On Thursday, Lynette Brannan, Dennis Carlson, Troy Cox, Rick Hendrickson and Dennis Rzeszotarski participated in a public forum to discuss their city council candidacy as well as important issues brought to their attention by Becker citizens.
They opened with two-minute introductions and ended with one minute of closing statements. Three questions were prepared prior to the event, and each candidate was given the opportunity to answer. Then, members of the audience brought forth their own questions. The only rule was that these questions must pertain to issues and must not delve into personal critique of one candidate over another. The forum took place at Becker High School Teaching & Learning Center. Dennis Herschbach moderated the discussion. Becker City Police department was in attendance.
Lynette Brannan has worked with the Chamber of Commerce for years and has owned a business for 35 years. She wants to be back in city council after already serving four years in the past.
Dennis Carlson has background as an engineer and believes we need to compete with other metropolitan areas in Minnesota for legislative presence. He wants to focus on creating a solid foundation for the future of Becker’s money.
Troy Cox is running for change and to promote growth in housing and improve lines of communications between citizens and the council.
Rick Hendrickson grew up in the suburbs of the Twin Cities and has lived in Becker for 14 years. He has degrees in information technology and business management and works as a software engineer.
Dennis Rzeszotarski is a military veteran with many years of management experience under his belt, including negotiating a union contract where three foreign governments were involved. He believes every leadership ought to be able to make “listening” a priority.
1). What qualifications do you have that makes you a good business decision maker for the citizens of Becker?
Hendrickson has put in hundreds of hours with the Xcel Energy project and its details, while Rzeszotarski has experience supervising huge construction projects from start to finish.
2). What is your view on how the current city council has made some changes to reduce the city’s debt?
Cox has a problem with the current reorganization of the city positions and isn’t sure if it will actually help save any money since there have been a lot of dollars spent which were not in the budget.
Meanwhile, Hendrickson believes this change is working well for Becker and there is a good plan in place since the city has lower debt compared to other cities.
Brannan says bonds have saved the city a lot of money and the debt has been reduced from thirty million dollars to ten million dollars; refinancing at lower rates and partnering with industries will help pay bonds off.
Rzeszotarski explained how the city’s system works well, because they pay mostly in cash and then place larger expenditures into the future at a time when they will be able to afford it.
3). What have you done to educate yourself on the current city issues? What do you feel is Becker’s biggest issue and how do you plan to fix it?
Cox believes the current council procedure is lacking in that it allows Becker citizens to speak about their concerns at meetings but those concerns are never addressed. He would like to hold an open forum every month, if elected.
Hendrickson discussed the issue of SherCo closing and the transition from coal to natural gas. He presented data and figures for how he sees it all playing out.
Brannan agrees the SherCo issue is the biggest concern and wants to keep a positive momentum and bring in new businesses and jobs.
Rzeszotarski wants to focus on attracting new businesses by offering them one year without taxes, and he would like to attract more families by reducing their water and sewer charges and selling lots in new industrial park at lower prices.
Carlson would like to focus on the finances and making sure Becker is ready for the future; he mentioned that the Becker Community Center spent $50,000 on new weightlifting equipment but has not allotted any resources towards making the building more handicap accessible or the center more senior friendly.
About 75 people were in the crowd during the open forum. Individuals posed questions regarding other issues besides the SherCo Plant closing, the golf course and its restaurant, more attractions for the community, candidate thoughts on the city reorganization, and public safety.
There are people who have previously expressed the desire to open a Dairy Queen in Becker but the city council has not made that happen.
In general, the candidates believe the golf course restaurant is doing the best it can and that the city owning it is not a bad thing, because weddings and other events bring in additional revenue for Becker.
There was a unanimous sentiment that the Becker Police Dept. is doing a good job keeping the community safe. Hendrickson told the audience how one unusual metric for measuring safety in a neighborhood is to evaluate how many women run in the evenings, and Becker has many female runners at night which proves that if they feel safe, the city is doing well in keeping crime low.
Some candidates agreed with the reorganization of city positions while others felt it was not going to be successful.
The candidates and the audience were able to share information which was important to them and express their hopes for the city council initiatives and priorities after elections. Cast your ballot Nov. 6. Contact individual candidates with specific questions.
