Proven Leadership. Strategic Action. Forward, Together for a Shared Future.
These values aren't just words; they are the beliefs I’ve used to lead throughout my career — and the commitments I make as your next City Council member.
Strong Families:
Promoting Stability & Resilience
The Belief: Families are the foundation of Eden Prairie, and every person deserves support that promotes their success and resilience.
The Commitment: I will advocate for policies that make life in Eden Prairie more affordable and lower the cost of living. From childcare to housing, every family should be set up to succeed.
Thriving Businesses:
Cultivating Growth & Opportunity
The Belief: Local businesses are the economic engine of Eden Prairie, providing the jobs and services that make our community thrive.
The Commitment: I will support the city to streamline local processes and collaborate for smart community planning so EP remains a top destination to start, grow, and sustain a business.
Fostering Belonging:
Protecting Rights & Lifting Voices
The Belief: Our community’s diversity is a source of strength, and we must elevate and honor the voices that have been historically sidelined.
The Commitment: I will fight to protect our community from discrimination and lift up underrepresented voices to shape policies that sustain our community’s excellence, for all.
Building Bridges:
Leading Through Listening
The Belief: We have more in common than what sets us apart. Real progress comes from listening, finding common ground, and building bridges.
The Commitment: I will be a diplomatic partner who remains nonpartisan to solve complex problems. I will deliver real results for every resident of EP, regardless of who they voted for.
Your Questions, Answered.
Housing & Affordability
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Housing affordability is a local issue that requires local leadership. On City Council, I will advocate for a diverse range of housing options, from starter homes and townhouses to quality senior living, so that people who work in Eden Prairie can afford to live here. I will support smart land-use planning, inclusionary zoning practices, and partnerships with non-profit housing developers to keep EP accessible to young families, local workers, and retirees.
A lot of this comes down to local zoning regulations. Great work is happening in this area that we should try to grow, especially through community land trust options that open doors for more people to purchase a home.
There should also be rent increase caps so that families who enter affordable housing don't get priced out, as well as stronger protections for renters in affordable units so that they don't become targets of landlords looking to get them out and get what they view as more market-based rent for the unit.
Affordability isn't just about the rent or mortgage; it’s about the cost of staying in your home. I support state investments in weatherization and home repair grants to lower energy costs for families, as well as expanding access to programs that provide support for energy costs. No family should have to choose between heating their home and buying groceries.
I also support work like Wooddale Church has done to offer rental assistance for families that is tied to budgeting, employment and other support so that people grow their knowledge and skills to become more independent over time.
Personal experience:
Having been homeless in my youth, this is an issue I care deeply about. If I hadn't had a boyfriend and friends to take me in, there's no way I would have made it through high school...let alone to where I am now. Part of what helped me get stabilized was SNAP benefits so that I could afford my rent.
My sister has also not been able to find affordable housing in Eden Prairie despite working here and wanting to live here. We should create opportunity for those who can’t afford houses but make too much for assistance programs.
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Item description
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I believe local property taxes are an essential investment in the community we share. Eden Prairie’s exceptional quality of life, including our top-ranked parks, safe neighborhoods, reliable infrastructure, and outstanding city employees, didn’t happen by accident. It is the direct result of thoughtful, sustained investment in our community.
At the same time, I recognize that every dollar added to a tax bill impacts household budgets, particularly for young families and seniors on fixed incomes. On City Council, my priority will be responsible fiscal stewardship: ensuring our municipal levy directly supports essential city services while demanding a clear return on investment for every taxpayer dollar. Eden Prairie has historically maintained one of the lowest tax rates among metro-area suburbs, and I believe we can preserve that standard of efficiency through disciplined spending, transparent budgeting, and proactive planning.
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We must balance funding our shared priorities with protecting those on fixed incomes. With seniors being 1/5 of the population by 2035, they will have to help contribute to these solutions but should not shoulder this disproportionately. I view property taxes as an impactful and volatile burden for seniors, as rising home valuations often outpace cost-of-living adjustments, threatening the ability to age in place.
