2014 City of Andover Candidate Filings are Complete for Mayor and Council - My Endorsements for November

Below, you will find the 2014 field, as found at the MN Secretary of State's Office site. 

We have two capable, experienced Council members, both women, running for Mayor in 2014.  Having run against and lost to Julie Trude, I developed a strong appreciation in the 2010 race for her representation of our City.  I can not picture a better representative voice for our community.  She is a leader, she is thoughtful in her position, she reaches out for many opinions, and she makes pragmatic decisions based on the information has collected on the concern.  I respect Sheri Bukkila, who begins many issues in a different perspective than I do, but I am less certain about her ability to reach out and represent the various communities and opinions of Andover residents.  For that, I strongly endorse Julie Trude for Mayor of Andover in 2014.

For City Council, a friend and long-time Andover resident and community leader, Val Holthus, has filed for what is basically the Trude vacancy on the Council.  There are two city-wide Council seats on the ballot this year.  I strongly endorse electing Val Holthus to one of those seats.  Val has worked tirelessly on the City's Planning Commission for many years, she has been a long-time teacher in Anoka-Hennepin and works hard to better our education community through the teacher's association.  And she and her family represent Minnesota values - a look at her Facebook page shows both a proud fishing champion and a proud Mother, whose daughter has been pageant royalty this past year.

Of the remaining three candidates, I don't know Tonya Kostick and will be pleased to meet her and read more about who she is and why she is running.  I posted about James Goodrich last month.  Mr. Goodrich is doing a lot of good campaigning - prominently displayed signs, strong web page, etc.  He is clearly part of the political community I strongly oppose and abhor.  He may be a good fit for many Andover residents.  Certainly, our Republican-Democrat polling results reflect that.  Nonetheless, Andover does not need a second Hennepin County Sheriff's Deputy on its Council, representing the same religious right, pro-gun, heavily-tilted law enforcement viewpoints that Councilwoman and possibly Mayor Bukkila addresses right now.  I will not vote for or recommend a vote for James Goodrich.

Depending on what I learn of candidate Kostick, I am tentatively supporting and recommending the re-election of Tony Howard to fill the other Andover Council seat in this election.  Tony lost in 2010, as I did.  He came in third, I believe behind Julie Trude and Don Jacobson.  When Don resigned soon after, Tony was appointed to fill the term and then won election for two years in the 2012 Special Election.  Tony is a man of good character, a strong family man and community leader, a successful businessman, and another realist, who does not seem to be carrying an agenda in serving the community on the City Council.  I am most likely voting for Howard and Holthus this fall.


http://candidates.sos.state.mn.us/CandidateFilingResults.aspx?county=2&municipality=1486&schooldistrict=&hospitaldistrict=&level=3&party=0&federal=True&judicial=False&executive=True&senate=True&representative=True&title=&office=0&candidateid=0

2014 State General Election Candidate Filings

Use this candidate finder tool to find candidates running for office in the November 4, 2014, State General Election. Candidates for federal, state and county offices are added as filings occur. Candidates for local offices may continue to be added after the filing period. Candidate Filing Periods: Federal, state and county offices, and local offices that hold primaries: Tuesday, May 20–Tuesday, June 3 Other municipal and school district offices: Tuesday, July 29–Tuesday, August 12 Contact your local clerk for the correct filing period for your city or school district. Filing offices will be closed Monday, May 26, in observance of Memorial Day. Learn more about becoming a candidate and filing for office.

