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.

  • Learn where candidates running for office in your community stand on the issues.
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Voter Guide

Belle Plaine City Mayor

The role of city mayor can vary from city to city. However, the mayor is usually the head of the city and may represent the city in front of other government bodies. A mayor also usually has a role in proposing a city budget that is approved by the city council. The budget influences the services the city provides to its residents. Mayors sometimes are voting members of city council, and in some cities the mayor is in charge of city council meetings. Why vote in mayoral elections?

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  • Candidate picture

    James Evans
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Dale Loudermilk
    (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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The confluence of my education and experienced is unmatched in this election. I hold a Bachelor’s degree, a Master of Business Administration and a Doctorate in Organizational Development and Change. Our city (Belle Plaine, MN) is currently $20 million in debt, with the highest tax rates in Scott County. Those who are holding the reins of power have mis-prioritized our resources by investing in a downtown area that offers little return in terms of the city revenue required to develop the further necessary infrastructure. Without adequate infrastructure, development of industrial facilities required to spur our economy and take the load off our residents will be impossible. My experience can help the city of Belle Plaine turn that corner.
My three top priorities will be Transparency, Accountability and Reduction of taxes for residents. Our residents are tired of leaders who simply ignore their concerns. I am the consecutive mayoral candidate running on change. The people of this community want change; they want their taxes under control. To get there we will need to bend the council to the will of the people, not their own agendas. We can only accomplish this through casting light upon what has always been said in the dark.
I served for nearly three decades in the US Military, retiring as a Master Sergeant. I am not afraid to stand up for what I believe in. The only strategy that will bring transparency and accountability to politics is to refuse to be party to secrets that the public has the right to know. Accountability in politics comes when people are put on the spot for their actions. My opponents hide their corruption behind feigned civility and expect others to do so as well. I will not play these games.
I will create a commission of residents that represent interests such as agricultural, small business, large business, etc. and replace half of the city staff at the meetings with this commission. Doing this will offer the interests of the residents the opportunity to directly challenge the positions of the City Staff in context to actual proposals. Currently, outside a three-minute statement, residents have little opportunity to address the issues before the council.
Belle Plaine has a well-organized police and fire presence in the community. However, we are statistically in the bottom 25% of the state for all personal and property crime categories. In terms of funding, however, the numbers seem dipropionate within the overall city budget compared to similar cities. If elected, there will absolutely need to be cuts across the cities budget. I see many redundancies that can be consolidated to save money.
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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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