To provide relief while maintaining our tax base, I support:
1. Expanding the Property Tax Deferral for Senior Citizens. We should lower the entry threshold so more seniors can cap their property taxes at a fixed percentage of their income, deferring the rest until the home is sold.
2. Strengthening the homestead credit refund. I will advocate with state legislators to ensure this refund automatically adjusts for inflation and assessment spikes.
Public Safety & Community
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Eden Prairie is fortunate to have top-tier police and fire departments. Our public safety personnel deserve to have the resources, training, and support needed to keep every neighborhood safe. I strongly support EPPD’s community-oriented policing philosophy and mental health crisis response partnerships. Public safety works best when built on trust, transparency, and proactive community engagement.
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In our schools, I see firsthand the toll the mental health crisis takes on our community. Members of our community can’t focus on their future if they’re struggling just to survive their present. We need to start treating mental health as a core part of our infrastructure.
Eden Prairie is working to be a leader in this by expanding unarmed crisis response. We must continue to invest in community-based teams that respond to mental health emergencies with clinicians rather than an armed police presence. This keeps people out of the criminal justice system and gets them into the restorative care they actually need.
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Reliable transportation is the difference between independence and isolation. To keep Eden Prairie seniors mobile, I support:
1. Empowering volunteer drivers and expanding options. I will advocate for increasing the state volunteer mileage tax subtraction and explore our municipal options. Those providing rides shouldn't pay out-of-pocket to serve their neighbors. We also need to find more ways to incentivize curb-to-curb services.
3. Developing accessible ride-share partnerships. I support incentives for ride-share companies to provide more booking options (especially for those without smartphones) and to expand their fleets of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
4. Creating transit navigators. I would explore funding for community-based programs that pair seniors with transit mentors to build confidence in safely using apps and public systems. This could be a great partnership with the Eden Prairie Senior Center and other local organizations.
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Eden Prairie is strongest when every resident feels seen, safe, and valued. Fostering a truly inclusive city requires more than words; it takes intentional outreach, proactive relationships, and structural accessibility in municipal government.
I will lead through listening, strengthening the work of our Human Rights Commission, and ensuring our city services, boards, and public meetings are accessible, welcoming, and responsive to our increasingly diverse community. By breaking down barriers to civic participation and elevating historically underrepresented voices, we can ensure that Eden Prairie's policies, parks, and public spaces serve everyone.
Local Economy & Business
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City government should be a partner in local economic vitality, not a barrier. I will support the city staff’s ongoing efforts to streamline permitting processes, revitalize our commercial hubs, and collaborate with the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce to help small businesses start, grow, and stay here. Simultaneously, I am committed to transparent, fiscally responsible budgeting that protects taxpayer dollars while maintaining the high-quality services and parks that make EP a top-ranked place to live.
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Economic vitality requires proactive planning for the future. As retail trends evolve and hybrid work changes office demand, City Council must support the Planning Commission and city staff in developing rules and regulations so that our commercial districts stay relevant, active, and financially productive. I will support our existing flexible zoning and smart redevelopment strategies that allow commercial hubs (like the Danfoss site) to incorporate mixed-use spaces, more restaurants, walkable public areas, and community gathering spots. Modernizing our business districts keeps Eden Prairie’s local economy competitive, attracts new investment, and preserves a strong commercial tax base to keep property taxes stable for residents.
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A thriving local economy depends on a strong, local workforce. Eden Prairie employers, from our major corporate businesses to independent small businesses, succeed when their employees can afford to live in or easily commute to our community. I will focus on strengthening the connection between economic development, transit, and housing by supporting reliable local transit connections (like SouthWest Transit and LRT corridors) and encouraging housing options that match the needs of local workers. I will also support the ongoing connections between the city, Eden Prairie Schools and the Chamber of Commerce to make sure EP students graduate with the industry skills necessary to contribute to our local community. By making Eden Prairie a place where people can both live and work, we create a resilient, self-sustaining local economy.
