Issues
Increased, Intentional Community Engagement & Communication
-
The City is taking a more proactive approach to reaching out to local businesses to help establish relationships, get feedback, and share information.
-
Increased resources toward the City’s quarterly Newsletter, social media presence, connecting the City and residents, businesses and non-profit community.
-
Increased opportunities for the community to come together. In 2017, the city had 5community-wide events, last year we had 50+.
Housing Policy and Action Plans
-
Upgraded and modernized City inspections for rental properties, including apartment buildings, single-family homes, and short-term rentals. We created a system that raises the living conditions for residents who rent or lease.
-
Since 2018, partnering with developers to create almost 400 below-market cost housing units, 53 market-rate townhomes and 100 market-rate rentals.
-
We are currently creating a comprehensive City housing policy that will allow us to use funds to further improve housing in New Brighton.
-
We are using dedicated tax revenue to establish a small, income-based, home repair loan for needy residents.
Increased City Financial Stability To Secure A Brighter Future!
-
New Brighton has increased its bond rating in the past 6 years, to AA+, reflecting strong budgetary performance and robust management practices.
-
Continued long-term planning to repair and replace the City’s infrastructure, to not only meet today’s needs, but help us be more resilient moving forward.
-
Continually maintained debt levels lower than many surrounding comparable cities. Our debt per resident is significantly lower than comparable cities in the metro area.
-
Over the past few years, city staff in almost every department has been able to secure Federal, State and County, Multi-jurisdictional grants providing non-tax levy dollars to help finance many different initiatives.
Supporting New Brighton Public Safety
-
Our Public Safety (police, fire and contracted ambulance services) are essential to the well being of residents and businesses. Our public safety model was adopted almost 20+ years ago. This model, now being adopted by more communities, allows for more officers to have the opportunity and time to interact with residents (in a non-emergency setting) to get to know people and help build relationships.
-
New Brighton Public Safety Department has won multiple international awards for its work to regularly meet and collaborate with businesses and our faith communities to talk about issues, establish relationships and be a resource when needed.
-
We host several events throughout the year to allow for residents and officers to talk and share information. We regularly win national awards for our participation in National Night Out (roughly ⅓ of the community participates in meeting their neighbors).
-
We contract with the Mounds View School District to provide SRO officers in the schools (something that the District and parents want to see).
-
We have a good culture within public safety, that has meant that we have had very limited negative interactions with public safety and residents. 93+% of residents responded that they are either satisfied or very satisfied with our public safety (via our Citizen Survey). With an emphasis on education and prevention, we are trying to get ahead of problems as opposed to just punishing people for non-compliance.
-
We have increased compensation for both our officers and fire fighters. We all benefit from having a professional group of individuals that inspire and help keep us safe. We are almost fully staffed and continue to evaluate our safety needs and provide the training and equipment necessary for the job.
-
2025 saw the lowest recorded ‘Part 1' crimes – Ex. murder, aggravated assault, robbery) since the city stated tracking the numbers in the 1980s.We are increasing our outreach programming in the community, to have more opportunities for the public and public safety staff build relationships and help encourage safety education.
Responding During Operation Metro Surge
-
I have publicly expressed my frustration and anger at the many examples of terrible, and sometimes illegal, actions of Federal law enforcement in Minnesota. I have publicly called out their actions, lack of training and numerous cases of civil and constitutional rights violations. I will continue to pursue ways to reach justice and accountability.
-
We encouraged residents to call 911 if they felt unsafe. Our Public Safety Officers didn’t have interactions with ICE but were prepared to verify the identity of ICE officers, record via body cameras and report interactions.
-
We mailed and hand-delivered a resource flyer to all households (instructions in 5 languages), directing folks to our website (that we made in 2025) that has ‘know your rights’ as well as financial assistance resources.
-
We joined a coalition of Metro cities pushing back and calling for accountability and financial compensation from ICE. I have been at a press conference and attended meetings.
Significant, Generational Improvements in Our Parks, Trails and Recreation Programming
-
After years of community conversations, phase 1 of the City’s long-term park improvement plan is nearly complete. Almost half of the City’s parks have or will experience a generational upgrade with designs and amenities recommended by those who use them.
-
We have expanded city-offered Park and Rec programming for all ages.
-
We have added and repaired multiuse paths and trails around the city, helping better connect pedestrians and bikers around the city and to regional networks.
-
Redesigned some park amenities and fixing grading issues for better ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) access.
-
We adopted our ‘living streets’ policy in 2022 that will add sidewalks and multipaths, making it easier to navigate mult-modally.