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

New Ulm City Council Member Ward 3

As local legislators who sometimes have executive power, council members can propose ordinances, set administrative policy, and authorize the budget proposed by the mayor. They oversee all city activities, including city services, programs, licensing, and public safety. Mayoral appointments to city government typically require council approval.Voting in local elections is important - learn more here: Why Vote for City CouncilA candidate forum for this race is available at https://www.youtube.com/live/nbrDYNqJGxI?si=QFeg2LnDjVtES-Hd. 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

    Heath Dobberpuhl
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Tom Schmitz
    (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)

How do you plan to engage with and represent all members of our diverse community?(500 characters)

What steps will you take to ensure transparency and accountability in city government? (500 characters)

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Campaign Website http://www.dobberpuhl.org
Contact Phone 5074413359
Campaign Email heath@dobberpuhl.org
I genuinely love the City of New Ulm and believe I have the gifts that can serve New Ulm well. As a college professor, I regularly speak with my college students about New Ulm which allows me to bring insights from an out-of-town perspective. These insights may be useful to the city in bringing in new citizens wanting to make New Ulm their home. On the side, I run a plat drawing business for real estate transactions in New Ulm and the surrounding area. This has made me very familiar with all the neighborhoods in the city, established property lines, and zoning within the city. This type of skill would be useful to the city council.

1. Wisely managing the citizens' tax dollars while both supporting the key priorities and respecting precedent.

2. Housing has long been identified as an issue for our city. We need to fix this problem to continue to supply our employers with qualified workers and enable business growth. Too many people need to travel to our city to work.

3. With the nice new highway, we need to improve the southern entry to the city. There are too many empty businesses greeting people to the city.
I do read quite a bit through New Ulm's social media groups and am happy to respond to any emails. As a city councilor, I will have an answer readily available when asked or will research and get back to a person if necessary.
Transparency is important to all politics, even local politics. The people of New Ulm are largely content, law-abiding citizens. Transparency is important to keep it that way.
Contact Phone 507-276-3393
Campaign Email tomschmitz@newulmtel.net
I am not only passionate about our community of New Ulm, but also committed to civic engagement. I believe efficiency and effectiveness are two key aspects that all cities should strive for. The majority of my nearly 45 years of professional employment experience have been in the public sector with various federal, state, county, and municipal governments; including 18 years with the City of New Ulm. This has given me significant knowledge of government operations and how to serve citizens. My father Bob grew up in New Ulm and my mother Lilo grew up near Ulm Germany. Mom and dad had a 1956 “Sister Cities” wedding in New Ulm. My wife Kim and I have resided in New Ulm since the late 1980’s. Our two adult sons were born and raised in New Ulm.
1 is Economy, employers & jobs are critical. Working citizens need employment, which is also a necessary component of commerce. 2 is Employees, people are needed by successful employers. 3 is Quality of Life: people need education (schools & libraries); health care; recreation, parks & open spaces; emergency services including police, firefighters, & ambulance; retail, shopping, food & beverage establishments; housing; reliable utilities; transportation; support systems for all those in need.
I will make myself available and be open to communicating with everyone and anyone. My phone, email, and mailing address, will be available to everyone. I will be active in public, and will attend public events. I will be available to attend, and speak at, private events and meetings. I will be available to meet with anyone, in person. Upon retiring in the spring of 2023, I have developed more time for activities such as engaging fellow citizens.
I will abide by and uphold all laws, statues, and ordinances; especially those pertaining to transparency and accountability. I will do whatever I can to ensure that my fellow elected officials and all city staff, do the same. I will insist that all public meetings, remain open and accessible to the public. I will fully support New Ulm’s community access television (NUCAT). I will also fully support all of the New Ulm area’s media firms and outlets.
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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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