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

(birds chirping) (bright instrumental music) (upbeat instrumental music) (upbeat instrumental music continues) - Coming to you from 125 Live in Rochester, Minnesota.

(upbeat instrumental music) R-Town.

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

Today we continue our series with the City Council candidates for Ward 6.

Ward 6 generally covers the central northwest portion of the City, and we're joined today by candidates Mark Schleusner and Dan Doering.

Welcome to R-Town, both of you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- So, I'd love for us to start by you telling us a little bit about yourselves and what you'd like community members to know about your vision for the City if elected.

And we'll start with you, Dan.

- Yeah, so my name is Dan Doering.

I've lived in Rochester for 14 years, all of that in Ward 6.

I'm employed as the pastor at People of Hope Lutheran Church, which is kind of on the west side of Rochester.

I've been married to my wife for 24 years.

I'm glad I got that right, if she watches this, and we have an 18-year-old son who just began his studies at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

I love Rochester.

I love this community.

I love everything that it has to offer its residents, and I volunteered in this community quite a lot.

Done everything from performing at the Rochester Civic Theater to sitting on the board of directors of non-profit organizations here in Rochester, most notably, both the Dorothy Day House and Family Promise.

I'm running to represent Ward 6, because I'm excited about the future of Rochester.

I'm excited about the growth.

I'm excited about all the opportunities that our community has to offer its residents.

But I'm concerned that residents, some residents are being left behind in all that growth.

I'm particularly passionate about affordable housing, treating our homeless population with dignity and respect, seeing equity in our park and trail system throughout the City of Rochester, improving public transportation, and also talking about sustainability and environmental practices.

I have a lot of experience doing all these things in my normal job, and I look forward to bringing those skills and abilities to the City Council.

I'm a compassionate leader who works well with a variety of people who's very willing to collaborate, and who always has equity as part of my mindset while making decisions.

My vision for this community is based on the vision that I've heard from other people, and that is a community filled with equity, dignity, and respect for all citizens.

So, I really appreciate the opportunity to be here.

It's great to get to know you a little bit, too.

- Okay, thank you so much, Dan.

How about you, Mark?

- Hey, I'm Mark Schleusner.

I'm running for City Council as well.

A lifelong resident of Rochester, I was born and raised here.

Other than the years I was away in the military, I've called Rochester my hometown.

I'm very much proud that Rochester's my hometown as well.

I'm recently remarried.

My wife is from Mexico, and actually election day, November 5th will be our second anniversary.

So, like Dan, I very much believe in wanting to grow the City to be a very safe and diverse and equitable community.

There are things that we have been doing, which is great, but there's more work to be done, and the homeless is a very important topic that we do need to do more of for our city.

You know, like we had talked about, from a transportation point of view, I think there's more that we can do, 'cause the reality is, having a car is a luxury, and a lot of people don't look at it that way, but it very much is.

So, we need to be able to have means of transportation for those who are unfortunate and can't afford the luxury of a car, to be able to get around, be it through public transportation on buses, or perhaps on bikes, or even just walking.

You know, a lot of Americans take transportation kind of for granted, and there's a lot more that we could do in that space.

But I also want to bring a sense of fiscal responsibility to the City.

You know, we're in tax season right now, right?

You know, the average price per home for city taxes going up is 4.1%.

The county is five-point-some percent, and the school district is needing to ask the taxpayers for dollars as well.

Having been previously elected on a school board, I understand the extreme importance it is for public education, and the need to properly fund our schools.

And unfortunately, the schools have to ask the community for approval to raise taxes while the local city and county do not.

So, trying to bring that fiscal responsibility so all of the governments can hopefully not over raise taxes, 'cause, you know, I do understand taxes are important.

We have to pay for what we want.

- Thank you, Dan.

Mark, sorry, thank you, Mark, we will be talking about taxes, so, I'd love for you to follow up with that as well.

You mentioned, both of you actually mentioned housing and the homelessness, our homeless community.

Over the last few years, there's been a lot of discussion about housing and particularly the issue of affordable housing.

How do you define the housing needs in our community?

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

And we'll start with you, Mark.

- From housing needs point of view, you know, again, we have a certain homeless population that we need to do more for.

But while we're doing more for the homeless population, we also need to be conscious of those who are on kind of the brink of becoming homeless.