Candidates Search Results Andover Mayor (Andover) Candidate Name Party Website File Date SHERI BUKKILA Nonpartisan www.sheribukkila.com 7/29/2014 JULIE TRUDE Nonpartisan JulieTrude.com 7/29/2014     Council Member at Large (Andover) (Elect 2) Candidate Name Party Website File Date JAMES GOODRICH Nonpartisan electjamesgoodrich.com 7/29/2014 VAL HOLTHUS Nonpartisan 8/12/2014 TONY HOWARD Nonpartisan 8/6/2014 TONYA KOSTICK Nonpartisan 8/1/2014

Dog Park in Andover "Paws" Ahead

Dog Parks

A dog park is a facility set aside for dogs and their owners to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment. Parks vary in setups, but a typically is fenced, has separate, double-gated entry and exit points, a place to get water, and bags to pick up and dispose of waste. Dog parks are a great way to get the exercise your dog needs and to tire them out when you need to get some work done. They are also a great way to meet other dog lovers and hear about upcoming dog events.

For indoor cat owners like Cheryl and I, the house itself, provides enough run for our pets, so the concept of the dog park was previously unknown to me.  But I'm impressed with the community efforts to place a dog park in Andover, and with the Council's and Park & Rec Commission's efforts to identify that location - which will be at Station North, by the ballfields.  Care was taken to find a location that was respectful of the noise to the surrounding neighborhood, and to watch out for areas affected by run-off.  The location choice sounds excellent.

I've learned about nearby parks in Coon Rapids (Trackside) and Ramsey (Alpine), as well as in Blaine.  The City will make a significant commitment to make this park succeed.  I've been meeting many dogs - and their owners - while out campaigning throughout the city this fall, and I suspect this will be a very popular alternative, indeed.

Eric Hagen of the ABC Newspapers wrote of the dog park efforts at last week's City Council Workshop consideration of the dog park proposal, October 1st.

http://abcnewspapers.com/2010/10/01/dog-park-recommended-at-andover-station-north/

 Dog park recommended at Andover Station North

 

Dog park recommended at Andover Station North

by Eric Hagen
Staff writer
If Andover dog owners are able to raise the funds, it looks like a new dog park will be constructed next to the Andover Station North ballfields.
The whole idea of a dog park was started by Andover residents Jen and Rob Frisby, who own four dogs. Instead of bringing their dogs to Trackside Park in southern Coon Rapids, they thought it would be great if dog owners in their own community could have a more convenient location to exercise their animals. In Andover and other communities, it is illegal to let a dog run off its owner’s property without a leash unless it is in a designated dog park area.
The Frisbys have undertaken a major grassroots effort to drum up interest over the last few months. They set up a booth at the Andover Family Fun Fest and got 300 signatures of support, according to Frisby.
Some have signed an online petition and added comments. Debi and Matt Billing of Andover, who own two dogs, commented online that providing a place where dogs can run and play would reduce the number of dogs running off-leash illegally at other parks. Many others wrote they would love to have a dog par closer to home.
Jen Frisby said she is surprised how quickly this has come together. She credited Andover Assistant City Engineer Todd Haas and the parks commission for giving them tips and seriously looking at the proposal and various locations. She thought this would take a year of organization, but noted how many people she talked to wondered why this had not happened sooner.
“A lot of people want to have this,” she said.
The work is far from over though. Ever since the Frisbys came forward at the May 20 parks commission meeting, the commission has said this project would need to be paid for with donations and not from parks funds that are already designated for other future projects such as a new skateboard park at Sunshine Park.
The Frisbys are on-board with having to raise the funds. Rob Frisby said they have not solicited any donations because there was no specific site proposal and no figures on how much this could cost. The city will be preparing a cost estimate for the Frisbys.
“The most successful dog parks around the nation are the ones that citizens are behind,” Jen Frisby said.
The location options
The location the parks commission recommended for the dog park is on the north side of the Andover Station North ballfields. The north fence is already in place and separates the park from the closed landfill site. The ballfield outfield fences would also be utilized. New fencing would be installed outside the ballfield fence areas so that the dogs would not mingle with the ball players and other residents at Andover Station North.
The Andover Parks and Recreation Commission recommends this site because of its central location in the higher traveled portion of the community and because of the parking lot, according to commission chairman Ted Butler.
Fox Meadows Park was another option, but Butler said the proximity of homes made this a less attractive option.
The area of Eveland Fields the parks commission looked at for the dog park is a storm water runoff area that does hold water after large rain events. The area of Andover Station North where the dog park is looking to go is also a storm water area, but it mostly remains dry.
Purple Park, which is a small park between the Andover YMCA/Community Center and Oak View Middle School, has a lot of trees and shrubs that would have been removed if a dog park went there. The city’s public works staff pointed out that this provides good buffer between the homes and the middle school.
Eric Hagen is at eric.hagen@ecm-inc.com

