- [Narrator] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Coming to you from 125 Live in Rochester, Minnesota, "R Town."

(upbeat music) This month, we're hosting a series of City Council candidate discussions ahead of the upcoming elections.

Today, we'll be kicking off the series with the City Council candidates for Ward Two.

Ward Two covers the southwest and portions of the northwest part of the city, including the historic southwest neighborhood and parts of downtown Rochester.

We are joined today by candidates Nick Miller and Tripp Welch.

Welcome to "R Town," both of you.

So to get us started, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you were running for office?

I'll start with you, Tripp.

- Yeah, so when this race came up, and talking with for previous City Council members and those types of things, I really thought, you know, when I look back at my 30 years here in Rochester, I really have a deep sense of gratitude and commitment to our city.

So I've had the opportunity to serve on numerous boards and participate in lots and lots of community activities from youth soccer to youth rowing to the arts.

And I felt, you know, this is an opportunity to really kind of take it to that next level.

After I've been served in the Housing redevelopment authority, art center, childcare resource and referral, I have a lot of knowledge and Rochester has given me the opportunity to become the best version of myself, and I believe the same is true with my family.

And so I thought I should really try and lean in and help Rochester become the best version of itself.

- Okay, well, thank you so much, Tripp.

How about you, Nick?

- Thanks for the opportunity to be here, Nicole.

My name is Nick Miller.

I am actually a newer resident to Rochester.

I grew up in Louisiana and my wife's career brought us to Rochester several years ago.

And like Tripp, I love this community and I also have found that the challenges for today are new and different as we develop this community of the future as we're almost 10 years into the DMC project.

And so as I've gotten more involved both in my neighborhood association and community projects and with city policy and even statewide policy, I saw an opportunity to involve myself, take a risk and run for office thinking about how we're developing the future community of Rochester for our children, for new residents who are aging and seeking medical care as a long-term home as they are at a different stage of life and how we meet the challenges for housing, for transportation, for social and communal spaces that bring our community together.

And I think I have a unique perspective with a background in business and also as a newer resident that we can bring in new perspectives into our city governance for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

- Thank you, thank you both.

Nick, you mentioned housing.

How do you define the housing needs in Rochester?

And if elected, what strategies would you use to address these issues?

- Sure, that's a great question.

This is a question that comes up over and over at the doors in City Council meetings and community spaces.

And housing I think first and foremost is a continuum of needs.

When we think of people living unhoused, that's part of a housing question.

When we think of different affordable housing at different levels for different income levels, that's also a housing need.

And when we think about where people are given the option to live in relation to where they work, that's a housing need.

And so what I think of is that the city has the unique opportunity to set how land is used.

Traditionally this is done through zoning, and our zoning code has come in at different philosophies over time.

Much of our city in the downtown core was developed before zoning laws existed.

And as lots' minimum sizes have grown larger and larger, we've seen an increasing challenge in providing infrastructure to provide enough lots for housing.

Houses have grown larger, we're not building starter homes anymore.

And so I think addressing those key issues of what can be built and what should be built.

And then partnering with our county for the state dollars that go towards housing with local nonprofits working on this space across the whole continuum.

We have to build partnerships, but we have to understand what the city can and can't do.

And then finally, I'd just say from the business perspective, how we develop and where we develop intensity of housing and density of housing sets us up either for financial success as a community or challenges our future budgets.

- Great, thank you for sharing that, Nick.

And you Tripp, how do you define the housing needs in the community?

And if elected, what strategies would you use to address this issue?

- Yeah, so this is one that I hear often throughout the community.

In fact, this morning I was just having a conversation with a young woman who informed me that she was leaving our community 'cause they can't afford to live here.

She rents and what they really want to do is own.

And so while I believe that all housing is good, I think the real opportunity that people are looking for today is that opportunity to actually begin that home and move through kind of the starter home to the next level and the pieces and it's just all jammed up.

And so we need to look for every opportunity to increase home ownership opportunities, whether that's a condo or a owned single family home or a town home.

I think all options should be on the board.

What I see is a city that is priming the areas and investing a lot, part of the sales tax that was just passed is really to begin to invest in opportunities for people to get those first homes.

And so we need to look.

I think downtown, the real estate is multiple times the expense of the fringes of the city.

And so if we really wanna develop things that people can afford to buy, we're gonna have to look at all the areas that we have within city limits now and into the future that can be developed for homes.

I think if we don't do that, we happen to be losing the woman I talked to this morning to South Dakota, but I think people are choosing to live in Cass and they're choosing to live in Pine Island.

