Your Priorities are My Priorities
Brooklyn Park is one of the most diverse cities in Minnesota: home to long-time residents and new arrivals, small business owners and renters, young families and seniors. Every neighborhood has different needs, and every resident deserves a mayor who listens.
Running for City Council in 2024, I had convictions about how I could help Brooklyn Park. Serving as your Council Member has sharpened those convictions and added new ones. I've sat in the meetings, read the budgets, and knocked on thousands of doors to hear directly from residents across the city. What I've seen from inside City Hall confirms what I already believed: Brooklyn Park deserves leadership that's honest, careful, and focused on the people who live and work here, not on what's politically easy or financially convenient.
My vision is built on three pillars: growing our tax base, safe, strong neighborhoods, and homes, not just housing. These aren't talking points; they're commitments I'm ready to deliver on as your Mayor. I'm not running to represent one district. I'm running to lead one city.
Growing Our Tax Base to Lighten Your Load
We cannot simply cut our way to prosperity, nor can we continuously ask homeowners to pay more. The most effective way to lower your individual tax bill is to increase our commercial and industrial tax base.
By aggressively attracting new businesses, medical tech companies, and corporate offices to Brooklyn Park, we shift the tax burden away from residential homeowners. When businesses pay a larger share of the city's overall budget, your portion goes down, allowing us to maintain top-tier services without stretching household budgets.
Partnering with the State, Not Competing
For too long, local and state governments have acted like adversaries. I am changing that approach. Brooklyn Park deserves its fair share of state funding, and we win those dollars through collaboration, not conflict.
My time as Mayor will be focused on building strong partnerships with state lawmakers and agencies to secure: Increased Local Government Aid (LGA) to directly offset city operational costs.State Transportation Grants to fund major regional road and highway projects.
Infrastructure Bonds to modernize our parks and utility systems. By working as true partners with the state, we can leverage outside dollars to fund our local needs, effectively lessening the tax base pressure on the residents of Brooklyn Park. Together, we will build a fiscally responsible, thriving, and affordable city.
Group Homes/Congregate Care
Brooklyn Park holds more licensed group homes than any other Minnesota city, including Minneapolis and St. Paul. To balance vulnerable resident care with neighborhood impact and city resources, we must shift licensing and inspection authority from the state to local cities. Local control ensures resident safety, protects neighborhood harmony, and manages the operational burden on our emergency services.
Understanding the Real Housing Mix
When people hear "affordable housing," they often think of government subsidies. Let’s look at what these terms actually mean for our community:
Market-Rate Housing: Priced at top-dollar, fluctuating entirely based on whatever the current real estate market demands.
Affordable Housing: Built for the vast majority of hard-working Brooklyn Park residents—the people right here in our neighborhoods.
Subsidized Housing: Supported by federal or state programs to assist lower-income families or individuals with targeted financial aid.
Housing for Hard-Working Families
Real affordable housing is for the everyday people who keep Brooklyn Park running. It is designed for families who work hard every day to pay for their kids' activities, enjoy a well-deserved night out for dinner, and save up for a family vacation.We cannot price out our own community. We must provide "step-up" properties that match expanding income levels, allowing families to upgrade their living situations and build wealth right here in the city they love.
Revitalizing the Neighborhoods We Love
Our focus must shift from building endless new complexes to taking care of what we already have. I am calling for aggressive revitalization plans for our current housing stock. Every single resident in Brooklyn Park deserves to live in a home, a neighborhood, and a city they are genuinely proud of.
Always Listening
If you have questions about my vision for Brooklyn Park, or want to share your own visions and how we can work together to achieve them, I would love to hear from you!