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

Coon Rapids City Council Member At Large

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. Learn more here: https://www.lwv.org/blog/voting-local-matters-why-vote-city-councilInformation on candidate forums for this race may be found on lwvmn.org.Use the MN Secretary of State’s Candidate Filing page (https://candidates.sos.state.mn.us/) to find specific candidate contact information.

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  • Candidate picture

    Pat Carlson
    (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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Contact Phone 7635680714
Facebook (Full URL) http://www.facebook.com/patcarlsonforcouncil/
Campaign Email carlson11349@gmail.com
I was elected as Council at Large in 2020 and am running for re-election. Our city council has made many tough decisions over the past four years. We've worked through issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, high equipment costs, labor costs, material costs, and inflation. I've supported needed infrastructure projects, including upgrading and replacing very old water systems. I have always supported our police department. Officers are coming to Coon Rapids, and our police department is almost at full strength. I have built many relationships with residents, businesses, and community groups, and participated in many community activities and events. My experience as a council member qualifies me as the best candidate.
1) Continue to rebuild and refresh our infrastructure. We have many neighborhoods with old infrastructure in need of repair or replacement. 2) Continue to promote business growth. We've made progress over the last four years, but there are still many vacant spaces and buildings that need to be filled with businesses. 3) Continue to support essential services and infrastructure, but also question non-essential spending. We must be careful to not go too far into debt or overburden our residents.
My life as a Coon Rapids Police Officer, coach, and volunteer has allowed me to build relationships with people of many races, cultures, countries of origin, and religions. I have family members, friends, and close neighbors from a wide variety of backgrounds. I have built many more relationships as a council member because I'm constantly reaching out to people. It's easy for me to engage with and represent members of our diverse community because I've lived my life surrounded by diversity.
As a council, we must abide by Open Meeting laws. There should be no discussion or decisions made by a majority outside of public view. People make mistakes. If a mistake is made by either city staff or a council member, we need to show integrity and admit to it. I have heard of incidents in other places where mistakes are covered up, only to be discovered later. I will always abide by open meeting laws and will encourage city staff and council members to show integrity and admit mistakes.
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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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