They're choosing to live.

And so I think once they establish their homes there, then they're not gonna be a part of our community.

And so I think if we really want a truly inclusive community, we have to have opportunities for all.

- Okay, thank you for sharing that.

We know that we live in a growing and dynamic city.

What are your thoughts, Tripp, on addressing balanced economic growth in Rochester, specifically in terms of how this relates to Destination Medical Center and Mayo Clinic's Unbound project?

- Yeah, so the Unbound projects is interesting.

As I've been out talking with people, there's a lot of confusion around that.

And not all of that money is just being put into facilities.

A lot of it's about the complete redesign and introducing new technologies into the way that care would be delivered.

But there is an opportunity around the downtown area and those types of things to stimulate business.

And I think there's a lot of things that the city are currently doing, whether it is the ambassadors downtown keeping it clean, trying to make certain areas where folks can gather.

But I worry that the downtown environment is becoming a little bit too restrictive.

For some reason, there's a perception among our community members that going downtown is a hassle.

And so what we're seeing is areas kind of towards Costco and other areas really booming in development, even apartment buildings and other residencies cropping up there because for some reason, the downtown seems so inaccessible, but when you look at the downtown, it's a collection of family owned and individual unique restaurants and shops.

And so what are some of the things that we can do, whether it's working with the Downtown Business Alliance or ready or others to really stimulate much more development and opportunities for people to come down and enjoy and discover the gifts of Rochester.

- Okay, thank you so much, Tripp.

And you Nick, what are your thoughts about addressing the balanced economic growth, especially as it relates to Destination Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic Unbound projects?

- It's a wonderful question and so much aboard too encompasses those downtown areas or is adjacent to the downtown areas.

And what I think of is, again, having come here in more recent years where there wasn't already the booming downtown employee economy, I think Rochester is in the process of transitioning who the downtown customer is because we no longer have the many thousands of Mayo employees coming down every day and looking for quick opportunities to have a bite to eat either at lunch, after work, meet up with a colleague, grab a quick gift.

And as that economy is evolving, we have to set the conditions so that the future customer base, both for visitors who are continuing to come to Mayo Clinic, but also for the increasing demand for housing near and in downtown, understanding the needs of those people.

And I include myself in that.

I live near the downtown.

I frequently shop and dine in the downtown, and access is very important to me.

I also think that we need to support the infrastructure changes that make it a more hospitable place to be at the street level.

RDA is talking about this.

The City Council just this past week submitted approval for a grant application to the US Department of Transportation for a grant fund to redevelop and re-engineer Broadway between Ninth Street Southeast and Civic Center Drive.

And I think that experience of what is that street for will help to shape the future of a lively downtown because currently, it's an old state highway and it feels a lot like that.

It's difficult to cross from the west side to the east side.

And we see many businesses, commercial spaces for lease along that corridor.

And largely I think that that's a factor of it being difficult to access on foot and it not being an enjoyable place to spend time.

We know that we have ample parking downtown.

We have some opportunities to communicate that to people through way finding, through other promotional campaigns to help people understand that there is parking downtown.

But I think yet we have to understand what is the destination of downtown and what is there to do into this future economy to really support small businesses of the future as we redevelop what the identity of Rochester is?

- Great, thank you so much, Nick.

Given recent discussions around property taxes, shifting over to taxes, which everyone loves to talk about.

- It's a popular topic.

- It's a popular topic.

In terms of discussions around property taxes and budget needs in Rochester.

What is your perspective on balancing the city's financial requirements with the impact on property owners?

- It's a great question and I have studied this at length.

How we develop and how we have developed over the past 50 to 70 years have set the conditions for the same city services that we come to expect, public safety, emergency response, transportation to be spread over larger and larger areas.

And it is more expensive to provide those services over larger and larger areas.

We've seen recent reconstruction or construction of a new fire station in the northwest corner of the city.

We've seen new schools constructed along the northwestern edge.

And as we grow that development outwards, we just have less efficient use of city funds to provide a fixed route bus line out to the northwest means fewer people will ride that along each stop and the bus has to travel farther distances.

So when we look at the trajectory of our city budget, we have to understand the long-term factors that are bringing these bills due today to continue to provide these services.

I think our city has done innovative things and we can understand how we can curb small cuts here and there, but the larger trajectory has been set and we have to understand the approval and prioritization of new developments that add wealth and productivity to existing areas with infrastructure are more productive than building new infrastructure and waiting in this build it and they will come method because that doesn't set us up for future budget success and productivity.

