Rachelle’s Priorities

We have a great city and that doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a clear vision, strong collaborative leadership and common-sense solutions. I believe I can bring a well-rounded perspective to complement the work we are already doing. I’m running to be your voice and seek to represent you with integrity and honesty, seeking to make wise and sound decisions that keep us moving in the right direction–on a prosperous economic path while creating a vibrant community with a high quality of life for all its residents.

Prioritize Public Safety:

I believe it is necessary to have a well-rounded approach to Public Safety with a focus on prevention while fully supporting our Police Department with technology, training, recruitment, and retention as they enforce our laws and protect our residents. In the most recent community survey, residents rated Public Safety as priority number one. Public safety is the cornerstone of any thriving community and encompasses a multitude of facets, from prevention to enforcement. I will continue to support and advocate for our city to invest in safe infrastructure and community development planning, which includes traffic flow engineering and creating a safe environment for pedestrian traffic throughout the city. I will also continue to support our community and educational outreach opportunities such as Coffee with a Cop, National Night Out, DARE and Student Resource Officers. Finally, I would maintain our commitment to provide our Public Safety Departments with the financial support they need to recruit and retain exceptional employees and acquire the technology and tools they need to keep themselves and our communities safe. The addition of a traffic enforcement unit over the last two years has addressed many traffic-related incidents, and I would like to explore additional options to address speeding, distracted driving and other traffic infractions. I have been impressed with our part-time, on-call model for our Fire Department and know how lucky we are to be able to operate this way. While attending the 2023 budget work session, I heard the PD leadership present and ask for an embedded social worker to help lessen the load on our Officers, 911 dispatchers and reduce recidivism rates. Additionally, our fire department was approved for an additional Fire Inspector to help with the load of inspections necessary to keep up with new construction, remodels and rentals. Public safety is approximately 1/3 of our city budget, and by investing in Public Safety, we are able to create a thriving city with a healthy economic environment that attracts and retains residents and businesses.

Ensure Fiscally Responsible and Transparent Spending:

I will seek to monitor city spending to keep the government focused, small, transparent, and accountable. Residents should be receiving high quality services balanced with a commonsense approach to spending. I will work to keep our city budget from becoming inflated with unnecessary costs associated with providing services outside the necessary role of government. I believe the government exists to serve the residents and must be held accountable by the residents and this is accomplished with transparent spending, ongoing communication, and responsive listening.

Promote Community and Economic Development:

Housing:

“I love hanging out with friends and going places, but home is my happy place.” One of my teenagers said this to me the other day and it really made me appreciate the home we have created inside our four walls as well as the physical house we live in that has made our home possible. After graduating from college in 2004 and getting married, my husband and I always knew we wanted to settle in Maple Grove. At that time, we couldn’t afford to purchase a home in Maple Grove as the housing market was red hot, much like it is now. We bought a townhome in another city until 2009, when the housing bubble burst, and we were able to buy a distressed property in Maple Grove, which we renovated and still live in today. We all have different housing needs and wants, but we have all decided to call Maple Grove home. When out in the community I hear concerns about housing more than anything else. When having these conversations, its best to define some terms so we know we are talking about the same thing and do a little digging to get a complete picture of our housing needs and goals as a community.

Community and Economic Development is a large division in our city that serves several purposes. Some of the more significant responsibilities in this area are: City Planning (including the comprehensive land use plan), Property Maintenance & Zoning, Economic Development and Rental housing inspections and licenses. Our 2040 comprehensive plan is available to any resident and outlines the projected residential and commercial development of the 15% of the land we still have undeveloped in Maple Grove. When talking about housing and development, the buzzword “affordable housing” comes up quite a bit. This has a different meaning to different people, so as defined by our city, it refers to subsidized housing in some way, shape or form, and the Met Council further defines it as housing attainable by incomes at 80%,50% or 30% of the median income in each area. Developers can take advantage of Section 42 federal subsidy, which gives them grants or credits if they offer affordable units by the Met Council definitions. These are usually apartments and rental townhomes. There is also a Section 8 federal subsidy available to individuals who qualify to take with them anywhere they choose to rent. The city currently does help these developers by offering park dedication and building fee waivers. In addition, the city also owns income-qualified senior housing and 28 housing units for families transitioning to home ownership. We need to have a variety of housing options to attract and retain residents as they go through all stages of life, and I think the most significant gap right now is in affordable senior housing. This would be my focus in offering more affordable housing.

Homes like mine that we purchased and renovated as first-time home buyers are in shorter supply today, partly because of the rental market. Rental companies are using HUD money to buy single-family homes in older neighborhoods and pricing out potential homeowners. This has contributed to the decrease in supply that has fueled the rising costs in the housing market, as well as created several other issues in Maple Grove and all over the twin cities. We currently have a rental license moratorium to halt new licenses from being issued until we can move forward with a plan to curb this trend. There is also a housing trend towards more high-end luxury rentals and away from single-family homes fueling the high home prices.

In summary,

* Affordable housing and the affordability of homes are two different things. Affordable housing means subsidized housing. It isn’t less expensive to build; the cost is just subsidized by taxes so that the end user pays less. In Maple Grove most of our affordable housing is offered through funding the developer receives from federal and state subsidies. The city offers additional help to these developers by fee waivers.

The affordability of homes is driven by the market based on supply and demand which is being impacted by the high rental market among other factors.

