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

Lake St. Croix Beach City Mayor

The mayor is usually the head of the city and may represent the city in front of other government bodies. They also can preside at council meetings and appoint city workers. A mayor usually has a role in proposing a city budget which influences services provided to residents and can veto ordinances proposed by the city council.Voting in local elections is important - learn more here: Why Vote for Mayor

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  • Candidate picture

    Tom McCarthy
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Cindie J Reiter
    (NP)

Biographical Information

Why are you the best candidate for this position? (750 characters)

If elected, what will your top three priorities be and why? (500 characters)

If elected, what strategies will you use to ensure transparency, accountability and ethical conduct in city government under your leadership? (500 characters)

How will you engage with residents to solicit feedback, involve them in decision-making processes, and ensure their voices are heard? (500 characters)

How will you approach public safety and community policing to ensure the well-being of all residents? (500 characters)

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I have been a resident of Lake St. Croix Beach since 1980. I raised my family here and we love our unique city. Over the last 40 years I have made many friends and acquaintances in the city. I have been Mayor for 16 years and together with city staff, we work hard for the community. Over the years, I have been a good listener and advocate for residents. I save the community thousands of dollars by working around the city on different maintenance projects, including flood and storm damage control. I have been instrumental in bringing in nearly half a million dollars in grant monies over the years, protecting our flood plain, bluff, levee, river and city. I have promoted environmental projects such as rain/pollinator gardens.
1: I want to keep our city a safe and desirable place to live by continuing to support law enforcement and first responders. 2: I will continue to be an active steward for the St. Croix River by partnering with State and County Agencies. 3: I will continue to work with City Engineers on maintaining and upgrading infrastructure throughout the city for the safety and welfare of our citizens.
In addition to public meetings at city hall, we offer zoom meeting access for all City Council, Planning and Parks Commission Meetings. Videos of our meetings are available on the city website. Our city council has adopted a Code of Conduct Policy for members to follow. As Mayor, I will continue to promote professional and ethical conduct at city hall, to ensure a climate of understanding and cooperation, as it relates to our interactions with city staff and all residents.
Our city council meetings allow public comments as an agenda item. More importantly, as I go around the city on a daily basis, residents feel very comfortable in approaching me with their concerns. I visit and listen to our residents' issues and will follow through to try to achieve a thoughtful and favorable outcome for everyone.
We work with Washington County Sheriff's Department for police services and with Lower St. Croix Valley Fire Department. I have a long term, working relationship with both departments. They are very responsive to all our concerns. As an active Fire Department Board Member for 6 years, I have worked with the dive team and ambulance service. Utilizing joint efforts with the fire chief and sheriff's office, I will continue to work to ensure our community is a safe and desirable place to live.
Facebook (Full URL) http://www.facebook.com/Cindie4LSCB/
Campaign Email vote4cindie@gmail.com
Because I genuinely care about our city and understand that taxpayers deserve fair & equitable treatment, along with transparency - because the taxpayer foots the bill for all city government actions & services. Not only is the city council tasked with using the residents tax dollars to provide for services, the council should also treat the residents of our city earnestly and respectfully. A leader sets the example for this to happen and this, along with 20+ years of city government experience interacting with law enforcement, the fire district, legal and engineering services makes me the better and best candidate to represent Lake St. Croix Beach as the next mayor - a mayor that will reside in the city 12 months of the year.
Priorities 1. Explore a shortfall in the General Fund for 2023 evidenced by a tax collection rate of just over 90% and the need for more thorough annual audits. 2.The city still has some residents on private wells, there should be council time devoted to an action plan to advise those on private wells how their well may be affected from the PFA’s plume. 3. Encourage a fully engaged council, operating respectfully as 5 critical thinkers, its goal to arrive at the best decisions for the city.
Leading the city council members in an atmosphere of respect – that all members’ voices are heard whether staff or councilmembers all agree or not. Providing an understanding of the importance of transparency and that all taxpayers are entitled to information. Getting it to them in the most free, easy & accessible methods. Being honest with the taxpayers, the council itself and staff is what will bring about ethical conduct and treatment to all.
Holding periodic sessions to engage with residents on topics that can or will affect them will solicit feedback. Also to allow a councilmember an op-ed piece in the newsletter regarding their duties and responsibilities as assigned in January each year – allows for community information sharing as well as the annual residents assignments to a commission/committee being open to any/all residents aligned to their interests and/or experience. Engaging residents presents opportunity to hear them.
In recent conversations with some residents the topic of Neighborhood Watch has come up, we need to investigate this program again as it relates to public safety. Also having conversations on community standards that affects all the residents well-being, our city can do better by letting residents/taxpayers know of the codes in the city & why they are there, whether at a residents session at city hall or in the newsletter. This alone can prevent some of the nuisances the city is experiencing.
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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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