I was just sad just this morning I saw a Facebook post from a friend of needing help because she's about to lose her home, and it's kind of sad.

So, the mission of the, actually the Stead County Human, the Health and Human Services is the help with the homeless population within the county.

But there's certainly things that the City can be doing as well to help the county with that mission.

You know, I think we can redirect some funds to help with that mission, but again, we need to be conscious of our tax situation, so, we don't increase the homeless population.

That is absolutely the last thing that we wanna do.

We wanna keep people in their homes that are in their homes, and keep things affordable for them as well.

- Okay, thank you so much, Mark.

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

And if elected, what strategies would you pursue?

- Yeah, affordable housing is a huge need in this community.

It's one of the reasons that I'm running for City Council.

I'm a man of action on this particular issue, the congregation that I serve actually planned to build an affordable housing unit on a piece of our church property that ultimately failed due to a lawsuit levied against the City of Rochester.

So, I'm very familiar with the process of building large affordable housing units.

I think there's space in the City to do that work.

But I also think we can be creative in implementing some zoning things that are unique to the Rochester community.

R-2X zoning is a mixed use zoning that we can use to build duplexes or fourplexes on single family homes.

I would love to see us explore and actually implement that zoning policy to create more infill housing within the City proper of Rochester.

What I mean by the City of proper, so not on the outskirts, but in kind of the downtown or the first ring out of that downtown circle, to make housing a little bit more affordable for folks.

Currently we're facing almost a 700 unit per year shortage of creating housing in Rochester for the projected population growth.

So, we really need to incentivize builders in this community to create housing that people can actually afford.

So, not the luxury houses, but lower-priced homes.

And I think that the City could have a role in doing that.

In terms of helping with those who are experiencing homelessness, I've been an advocate for that community as well.

I would've voted against the camping ban that the City Council passed earlier this past year.

I was part of a group that advocated for the City Council not to support that camping ban, but instead worked for a more holistic approach to provide services and proper shelter for those experiencing homelessness.

Really excited that the county is now inviting the City into that process alongside with them, with their Any Path Home initiative.

And if elected, I'd be at the forefront of working alongside with county officials to help make sure everyone has that human right of something.

Finding somewhere to lay their head at night and be safe and secure.

- Okay.

Thank you both for your responses.

- Yep.

- Both of you have also mentioned that our city is growing, and as our city grows, and is growing and meeting the opportunities, as well as the challenges of that growth, what are your thoughts on addressing balanced economic growth here in Rochester, specifically in terms of how it relates to DMC and the Mayo Clinic Bold.

Forward.

Unbound.

project?

Can you respond to that first, Dan?

- Yeah, I'm excited about all the growth that's happening in the designated medical district.

I'm excited about the influx of capital from DMC.

I think it's a real great blessing for our community, especially with some of the increased tax dollars that will come out of that development.

But I am concerned for small business owners in the downtown area, and I wanna do whatever I can as a City Council member, and I would push the City to support entrepreneurship and small businesses, especially in the BIPOC community.

I was just talking with a small business owner this morning over a cup of coffee in their small business.

And that owner was talking about the space for rentals in downtown Rochester.

On one side of Broadway, it's $17 a square foot, on the other side of Broadway, it's $54 a square foot.

And that all has to do with the proximity of Mayo.

We need to level that playing field, so small business owners can achieve their dream of operating a business and supporting their family through that business.

The City has tools and abilities to do so.

I think we can be creative in, and again, providing grants, really exploring TIF, but TIF only for small businesses or affordable housing in this community to free up some of the capital needed to establish business.

That all being said, we also need to diversify our business portfolio.

And I see that diversification happening with small business.

- Great.

Thank you so much Dan.

- Yep.

- And Mark, how would you think about addressing balanced economic growth in Rochester, specifically in terms of destination Medical Center and Mayo Clinic's Bold.

Forward.

Unbound.

plans?

- Great question.

Extremely important question as well.

'Cause from a business diversification point of view, it's great what Mayo has brought to us.

It's great what we have going on with DMC, but we do need to diversify our businesses here, both from a macro business and a small business point of view.

I think Rochester's right to bring in some additional technology-based companies.

If you go back in Rochester history, when IBM had a stronger presence here in town, and we had JDS interface come in, we had Western Digital come in, we had Celestica come in.

Unfortunately, as IBM reduced its presence here, those companies went away.