I sat in at that workshop session, conducted jointly with the Park & Rec Commission.  Chairman Ted Butler and his Commission are doing an excellent job representing our city.  Much of the evening's discussion centered on the fund shortage for completing the warming house at the new hockey rinks by city hall.  Tony Howard - an opponent in the Council race, and President of the Andover Youth Hockey Association presented the situation and worked with both groups to find a solution to free up city funds to help move the completion closer.  I continue to be impressed with City Administrator Jim Dickinson, and members of both the Council and the Commission as they think out of the box and seek practical-minded solutions to reach difficult, but attainable goals.

Second Weekend of Door-to-Door & Literature Drop Completed

This was an interesting weekend.

• I did door-to-door campaigning in the neighborhood just off of Bunker Lake Blvd., and ran into Mayor Mike Gamache at one of the homes. 
• I actually fell on Sunday - I caught some loose sand, and felt my feet flipping out from under me.  Fortunately, nothing damaged, but my pride.
• I've had some interesting conversations, including with one landlord who is upset that the absentee owners of other properties off 138th & Xavis aren't being held to take better care of their yards and property - some of those places did look shabby.  Another wanted to know more about the city's water & sewer replacement work on Xavis - and the newly-tarred road and new curbing was clearly visible.  I also spoke with an engaging Andover resident, who is a native of Liberia, and shared some of my concerns about how we can provide a more complete presence in Andover, with choices in town for trestaurants and other amenities, instead of driving to Anoka, Riverdale and Blaine to find these places. 
• I have a great wife and partner.  We got out for about 5 hours this weekend, and did campaign literature drops in Precincts 7, 8 and 10, east of Hanson Blvd.  We probably placed literature at close to 900 homes this weekend.  I drive and Cheryl puts the campaign cards in the newspaper or direct marketing boxes - when they have them, or we use blue painter's tape to attach them to the posts at homes that only have mailboxes.  We try to respect folks by using the painter's tape, to prevent any tearing off of paint.  Cheryl has a process figured out, and it helped that these neighborhoods were very concentrated with homes.
• This hadn't been our original weekend plan - but Digital Printing in New Hope still has not completed my lawn signs.  So instead of trying to put up signs this weekend, we campaigned.  I purchased the signs August 26th.  It took three tries to get an acceptable proof OK'd on September 7.  The signs were supposed to be done in two weeks - by the 21st.  Then they were supposed to be done Friday night or Saturday morning.  But there was no 3rd shift on Friday and no cutters on Saturday, so now I'm looking at Tuesday.  And, I'll be tied up Wednesday afternoon through Saturday morning at the AFSCME Council 5 Convention, so except for a little time on Tuesday ( I hope) and Wednesday morning, I won't get some signs out until next weekend.  Darn.
• One opponent - Tony Howard - put lawn signs out this weekend.  They look nice.  Tony, who's active in the Andover Youth Hockey Associatiion is using a variation of the Andover school colors - black & gold.  Tony's campaign is also on Facebook now, and he has a new web site up and running.
• I went in for a haircut trim Saturday noon, and through some miscommunication and bad info in the computer, I came out with a much shorter haircut than I've worn throughout my adult life.  Cheryl thinks it looks nice - but, I've felt out-of-sorts because it just doesn't look like me, and with the Convention and the campaign, the last thing I wanted to deal with was self-image.  It'll be OK, but it's unfortunate, and unfortunate it had to happen just now.