Minnesota and North Dakota Voter's Guide

Forum Communications Co., in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and of North Dakota, is providing this voter guide to help keep you informed ahead of the 2024 election.

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Voter Guide

Hennepin County Commissioner District 5

County commissioners are the county s key policymakers. They oversee the administration of the county, set county budget, and participate in county long-range planning. County services that they oversee include a wide variety of social service and welfare programs, as well as certain public health programs. Learn more about the day in the life of a county commissioner in this video from the Association of Minnesota Counties.A candidate forum for this race is available at https://youtu.be/REkPA0lM8Yw?si=eHYtivJJ9dZ-CvMm. More MN forums are available at https://www.lwvmn.org/2024-candidate-forums.

Click a candidate icon to find more information about the candidate. To compare two candidates, click the "compare" button. To start over, click a candidate icon.

  • Candidate picture

    Jeffrey A. Beck
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Debbie Goettel
    (NP)

Biographical Information

Why are you running?

What are the top three issues facing the County Board?

State how you intend to address one of these three issues if elected.

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Campaign Email j.beck4609@gmail.com
I am running against x because our district deserves someone who will fight for the small business men and women that are the backbone of our local economy. As a door dash food delivery driver during the pandemic starting on April 2020 myself and many other people of all ages and races risked our lives providing food services to our doctors and nurses and people who were homebound in the pandemic. At the same the seven members of the county board stood at home and did nothing. When it came time to get front line pay of 470.00 the county board. took this pay while all selfemployed workers got nothing. Selfemployed workers were treated like shit by this present Hennepin County board. In addition this board last month demanded a 49%pay raise.
The three core issues I will fix up in Hennepin County today are 1.Housing Stability 2. Education Excellence 3. Job Creation For Now And In The Future.
Here is Jeffrey Becks Housing Stability Plan. I will spend 250 Million Dollars A Year to ensure that everybody has a roof over their head. Low Cost housing for 1-2 people. Low income units for families. I Will Cap my rents at 600.00 per month for 1-2 people. I Will Cap my rents at 750.00 per month for family units 2-3 bedrooms. I will convert public storage facilities into family housing. The goal is to create 5000 new units of housing per year in every Hennepin County City.

I am running to ensure no one is left behind in Hennepin County. Affordable housing access inspired my initial run for Mayor in Richfield. I am proud to share that in 2023, Hennepin County invested $98.1 million in over 15,000 supportive housing units. As a disability and senior advocate, I am committed to securing essential services for our most vulnerable, historically unheard neighbors and cultural communities. Expanding mental health and substance use resources are also key priorities for me.

As the current Commissioner for District 5, former mayor of Richfield, and a civil/environmental, health and safety engineer, I have built a strong set of skills in both the public and private sector to effect meaningful change.
Affordability and inflation are the big issues, particularly among lower-income residents, seniors, and people on fixed incomes. I’m committed to ensuring our services at Hennepin are accessible and cost-effective while advocating for a fair tax levy. Health benefits and workforce protections are top of mind. I also continue to speak with voters about the need to address the climate crisis, and how federal and state partners must join Hennepin in our Zero Waste efforts to make real strides.
Property taxes are felt first by our owners and families, so lessening the tax burden is the most direct way to impact people’s economic health. As Vice Chair to the County Board, and Chair of the Budget Committee, I consistently advocate for our lowest property tax levy, and work with our County Administrator to ensure that we are being creative in how we limit operational costs so we can bring forward a smaller levy.
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The League of Women Voters of Minnesota and North Dakota crafted the questions sent to the candidates in the Spring of 2024. They reached out to candidates based on contact information in their public candidate filings. Candidates with email addresses were invited and reminded with emails. Candidates with only mailing addresses were sent a letter. Candidates with phone numbers received a phone call as well.

Candidate responses are published as they responded and have not been edited, except when responses were longer than the given character limit. In those cases, the responses are truncated.

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