Post-Forum Thoughts

Thank you to the folks who made it to the forum last night or who watched it on channel 19.  Overall, I thought it went pretty well.  Some of the questions I wish I would have answered slightly differently or had more time to expand on an answer.

The St. Cloud Times posted an article about the forum last night.  Here's an excerpt from one of my answers regarding what each candidate would like to accomplish in the next four years:

"Anderson said he wants the city to focus more on infrastructure and improving roads. In the past couple of decades, the city has focused on expanding, and now the realities of keeping up that infrastructure is setting in."

Because our answers were limited to 2 minutes, I directed people to www.strongtowns.org for more information.  Basically, we continue to expand our infrastructure out in order to support new development.  This creates an unsustainable maintenance model as the costs to repair or rebuild it begin to crush budgets.  Instead, we should seek a higher return on investment with existing infrastructure by improving roads and streets to accommodate a full range of transportation options (like biking and walking aka Complete Streets).  We should make our transportation system more efficient and affordable. We should also be working to be connect our parks and civic structures to provide value to property owners.  They provide value when they enhance the public realm, create memorable landscapes, and provide for spontaneous gathering. We've started looking at doing this at the Planning Commission / Arts Commission by developing a placemaking strategy and implementation plan.  It is an effort that is underway.

George Hontos indicated that his number one priority for the next four years is higher-paying jobs.  He said this would help us lower our poverty numbers.  I agree that we should be working for higher-paying jobs and, to be honest, have heard this same argument for the past 20 years.  But there are a few problems with this premise.  The first is education.  This country has 3 million jobs that are open that can't be filled because our people don't possess the skills to do those jobs.  The second is that people in poverty are often earning just enough to pay their rent and maybe daycare.  Nearly 50% of households in poverty in the St. Cloud area are single moms.  They don't have the money or time to go to school.  We need to figure out a way to address that, which is why I stated at the forum that this will require collaboration with the state because, quite frankly, much of it lies beyond the purview of what the city can do.

I also made one comment last night that I wish I hadn't.  I stated that the other candidates only represent 20% of the population.  My intent was only to highlight the age diversity of the other candidates does not represent our diverse population.  The average age of a St. Cloud resident is 28 years old.  Each candidate would represent all of St. Cloud - and all age groups - and I did not intend to imply they would not.  If you were offended by the comment, I apologize.  I didn't intend any malice.