But we still have the talent to bring that to town and stay here.

As Dan mentioned earlier, the R-2X, it's a really cool zoning style that should be emphasized as well, 'cause part of that is kind of making small, walkable communities.

Well, that'll be growth of affordable housing in that area, but also more like international communities where you have that grocery store on the corner.

You don't have to take transportation to a macro size grocery store somewhere else.

So, I think if we could emphasize what we've got with R-2X and have some development go on in there.

'Cause unfortunately while we've had R-2X now for some time, it hasn't taken off, I think as well as the City would like.

And that would help diversify our small business economic base in the City, while helping the citizens as well.

Especially as it makes more of a small community feeling and a larger community base.

- Okay.

Thank you so much, Mark.

You were starting to talk in the beginning a little bit about taxes, and your thoughts around that.

- Yeah.

- Of course, that's a very hot topic, and very related to economic growth for sure.

Given recent 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?

- That's a great question, 'cause taxes when you look at any level, tend to be extremely complicated.

You know, 'cause again, while the individual tax hit to the average homeowner in Rochester was 4.1%, the overall growth of the tax base for Rochester was 10%, right?

So, as the City grows and housing values go up, the City just naturally gets an increase in revenues from that.

So, to help the individual tax payer on the property tax from a City point of view, we need to have a little bit more control, or perhaps refocus on what our mission is from the City, or what the strategic priorities are from the City.

You know, we know that the homeless is important.

We know that affordable housing is important.

Perhaps there's other programs that, yes, while they're important as well, perhaps to reach them, we need to slow the pace down.

You know, we talk sustainability, extremely important as well.

But we have a goal, and the question is, is that goal leading to increased tax rates?

Yes, we absolutely wanna get to a sustainability point of view, but the question is, are we doing it too fast?

And as a result, it's affecting the taxpayers, resulting in more people being homeless.

It's a complicated system and we need to balance across the entire system, versus looking at individual pieces across the system, like they're somehow not connected to one another.

They all are.

- Okay, thank you so much, Mark.

And Dan, the same question for you, given recent discussions about property taxes and budget needs in Rochester, how would you balance the City's financial requirements, and the impact on property owners?

- Yeah, so I wanna talk specifically about the City tax levy of 10%, a little under 10% after some cuts that our City Council made to that proposed levee amount.

A large portion of that was for public safety.

And as I've been canvassing neighborhoods, public safety is a big concern that people raise up.

A huge percentage of that was for a market adjustment to pay our local police.

So, we're kind of tied with that.

If we want a quality police force that we're able to retain officers that are embedded in this community, we need to invest in that.

The other one was for the Silver Lake pool, which was brought forward, initially determined by the City Council to get rid of.

But then community current concerns said, "Hey, we want that pool back."

So, that's really that property tax levy here at this point.

Rochester's a city that's growing at an incredibly fast rate.

And we're gonna suffer through this growth process with rising property taxes.

So, that's just reality.

Unless we really get serious about doing some really strong advocation at the state legislature.

We have advocated for a change in the LGA formula, which is state government grant for us.

But I think we can do better with that.

Right now, in terms of LGA, Rochester gets a 10th of what Duluth, Minnesota gets.

So, Duluth gets about 440 per citizen.

We get around $40 per citizen.

And as Rochester continues to expand and grow that lack of LGA is gonna continue to put pressure on individual property owners.

So, I'd love to see some additional work on that.

I would also like to really strategize, as a City Council, about what our long-term wants and what our long-term needs.

And really invest and be strategic about when we're spending tax dollars that it's the exact appropriate time to spend those tax dollars, and when we might be able to hold off a little bit.

But as Mark was saying, property tax is a huge complicated issue.

The City tax is one portion of that, so is the county tax, and so is the tax being levied or being voted on by us for our public school system.

And I wanna say I'm fully in support of that tax for RPS.

- Okay.

Thank you both for your responses.

Dan, you mentioned public safety, and safety being really essential to a community.

- Yeah.

- What do you see as priority areas around public safety, and how should the City Council engage with both community members and law enforcement to support these goals?

- Yeah, so, I've had the opportunity to chat with Chief Franklin, and I think they're doing amazing things in our police department.

They have an oversight person who's not a member of the force, which I think is fabulous, and a great way to structure to ensure that police aren't abusing their positions of authority.