It actually leads to insolvency.

- Thank you so much, Nick.

And you, Tripp, given the recent discussions around property taxes and budget needs in Rochester, how would you balance the needs of the city, the city's financial needs and requirements with the impact on property owners?

- Yeah, so as we watch that discussion occur at City Council and have been out talking to folks, I find it really interesting that the city has maybe come to the point where some of our wants are coming in with some of our needs.

And so who can raise their home budget by 10% and then hand the bill to their employer and just say, you have no choice but to pay this.

And I think you have to actually take a broader perspective on it as well.

We have the county who just announced that they're probably gonna add a 6% levy, and then our friends in the public schools also are looking for a levy to try to bring up the amount per student that's spent into perhaps the middle of the pack of cities of 100,000.

And I think when we don't get together and talk about what are our true needs as a community and balance those across county, city, and schools, we're gonna continue to see some areas get the investment that might have been a want more than a need, and some of the others that are fundamental to creating a really strong and livable city go for want.

And so as we we look at this whole process, it's not possible.

It was kind of funny to watch the City Council members try to identify a line item.

We're beyond the day where you can go through and strike a budget line item.

This is about direction for the city and really trying to look and say what makes the most sense for us as a community to move forward.

- Great, thank you so much, Tripp.

As Rochester grows, what do you see as priority areas around public safety and how should the City Council engage with community members and law enforcement to support these goals?

- Yeah, so there are a lot of things we could talk about.

There was recently a Post bulletin article that talked about some of the highest or most dangerous intersections, and I think four of the top five were bordering or within Ward Two.

And so we have to make sure, I'm a strong advocate for public safety, and that includes our friends in the police offices as well as the firemen, the emergency responders, all those.

So we really need to make sure that we are able to have a community in which those response times are quick so people get the need and help that they want.

Now the city's growth is interesting.

It's kind of plateaued for a little bit.

We have been growing quite quickly.

We got to about 120.

There's calculations 120, 25.

So we're in a unique opportunity right now to kind of say, are we set up for the future with regard to public safety?

Do we have police in the right location?

The location that they have the north side of town was actually more out of convenience than it was out of a strategic indication or analysis of where that should be.

I think it's at a good spot, but we need to continue to look at that and make sure that when people need help, it will arrive quickly.

- Okay, thanks so much.

And for you Nick, as Rochester grows, what do you see as the priorities around public safety and how should the City Council engage with community members and law enforcement to support these goals?

- Well, to the earlier question about budget, as we rely on public safety requiring more and more personnel, that will continue to get more expensive as we spread over a larger area.

And so while I believe and support our police officers, our fire responders, and other emergency response services, I think we have to understand safety as a safe systems approach, particularly thinking about our intersections being dangerous.

There are things that the city can do and can't do.

There are certain intersections that are within city jurisdiction and those that are outside of it.

And I think that our city has to take a strong approach to creating safety in the public space along the roadways, designing safer roads.

We know that when roadway safety was first a concept, it was applied at a highway level.

And roadways that are safe as highways are very straightforward.

They're very straight, they have limited complexity, and they're to move vehicles quickly through there without other impediments.

When we apply the same concept to local roadways, we actually create unsafe conditions.

And I think we are learning, but again, it's expensive to redevelop roadways and we have to take the opportunities where we can.

We know that narrower lanes creates slower speeds by design.

We know that increasing visibility for pedestrians and increasing access beyond that for people with disabilities and other users increases the activation of the street.

And when we reprioritize the street, particularly in our downtown for people, I think we create safety without adding to the long-term cost trajectory that we've already talked about.

So prioritizing safe streets, vibrant streets creates a healthier community and creates a safer community and creates a community where we care for each other.

I would also think about neighborhood associations and how we build stronger neighborhoods also as a jumping off point to better safety and perceptions and real safety crime rates.

- So part of the City Council's oversight does involve a number of different nonprofits in our community.

What are your views on how City Council should continue to provide and steward that oversight with nonprofits in our community?

- Well, I think particularly of the arts and our cultural organizations, what I hear is a greater need for access to space scheduling.

When I think of the Rochester Symphony who does wonderful work and has to try to compete against national acts booking civic center space, I think we could look at how we're supporting them through processes, ordinances, requirements for access to community space.

Think of it similarly with the Rochester Recreation Center and how space and time is prioritized for people in the community.

I think we have of it in the future sports complex of how do we maintain access for the community.

