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

Cottage Grove 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 MayorA forum for the candidates in this race will be held on September 3, 2024, at 8:15pm. Watch the livestream or catch the recording later on SWCTC.org.

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  • Candidate picture

    Myron Bailey
    (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 the mayor of Cottage Grove for the past 16 years. I am running unopposed for the 3rd time. I believe I have a deep passion and devotion of our community, that has been recognized by the citizens of Cottage Grove. I am very transparent, respond to questions and concerns, and work to better our community with more housing options, more retail and restaurant options, and additional jobs in our fast-growing business park. You couple that with great services like police, fire, EMS, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and general governance, these are the reason people are coming to Cottage Grove to raise a family, open a business, work, and play.
1. Finalize funding for the 100th street/County 19 road extension project. I want to see this project under construction in by 2027. This will allow the further expansion of our business park with direct access to highway 61. 2. Development of the Shoppes at Cottage View to create another, much needed, shopping district in Cottage Grove focusing on high density housing, restaurants and entertainment options. 3. Continuing to build out our fantastic parks, trails, and open space program.
I am very open to listening to all sides of any issue to make a decision with the majority of the citizens of Cottage Grove in mind. I answer all questions, even if the answer may not be what the citizens wanted to hear. When I see incorrect information on various media platforms, I work to correct the information with fact-based information. If I am wrong, I own up to the issue. and lastly, I have always allowed citizens to address the council, even if it is not required.
I ask a lot of questions. I answer a multitude of questions on various social media platforms. I post questions. We do many community surveys to gauge the level of support for most things that we propose or want more information about. We have multiple citizen-based committees and commissions to provide feedback and information to the city council and staff. I am very open and willing to listen to all sides of any issue to make the most informed decision possible.
The great things about Cottage Grove, is the connection between our community and the Public Safety Department is amazing! We have embraced community policing and completed use of force training before it became the thing to do. We have the HERO training center for public safety to learn various techniques around de-escalation training and safety for the public and our officers. We are also working to have a more diverse police department to mirror the citizens that make up Cottage Grove.
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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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