Sustainability & Environment
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Eden Prairie’s extensive park system, trail networks, and clean lakes are central to our quality of life. I will work to advance our city’s local sustainability goals of preserving green spaces, protecting lake and wetland water quality, expanding energy-efficient city infrastructure, and maintaining our world-class walking and biking trails.
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I support the statewide call for a moratorium on large data centers to ensure that Minnesota’s energy, water, fiscal resources, communities, and democratic processes are protected before any such facilities may proceed. I appreciate the city’s recent efforts to set clear zoning regulations and tie potential future projects to our long-term sustainability goals. We need to make sure these policies are clear to residents and businesses.
Nonpartisan Leadership
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City government is about solving local problems, not wading into national politics. Safe streets, top-tier parks, reliable infrastructure, and smart community planning don't come with a political party attached. I am running to serve every resident of Eden Prairie, regardless of who they vote for.
To truly represent a city, leadership must be active, transparent, and approachable. I will lead through listening by:
Being Proactively Accessible: Creating consistent, open opportunities for dialogue, such as informal candidate/council listening sessions, neighborhood visits, and accessible digital updates. Resident voice should be reflected as decisions are made.
Elevating Diverse Perspectives: Ensuring our city boards, commissions, and public forums reflect the full breadth of our community, inviting input from long-time residents, young families, seniors, and newcomer communities alike.
Focusing on Pragmatic Solutions: Partnering collaboratively with my council colleagues, city staff, and local organizations to find common ground and make decisions rooted in common sense and community needs.
At the end of the day, my goal is simple: to ensure every resident feels heard, valued, and well-served by their local government.
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Good governance comes down to understanding roles. The job of the City Council is to set our strategic vision based on community input, establish clear policies and municipal code, and steward the budget. The Council should not micromanage daily operations.
Eden Prairie is an exceptional community in large part because we have an outstanding, dedicated, highly professional city staff. Their expertise has led our city to an amazing place.
As a council member, my responsibility is to provide clear direction, ensure staff members have the resources they need to succeed, and then stay out of their way so they can do their jobs without political interference. Respecting their professional expertise and maintaining a collaborative, trusting relationship between the council and city leadership is essential for stable, effective, nonpartisan governance.
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I do! Voters are frustrated by increasing divisions and extremism in our politics, partisan gridlock preventing action on critical issues and too many elections where candidates win without majority support; Ranked Choice Voting is a simple, commonsense change to the ballot, but one that is well-suited to meet these challenges. RCV:
Gives voters greater voice, choice and power
Eliminates the spoiler problem and wasted votes
Ensures winners have earned a majority of voter support
Fosters more civil campaigns and a more responsive government
Promotes more inclusive, diverse and representative elections
Reduces political division and extremism
In local elections, RCV eliminates the high-cost, low-turnout primary and combines the primary and general elections into one election in November when turnout is higher and more representative of the community.
How RCV works
Ranked choice voting is simple. Instead of choosing just one candidate, you mark your first-choice, second-choice and so on. If a candidate has more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they win. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those voters have their second choice counted. This process continues until one candidate reaches a majority and wins.Local options legislation
Under current law, only a handful of charter cities have the authority to adopt ranked choice voting. Other local jurisdictions are governed by state law and don’t have the choice to use RCV — even if they want to. RCV is even more restricted because several charter cities hold elections in even years alongside state and federal elections, and there are no legislative standards for how local ranked-choice elections would work in these election cycles.I support ranked choice voting local options legislation for 2026 that would give all Minnesota counties, cities, towns, and school boards the opportunity to use RCV if they choose, and provide consistent standards for implementation.
RCV has been tested and successful in Minnesota cities and across the country, and more local jurisdictions should have the opportunity to use it.