But in the art space, what I hear from local artists, and I've been part of many projects with our neighbors in painting murals in the street or looking at opportunities to activate our trail network with art is it's very difficult to get consistent guidance on the permitting process for approvals.

And I think we can streamline and update our ordinances in ways that enable art.

And I think particularly of the coming construction with Unbound, it's a great opportunity to add some public art and vibrancy to spaces that are otherwise just looking like construction sites.

So that's how I would guide city staff is to look at the ordinances, particularly the barriers to getting permissions and permits and make sure that we're facilitating local artists to be able to contribute to our public spaces and make them more beautiful and vibrant.

- Thank you, Nick .

And Tripp, what are your thoughts around this role of oversight that the City Council has?

and how to best steward that with the nonprofits that the city has this role with?

- Yeah, when I think back to Newton Holland, so actually the guy who Newt's Restaurant is named after and the founding member of the Rochester Arts Center, he said we need an arts community that matches the expertise and excellence that we see in the scientific community here.

And I truly believe that.

And so as we look for different opportunities to showcase the arts and local artists that we have in our community of which there are numerous, I think we need to continue to find spaces and scheduling options, whether it's in the civic center or in the art center shoot, the Chateau Theater could actually see a lot more opportunity inside of there as well too.

But I applaud the city and the current City Council for taking music out to the parks and really making the arts accessible.

And so I think as much as the City Council is being asked to support infrastructure, we really need to look at say, well, is that infrastructure supporting the programming that really has the impact that we're looking for to expose everyone in our community to the arts that are available?

- What are some of your final thoughts around what unique qualifications and experiences make you an ideal candidate for City Council and representing Ward Two?

- Thank you.

First and foremost, having a background in business, particularly in finance and accounting.

I have a master's degree in accounting.

I've studied city budgets.

I've done classes in city budgets.

I've worked with large budgets in healthcare, most recently for the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics.

And I understand the large challenge that it is to understand a city or an organizational budget and get to the places where we can make impacts and the things that are already baked in based on past decisions.

So that's one.

I also have a young daughter who's a fifth grader in Rochester Public Schools, and thinking specifically about how we're creating a city for our youngest generation, our most vulnerable generation who need connection, who are emerging from COVID with strong social needs, strong educational needs, and how we support each other in our community, which we talk about transportation as the access point to our community and yet know that many children don't have access to their own transportation because it's not available either through Rochester Public Transit along a route that works for them or their parents are working and can't provide public or private transportation.

And so how we're focusing on the connectivity of our city and the social connectivity and cohesiveness of our city, of our youngest and our oldest populations, those are some of the things I've been working on at the city level, at the state level.

And building larger coalitions to bring more people into that conversation who have historically been left out.

Also working with people who are advocating for safe and accessible spaces, accessible housing.

I think there's a unique opportunity that I've built community connections to bring more people into the local decision making and democratic process, and I will continue to do that on City Council.

- Okay, thank you so much Nick.

And Tripp, what are your final thoughts around what your qualifications are and what experiences make you an ideal candidate for City Council and to represent Ward Two?

- So over my nearly 30 years in this community, I've had the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities, both as a leadership role as well as a frontline volunteer.

So you've seen me at Quarry Hill working the fairs.

You've seen me at Social Ice or Downtown Dogs interacting with people, hearing what they're saying.

I've served leadership roles in the housing redevelopment authority, childcare, tackling some of the toughest issues in our communities and board level positions.

Currently serve as the secretary for the Rochester Airport.

And through my work career, I've been a part of a leadership program in which every five to seven years, I'm expected to take a different role.

So I've worked in human resources, understanding the employee experience and how all these different factors come together and all the lenses in which they view our community and as a place to work.

I've served as a research administrator, clinical administrator, served as vice chair of quality at Mayo Clinic, understanding the patient's experience.

And I've been heavily involved in those types of things that I believe those skill sets that they've developed over time really could be applied quite well to this leadership role at the City Council.

So I wanna be clear that this role is really about providing leadership for our city administration, not about becoming a part of it.

And so really I believe that leadership experience that I offer, I too as well have raised a family, three kids here in Rochester, all of 'em I couldn't be more proud of.

And I think my deep commitment to this community helps me to become one of the best candidates to apply for City Council.

- Wonderful, thank you so much, Tripp.

Thank you Nick, and thank you Tripp for joining us today and for your commitment to public service.

And thank you for joining us as we've heard from the two candidates for City Council representing Ward Two.

From 125 Live, I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara.

We will see you next week on "R Town," the show about Rochester.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (gentle music) - [Narrator] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.