* The housing market is volatile. We can’t simply make decisions for what we think is needed right now without looking at the long-term viability of these projects and their ability to thrive in ever-changing markets.

* With the rental moratorium expiring soon we need to address the increase in rental homes affecting most neighborhoods in our city.

*I see a need to prioritize partnerships with developers that offer affordable senior housing which is where we see the largest need in our specific city.

There is not one quick fix that will address all our housing needs, the plan needs to be comprehensive. I have had multiple conversations with city staff and I’m confident with the right leadership we can find a balance of retaining current residents quality of life while still attracting new residents to our community.

Economic Development:

With my formal education in Marketing and professional experience in Finance Management, working directly with business owners has always been a large part of my working career. Its a world that I am familiar and something that I am very passionate about.

We have a thriving economy here in Maple Grove and that doesn’t happen by accident. It is a product of fostering an environment that is friendly to retail business, commercial business, industrial business and tourism. I have been so impressed with our business owners and managers and have learned quite a bit talking with them about their needs for their businesses and how the city can partner with them. We are the second largest retail hub per capita in the twin cities next to Bloomington and talking with retail providers one of their biggest needs from the city is public safety. Providing a strong police presence in the community is essential to their success. Also with retail, they are facing staffing challenges so providing transportation and lower cost living options close to our heavy retail presence helps them staff their stores more efficiently.

The city is also focused on helping to market the wonderful experiences we offer in our city by the new creation of a DMO called Experience Maple Grove. This is funded by the local lodging tax and seeks to attract visitors to the community to eat, shop, recreate and stay as well actively market Maple Grove as a destination city.

Some of the challenges facing our corporate businesses are also related to staffing but they experience a lack of qualified candidates for specialized trades. Our city is partnering with local schools and the MN regional chamber of commerce to highlight workforce development with a focus on creating interest in careers for these specialized trades.

Another focus of the economic development team is to bring in companies that offer higher paying jobs. We encourage them to come to Maple Grove by highlighting the benefits of doing business here as well as offer tax increment financing based upon job creation. This is important because we need all types of business in our city to meet the needs of our residents as well provide stability in our economy.

Advocating for improvements in transportation to the County and the State is another important aspect of Economic development. I would support the continuing efforts to complete HWY 610 to unlock the NW corridor as well as revitalization of the Elm Creek and 169 interchange. Improving and advancing intra-city transit options should also continue to be explored.

As the city starts to age, we will be having more conversations about revitalization of commercial spaces as well as keeping the vacancy rate low. To do this, we need to stay in touch with our businesses knowing that our success is tied together. When they succeed, we succeed and when we succeed, they succeed.

In a city no one thing operates on an island, they are all interconnected and all single pieces of a larger puzzle. For continuing success to happen we need leadership that supports the efforts of our city staff, understands the complexities of interconnected environments and will partner with our local businesses to help our unique economy continue to thrive.

Advocate for Parks and Recreation:

In the summers, we spend many days out on the lake. My husbands family has lived on Fish Lake since the early 1980’s and our kids have grown up swimming, boating and tubing as a regular part of their summers. We have made many memories on the waters in Maple Grove. We also spent many hours meeting friends at Central Park and Elm Creek park reserve. The trails that run directly behind our house are used by residents all year long as we can view from our living room and sitting out on the deck.

Our parks and recreation offerings are a huge asset to our community and sets our city apart from others. It is necessary to maintain the quality of our parks, trails, lakes, preserve areas, community center and recreational offerings as they are a vital part of our resident’s quality of life and help drive our local economy. Our beloved community center is a major hub that brings our community together by offering ice, swimming, a place for seniors to gather, a banquet room for large events, art displays, a play maze, classes and much more. This facility attracts over 700,000 visitors each year and like all 25 year old facilities is in need of mandatory maintenance, the extent of the renovation and how it will be funded is up to the voters this November. Please visit growingtogethermaplegrove.org for more on the proposed project.

Encourage a Vibrant Multi-Generational Community:

If you see me within the community, I can usually be found teaching elementary kids in school, running my own teenagers around to various activities, mentoring High School students, walking with friends who are pushing strollers, or visiting with my slightly more senior friends at a coffee shop. I have friends that just moved to Maple Grove and friends and family who have lived here since the early 1980’s. I see and hear many points of view just going about my everyday life. Having dear friends and family in all stages of life and with different backgrounds, has shown me firsthand the importance of having proper housing, parks and recreation offerings and transportation options available for all residents. Over the past 14 weeks, I have had the opportunity to talk with residents in every generation, from all backgrounds, who live in all parts of the city, in all different types of housing and who all have different needs and participate in different activities. It has been such a joy and an honor to hear their stories and what they desire for their lives. I have also spoke with members of the park board and the planning commission to see what they are hearing from residents, about the projects coming down the pipeline and where are the city gaps in terms of meeting the needs of the residents. If elected, I will seek to continue to provide a well-balanced approach to all these areas so we can meet the needs of our residents for years to come as well as attract new residents. Placing a high priority on public safety, investing in our parks and recreation, making wise development plans, attracting high quality employers and businesses and reimagining intra-city transit are all essential and work together to create a vibrant overall community where every resident has what they need to be successful and have a high quality of life. The structure the city provides is essential, but the residents are the heart and soul of our community, and I will seek to be sensitive to every residents unique needs.