Not saying that RPD is by any means, but I like that oversight.

I think building trust between our police department, and neighborhoods, and pockets of population in our city is essential.

So, I really appreciate the efforts of Safe City Nights, things like that.

I think we can work more to continue to engender that trust.

But public safety for me is not only about crime enforcement, it's also about the livability, and being able to move about our city in a safe way.

So, I am concerned and continue to be concerned about inaccessible places for those who are facing disabilities.

In particular, the one getting a lot of traction now is Peace Plaza, and kind of the raised tiles that are happening in Peace Plaza, and how that's really not that safe for those who have mobility challenges or vision challenges.

So, I think we need to be intentional about creating spaces for all of Rochester citizens to be able to navigate safely.

So, whether that's sidewalks, trails, whatever, we need to make sure that those who are differently able to have those safe spaces as well.

Finally, I'm a huge cyclist.

I enjoy our trail system here in Rochester, a great deal.

Earlier this week I went on a 26-mile bike ride around our city, and notice some of our trail systems could use a little work too.

So, that's also a public safety issue for me.

I would hate to see someone go out to recreate and improve on their physical health and be injured because of a lack of maintenance for our trail system.

But that's a hugely complicated issue as well.

So, there's lots of things to work on, but there's huge benefits in terms of public safety that are already in place as well.

- Wonderful.

Thank you so much Dan.

And for you, Mark, what are your thoughts around how to engage community members and law enforcement to support public safety goals?

- Great question.

(chuckles) Hard to not reiterate a lot of things that Dan ever said, but there are a lot of great things that are going on in this space.

It, you know, growing up, my dad was a policeman here in town, and one of the things that the police force did back then that I don't think necessarily happened as much as there were individual policemen assigned to certain areas of town.

And my dad for his last five years, for example, he walked the beat downtown Rochester.

So, he got to know all the business owners, he got to know all the people who live downtown and build those relationships.

And we absolutely see the Rochester Police Department do some of that with the Safe City Nights, which is great activities.

We also see the police do that in the schools with the safety officials in the high schools and middle schools as well, which I think is a great program as well 'cause it's at least building relationships with the younger generation, with the police as well.

'cause there are a lot of unfamiliarities there that can be overcome with just having that time together and building that relationship.

But we also do need to look at the needs of the fire department.

You know, as the City grows, we do need to make sure that the fire department has what they need to do.

And from talking to the fire chief is they're getting what they need, but it's gonna come at a cost to the City.

But we need to pay for that cost up front, which is extremely important.

Or as previously mentioned, the parks and the pool.

To me, the pool is an interesting one of people don't think of it as a safety issue, but it's a place, a safe place that the citizens can go to in the summer months versus just like when I was a kid, just wandering around the streets, doing what kids do, you know, making sure that we do pay for what we need to do from.

As odd as it sounds, people think of a pool as a luxury.

I see it more as a safe destination for people to go to in the summer months.

So, it is worth the cost that we have there.

- Great, thank you both and thank you for deepening our conversation around what it means to have public safety and what that looks like.

Mark, there are arts organizations and nonprofits which receive city support and funding.

What do you think is the City Council's role in establishing oversight and transparency for these nonprofit organizations receiving City funds?

- Great question.

Interesting question.

Having served on a number of nonprofit organizations, when taxpayers are spent, be it through a grant process with a nonprofit organization, transparency is key, you know?

So, should the City say, be the oversight organization for nonprofits receiving these funds?

I would say that's a tough question.

You know, when a nonprofit applies for a grant, as long as they have a proper board of directors in place, they're doing their 990, and they're reporting to the public.

the way that they're spending their monies, like are normally required by nonprofit organizations.

We should trust the nonprofits to be doing what they're saying they're doing with the funds, and reporting the funds properly, like they're already required to by law.

- Okay.

Thank you so much, Mark.

And Dan, what are your thoughts about the arts organizations and nonprofits receiving City funds and the role of oversight?

- Yeah, as a former music teacher, the arts are essential to me, and essential to my wellbeing.

And at our last forum, we were asked if we could establish any department in the City that doesn't already exist, what it would be.

And I said I would roll the Rochester Public Music Department into an arts and culture overall department.

So, a department that would coordinate with all these varying nonprofits to make sure that our arts, culture, entertainment in this community.

