth is from the valuation of your business or your home property,” Madole said. “My question then becomes: Why does it cost more to operate the city, just because my house is assessed at a higher value?”

He also had an answer to Boeke’s question.

“I won’t question who I’m working for,” Madole said. “The org chart on the website of the city is very clear: I work for the community, and it’s your voice, the community’s voice, that’s most important.”

One of the final questions asked the candidates how they compare to their opponent, and how they might work toward a common goal.

Again, agreement.

“Nate and I met today for the first time,” Madole said. “I don’t sit up here because of differences with Nate … I have a passion for the community, and I want to make a positive impact. It’s more about how to get involved and maximize the potential of the community.”

Dotson agreed, joking his challenger “stole my thunder.”

“We don’t have any issues specifically that we disagree on; I’m unaware of his position on many issues,” Dotson said.

“I think everybody up here has the best interests of the community at heart, and we may have different ways of going about doing that,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the voters to decide who they want to undertake that.”