*After selling fresh iced chickens to but- chers during college summers and  graduating from the College of St.  Thomas, my first real job was in- specting slum buildings for a vener- able mortgage banking firm on  LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago.   This is relevant in that I was able to  read the old carbon files and see how  the slums were created during WWII  from the economic side and observe  the political and social side at the  street level.  Increasing housing den- sity is the holy grail of today's plan- ners.  It is not without risk and we  need to be thoughtful on this matter.

1a) Why attracted to this community? and 1b) Roots. We moved from Highland Park in St. Paul to East Union in the early 1980's.  The Ever Ready battery needed space and we got it.  I was raised on a farm in suburban Chicago.  Its location is to Chicago as Victoria's is to Minneapo-is.  When Jenny and Ry approached high school age, we moved to Victoria.  We bought one of the first houses in Deer Run and our children were overjoyed.
2a) Reason for running.  This is a complex question.  If your mindset is to focus solely on the commitment, which is huge, this is not the job for you.  But if you can have thoughtful people on the council who can express themselves economically, a creative energy and resolution of difficult issues can occur.
2b) Payback.  Creative energy and resolution of difficult issues.
3) Good candidate.  I have some pre-vious experience on the Victoria City Council and I will stand on the record.  In the next few years Victoria needs to make some crucial real estate decisions and I can offer over 30 years of experience on the national real estate scene.
4) Government functions.  It is about optics and metrics.  We need to use the proper optics and I don't mean micro-copes.  Our job is to guide the city, not manage the day to day affairs.  If the agenda is over two to three hours long on a regular basis, then we need to make systemic changes and now.
The city has reached the size where we need to establish measurement that goes beyond the budgets.  We need to establish benchmarks and meaningful statistical summaries so that we have a sense as to how productive each depart-ment is.  This will be anathema to some.
Finally, the lessons from Katrina are real.  You are on Your own. ("YoYo")  We need to spread knowledge as to how the city's infrastructure systems work to other people in our community who possess these talents.  One of my biggest fears is a failure of the electrical grid and that we become a cold New Orleans.
5) Overstepping.  If you are asking about eminent domain, I think there may be an overreaction at the state level.  Time will tell.
6) City's direction.  The council needs to focus on how best we compete.  Victoria's annual budget is a small frac-tion of School District 112 and far smaller than most of our neighbors.  Today's bud-get relative to our land area is a mismatch.  This may cause us to seek partnerships with the county to acquire future park land.  Our ideas and energy will simply have to work.
7) Next four years.  We will resolve the Field House issues by selling more time and then move on.  I would propose we hire an "ace" to run it and that that person report directly to the City Council every few months or as they feel a need.  Endless meetings and committees only work for wealthy institutions and those with time.  We have neither.
The importance of the next Compre-hensive Plan to be submitted to the Metro-politan Council cannot be over estimated.  I will work towards mapping a train sta-tion on the Twin Cities and Western rail line that intersects County Road 11, County Road 10, and County Road 43 south of town.  The grades work and it is in close proximity to "New 212" and some very special lands as well.  This is just an illustration of how important this exercise will be.
8) Vision.  We need to bring the best minds available to not only get the down-town "right," but that a commercial and shopping area south of town is the best it can be.  We are seeing a convergence of healthcare and retail development.  There will be a new regional mall or Life Style center built somewhere in the Southwest Corridor, and it's a safe bet that other healthcare providers are looking at this market as well.
We need to build an employment base that goes beyond services - an office park.  Great cities have great parks.  We first need to utilize the assets we already have to get the public vested in the vision to date.  Few people in Victoria probably realize that the city owns 94 acres at the intersection of County Road 10 and Coun-ty Road 43 south of town.  The trail system is under construction that will link this area to Watermark to the north where it makes a turn to the east to our other park areas.  If we can show, prove, that we know what we are doing, the public will permit us to continue.
We need to build a library and we have a couple of great sites.  Given our budget, I would be influenced on the site location if we could get a partner.
9a) Like to be known for.  We had a vision and we assembled a team that could execute same.  The first action item is to develop "bench strength" in the Planning Commission and elsewhere.
9b)Personal goals.  I have no ambi-tion for higher office.  I hope to work 3 days a week for the rest of my life and be in close proximity to our grandchildren.
10) Favorite reads.  I read The Econ-omist without fail as well as the WSJ and Stratfor daily.  Recent reads are about the period leading up to WWI, which is reminiscent of our circumstance today.

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