There was a almost a clearing house where you could find out where everything was going and where those organizations could coordinate to do events and promote the arts together.

I would say that there should be city oversight in some of that grant funding.

I would love to see the Chateau Theater turned into a City-owned space, managed by the City.

So, it become more accessible for some of those smaller nonprofits like a Calliope Theater, or that other theater company to utilize that space without going through the bureaucracy of trying to figure out who to call, and when to do it and all that kind of stuff.

I think there needs to be a huge coordinated effort there.

I really appreciate the efforts by the RDA to bring down live music down into downtown at, with the frequency that they have done.

Those events need to be promoted more, and I don't think it just needs to fall to the RDA to do that.

I think that's something that the City can promote more, to bring more people into the downtown area, not only for those events, but to then also shop in our local businesses, or enjoy a nice meal in our restaurants.

So, I think it's essential that the City has some oversight with it, and that the City also take into mind how they are providing funds to these various organizations as well.

- Great.

Thank you both so much.

We are wrapping up.

- Yep.

- And, (laughs) our discussion today, and I would love for you both to share your final thoughts on why you are running, and what makes you the ideal candidate for this role in our City Council, and we'll start with you, Dan.

- Thank you so much for the conversation, and Mark, thanks for being here.

It's been a pleasure getting to know you during this campaign season, and I wish nothing but the best for you.

I think I'm the ideal candidate to represent Ward 6 because I'm a person of action.

Like I shared before, I've lifted up affordable housing as a concern.

I've actually fought for affordable housing in this community.

I brought up my concerns for those who are facing homelessness and fought for those who are facing homelessness.

I've been also an advocate for those who are differently abled in our community.

Organizing groups of volunteers to go and demand legislation, so that direct care professionals are paid a living wage.

So, those who are disabled in our community receive the care that they so deservedly deserve.

That's two D's in a row, right?

So, I'm a man of action, but I'm also a man that is guided by core values.

And those core values are compassion, equity, and collaboration.

I think I'm the ideal candidate because I have a proven track record of working with people from varying points of view and coming down to a common goal, and a common decision, and doing so in a very respectful, kind manner.

Trying to listen to everyone's input to come up with those decisions.

I've been able to navigate complex financial situations.

I oversaw two different nonprofits through the global pandemic, and all the challenges those brought.

So, I'm also just deeply invested in this community.

You can look at my volunteer track record on my website.

You can see everything that I've been involved in.

I mentioned some of those things before.

So, I think those are some of the reasons why I'm an ideal candidate.

But I'm also really, really a good listener, and I'm really concerned, and I really wanna live out the vision that those who I'm talking with in this community, I wanna help them live out their vision for Rochester as well.

So, if you have any questions for me, if anyone has any questions for me, they can always reach out to me via my website or gimme a call on my cell phone.

All that stuff is on my website as well, so.

- Wonderful.

Thank you so much Dan.

And Mark, your final thoughts on what makes you the ideal candidate for this role?

- I think that I'm the ideal candidate for Ward 6 'cause you know, being a lifelong resident in Rochester, I understand what the people of Rochester are like.

I understand what the people of Rochester needs.

You know, like Dan as well, I've surfed on many boards.

I'm a person of action.

I've seen holes in the past of things that needed to be brought to Rochester and I made them happen.

I continue to do that.

Having been previously elected, I understand what it means to do governance, to supervise, say, administrators, to look at very large budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars.

I've got experience in that space.

Like my opponent, I have core values of compassion.

We need to take care of the people of Rochester, and we need to do it in a way that the citizens of Rochester can afford.

I absolutely feel that, I grew up that way and I understand that, extremely important.

Being a compassionate city, living within the means that we can, I think is what Rochester is all about.

Growth, security, but doing it affordability.

- Wonderful.

Well, thank you so much, Mark.

Thank you so much, Dan.

Thank you for being with us today.

Thank you for your commitments to public service, - Yeah.

- and community service, and all that you have done already.

- Thank you as well.

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

As a reminder, election day is Tuesday, November fifth, and early voting via an absentee ballot is currently open.

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

We will see you next week on "OuR-Town," the show about Rochester (upbeat instrumental music) (singer vocalizing) (upbeat instrumental music) (singer vocalizing) (upbeat instrumental music) (singer vocalizing) (upbeat instrumental music) (uplifting instrumental music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(birds chirping)