Top 10 Questions from Door Knocking

•  Why is Larson running against you - no idea have to ask her
•  If she loses will she be off the Council - no she has two years left on her Council term
•  Is the Mayor a full time job - no but I put in 20 to 30 hours at least each week  
•  How much do you get paid per year - $3,900 or $325 a month
• What are you going to do about taxes- my plan cut taxes and spending two years straight for the first time in city history. The 14% tax cut is a great benefit to our taxpayers especially our low income residents. The City controls about 40% of a person's property tax bill. This year the school district and county both hiked their portions which will unfortunately raise all of our taxes.
•  What is going on with the nuisance stuff - There are serious flaws in the ordinance and its enforcement.  The ordinance and its enforcement which the Council passed unanimously have allowed neighbors to attack each other with petty complaints that bring the force of the City into the squabble. The enforcement must be fair and transparent. There have been many good clean-ups that could not have happened if we did not have the ordinance but common sense needs to be applied. We need to fix the flaws of this ordinance so it can be used as it was intended.
• How is the foreclosure problem being handled - We have implemented a foreclosure tracking system that allows the City maintain property values. We shutoff utilities when a house is empty to avoid damage. We have empty homes on a list for our police officers to monitor so no illegal activity is allowed to take root.
• What businesses and jobs are we bringing to Isanti - According to DEED and Isanti City Staff we have brought in over 300 jobs to the City since 2007 which equates to a 29% increase. Now with 20 new and relocated businesses to Isanti we are diversifying our tax base and are breaking free of the ups and downs of the residential housing market. Great Companies like Pat’s Small Engine, Hockert Sales and the gateway to further highway 65 development – McDonald’s. We have Ever Cat Fuels and Isanti Retail Meats that will be adding even more this fall. Our Main Street has experienced a rebirth of new businesses, we have much more to do but the progress has been great.
•  How long is your term – the Mayor’s term is 2 years.
• What is being done about our high cost awful water – We are building a water treatment plant that was made a City Goal after my election. The plant will eliminate the harmful quantities of Radium as well as the problems of iron and manganese. The high cost of our water is due to the fact that we have to use fees that you and I pay to build the water treatment plant. We have to pay for it because developers were not charged adequate residential development fees to cover increased infrastructure cost. My opponent was against raising developer fees in her decade on the Council and now you and I are paying for it.