Heather Rand interview ( 3rd district council race.)

Response to Candidate Questions posted by Duluth Needs Help - 10/07

1. My name is Heather Rand and I am a candidate for the Duluth City Council 3rd District seat which represents both the center part of the city and the larger city as a whole. I am employed as the State of Minnesota’s regional Business & Community Developer, working in all 7 counties of NE Minnesota for the last 3 plus years to help businesses that pay good wages expand their business operations and add employees. Prior to this, I was employed by Minnesota Power for years and I have worked as Asst. County Administrator in St. Louis County and as an asst. city administrator. I believe having both this private and public sector management experience makes me a more valuable candidate to Duluth. I am 44 years old. I am a Cloquet High School graduate, but have purposely chosen to make Duluth my home for over 18 years now. I serve on the city of Duluth’s Planning Commission, Higher Education Commission, and Heritage & Preservation Commission currently. I am very committed to Duluth. I also served as chair of the Duluth Comprehensive land Use Citizen Committee of 27 Duluthians that developed the unanimously adopted Comp. Plan.


2. I decided to run for office because I was disappointed with the spending decisions a majority of the existing city council were supporting on non-essential projects, especially given the city’s dire fiscal situation as a result of the retiree health care obligation and LGA cuts. Duluth has not been providing the basic essential city services (street maintenance, snow plowing, police & fire protection) at levels the taxpayers deserve. My skills set and sound fiscal judgment (I’m more fiscally conservative than a majority of the existing city council) will better reflect the interests of the average taxpayer in Duluth. I also decided to run to insure that the 3rd district has good council representation for it’s neighborhoods and business districts, and so that I will be in a better position to advocate for implementation of the City of Duluth’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan which will provide us with smarter land use decision making tools going forward.


3. I have not sought nor received any special interest group endorsements. My opponent has many special interest group endorsements including AFSME, a union that represents 2/3 of the city employees. I believe this is a conflict of interest, especially given she is an AFSME union member herself and serves on the AFSME leadership council. You can’t represent a broad base of Duluth citizen’s interests and have this conflict of perspective as a city councilor. I am prepared to represent the broader majority of Duluthians interests.


4. See above


5. The number one issue facing the city is solving the Retiree Health Care obligation because if not controlled, the obligation continues to grow and eat up our tax payer dollars that could otherwise go to providing essential city services (street maintenance, snow plowing, community policing, fire protection, etc.).


6. Crime is a major issue for the city and especially in the 3rd District. While some crimes have decreased, assaults and property crimes have increased. In the hillside, people don’t feel safe. On Park Point they complain of speeders and in Canal Park and downtown they are concerned about panhandlers and loiterers. Around the college campuses, the concern is loud parties and illegal, dangerous parking and driving. It’s clear to me that the city needs to spend more tax payer dollars on community policing and related law enforcement activities.


7. We can reduce crime by adding police officers including community police officers and by insuring that our city ordinances and state laws have the teeth they need to clearly tackle criminal behaviors. We need to add a city grant writer to pursue more federal and national grants for funds to support our police department.


8. Our park system has not been properly maintained. We must allow for reasonable changes in city ordinances, policies and our city civil service system to allow citizens to volunteer to assist with park maintenance.


9. I support a code of conduct for city councilors and mayor that includes sexual harassment policies if indeed one does not exist in various sections of the city charter. This is done in other large cities, counties, at the state level and most companies in the private sector.


10. I believe Duluth has made great strides in providing affordable housing in the last 3-5 years and I’m not convinced a large need still exists. Times change, markets change, supply and demand change. I would like to see more home ownership and support non-profit efforts along these lines like the work of NHS.


11. To solve the Duluth unfunded health care liability for retirees, the city needs to encourage retirees to accept the same health care plan as employees which has co-pays, reasonable deductibles and less administration costs. The city must also bid out the plan’s administrator to reduce costs and hire a professional actuarial so that we can estimate the obligation given employee concessions and utility rate increases and other measures that have already occurred.


12. Businesses will continue to come to Duluth and existing businesses will expand as long as the city has demonstrated it has it’s financial house in order by resolving the retiree health care obligation, not raising taxes and utility rates and fees sky high and not burdening Duluth businesses with extra-ordinary rules and regulations that hamper their completion in the free market. Businesses need good roads to move their goods to market, good police and fire protection services, and access to a quality of workforce to thrive. The city must work with others to accomplish the above.


13. Duluth should focus on supporting the growth of our existing businesses and their suppliers first. This includes Cirrus Design, Northstar Aerospace, health care industry, transportation industry (airport, rail, trucking, port) precision manufacturing like Ikonics and Hydrosolutions Inc., and its downtown retail/business service hubs. Right now, the regional economic developers are working to recruit additional businesses that compliment and even strengthen our existing economic base. This includes wind turbine component manufacturing, bio-diesel plants, high tech service providers, other aviation manufacturers and parts suppliers, among others.


14. Young folks will stay in Duluth if it’s an inviting, safe community where they can find appropriate employment opportunities and affordable housing. As baby boomers retire, more employment opportunities will become available than every before to young people. They need to make certain in high school that they have a plan for gaining the skills that will enable them to perform in those jobs. The city’s involvement in this workforce development with other city/county/state/private sector partners is crucial as that will be a win for businesses productivity and win for individual prosperity and opportunity. Helping our higher education (CSS, DBU, UMD, LSC, etc.) students better connect with what Duluth has to offer in terms of neighborhoods, parks, housing, community events, and employment opportunities via mentorships will increase the odds that those students when graduating will stay in Duluth.


15. I consider renters an important part of the community. Renters deserve a safe place to live and must be held to the same standards of good neighborly behavior as non-renters in our neighborhoods. Police enforcement and consistent code compliance by city staff is key to achieving this. Cracking down on absentee or slum landlords, nuisance parties, illegal parking and other illegal behaviors will improve and maintain our Duluth quality of life in traditional family neighborhoods. Funding more law enforcement (police) and building safety/code compliance resources will be required of the city of Duluth to better meet these challenges going forward. The current administration’s hiring freeze has meant we are operating with 4 fewer city building safety employees due to retirements in the last year or so, and less police patrolling our city and more police overtime costs. Our neighborhoods and the city’s budget which impacts our property taxes, have suffered as a result of this.