City/Town: Prior Lake

Legislative District: Senate District 54

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Candidate responses in italics.

Q1: Housing plays a critical role in economic stability, health, and quality of life for individuals and families. However, disparities in housing continue to affect communities of color, people with disabilities, rural communities, and other historically underserved populations. What meaningful actions should be taken to acknowledge, address, and eliminate housing inequities and advance housing opportunities for all Minnesotans?

We need to have greater flexibility at the local level to allow more affordable homes to be built. At the same time, we need to be mindful of the physical limits of the jurisdiction’s current infrastructure which may make infill of houses in current areas problematic. So there needs to be some balance. However, I lean towards more flexibility as in my community of Prior Lake, the “NIMBY” sentiment is strong and somehow needs to be overcome. We need more families with kids as our school district has declining enrollment, endangering our school’s great performance

Q2: Supportive housing combines affordable housing with support services that help people who face the most complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy, and dignity. Supportive housing provides better outcomes and is fiscally responsible. What will you do to ensure community members who are unhoused or unstably housed receive the support they need to obtain or keep their own homes?

I don’t have specific proposals right now. Will be open to hear suggestions and will review and go from there. I understand the need, however. Just too busy in the campaign to be expert in everything. I know there have been proposals that have stalled in the legislature which we will need to consider and get passed, in their current form or somewhat amended to create a balance between the housing needs and the local constraints.

Q3: Homeownership is a way to build generational wealth, provide family and household stability, and support community vibrancy. More and more Minnesotans are priced out of owning a home because of rising housing costs, including purchase price, homeowners’ insurance, and property taxes. What steps will you take to increase opportunities for renters and first-time homebuyers to purchase homes, condos, or cooperative ownership models?

Ditto. However, the reason i am running is my concern for the world we are leaving for our younger generation, our kids and grandkids. Linda and I came back to MN in December 2014 so she could be a full time daycare grandmother and when I look at my two grandkids here, I think, “What a mess we are leaving them.” We need to do better on affordable housing affordable childcare, affordable energy, affordable skill development (whether college, apprenticeships, or other skill development efforts)

Q4: In the last several years, bipartisan action to streamline building of new homes and apartments has passed in several states, including: allowing for multifamily buildings in select commercial areas, limiting parking requirements, allowing smaller homes on smaller lots, and more homes per lot in residential areas like duplexes, fourplexes, and accessory dwelling units. What reforms do you support to modernize zoning to both enable homes to be more affordable statewide and improve city tax bases?

All sound like reasonable ideas. The problem is that all locations are not alike. A “one size fits all” approach is unlikely to work well. Perhaps a requirement for jurisdiction to create a plan for how the rising housing needs will be met would be a good first step, addressing how those ideas could be implemented. For example, even in Prior Lake, seniors are welcome so adding more housing suitable for seniors who wish to downsize would be welcomed, which would open up housing for younger families. So, perhaps incentives for senior housing as a carrot may be more welcomed in Prior Lake than a stick.

Q5: Despite housing being the largest cost in the average household budget, housing receives only a small fraction of the total state budget at just 0.3%. A lack of ongoing reliable funding for housing in Minnesota’s state budget has resulted in an undersupply of stable homes affordable to our workforce, our elders, and our families. In recent years, a constitutional amendment for housing, which would dedicate revenues from a sales tax increase to housing, has gained momentum at the legislature. What revenue options will you champion to more adequately meet our need for reliable funding for homes we can afford?

No specific proposals right now.

Q6: If you have other housing policy priorities, especially specific to your district’s housing needs, please share them here.

The issues of fraud and housing for disabled are connected. For many, housing and services need to be combined, and the fraud makes group homes and other combined services a target from the right. We must regain the public’s trust in our government programs to be able to grow the cost-effective combination of services approach.