How Do Hopkins Candidates Differ?

Local elections are nonpartisan. You won’t find any D's or R's beside the names of City Council and mayoral candidates. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t distinct philosophies in how each of the candidates would approach the jobs.

At Thursday’s League of Women Voters forum, candidates fell into two camps divided between spending priorities—let’s call them Quality-of-Lifers and Cutters. Within those groups, each candidate emphasized his or her own particular issue or philosophy. Here’s a look at how the differences shook out.

(Candidate Wendy Anderson, who was not at the forum, is not included.)

The Quality-of-Lifers

These candidates think Hopkins should be fiscally responsible but not sacrifice amenities that provide the quality of life they say Hopkins residents have come to expect.  Except for Norman Teigen, they have experience on other Hopkins bodies—Park Board, Zoning and Planning or both—that have frequently led to council positions.

Eugene Maxwell (mayoral candidate)

• Major point: Elected officials must consider the good of the whole community. The forum contained several specific, black-or-white questions. Is tax increment financing good or bad? Should we have more affordable housing or limited growth? What is one thing the city should cut? Inevitably, Maxwell framed his answers to those questions in terms of a balancing act. The community is just 4 ½ square miles, he said. Within that small space, Hopkins must have commercial, industrial and residential properties—along with parks and other amenities. Whatever the council does in one area, will have repercussions in other areas. Council members can’t afford to focus on one issue or their own agenda. They must make the decision that benefits the most people.
• Quote of the night: “It’s looking at the bigger picture. It’s not just looking at your little world because really you’re just one person,” Maxwell said.

Molly Cummings

• Major point: Hopkins residents demand certain quality-of-life amenities. The best example of Cummings’ philosophy came when someone asked why Hopkins can’t keep property taxes in line with other cities. “We are not other cities and other communities,” she answered. Cummings suggested talking with residents to find out which amenities they expect the city to provide—and perhaps consider charging them for expected services that are now free, such as leaf pickup.
• Quote of the night: “I think once you light the flame, and they realize that they can get involved and they can influence their city, you’re lighting a flame that’s going to burn strong and bright for a really long time.”

Jason Gadd

• Major point: The city can do more by building partnerships. Gadd came up through the , which turned him on to civic participation. So it’s perhaps no surprise that he wants to work with organizations like the Jaycees or the Hopkins Business & Civic Association to sustain Hopkins’ quality of life, even as economic times become tough. Gadd also focused on promoting active citizenship by welcoming new residents and, again, working with organizations like the Jaycees or the Blake Road Corridor Collaborative. 
• Quote of the night: “We need a council that can be fiscally responsible but figure out ways to do more with less.”

Norman Teigen

• Major point: Hopkins is a great place to live; let’s work together to keep it that way. Teigen was an agreeable presence at the forum—frequently echoing Cummings, Gadd and Maxwell and choosing not to add anything to what they already said. His solutions centered on bringing people together. What would he cut? $20,000 for an Excelsior Boulevard clean-up contract to be replaced by an adopt-a-highway program. How would he engage both new and longtime residents? By walking around the community and talking to people. While everyone agreed community involvement was important, Teigen made it the central part of his message.
• Quote of the night: “We just adore the scenery (of Hopkins). We love doing business here. And we enjoy interacting with people.”

The Cutters

These two candidates think property taxes have become too high and that Hopkins must make cuts to bring property taxes back down. While the candidates above have years of experience on city boards and commissions and the council, this group is made up of outsiders—with mayoral candidate Garold Healy saying, “I’ve always been on the fringe, kind of behind the scenes.”

Garold Healy (mayoral candidate)

• Major point: Hopkins needs new blood and fresh perspectives on the council. While Maxwell has been a fixture in city government for years, Healy said he has never run for anything. But he argued that officials have a tendency not to see what’s around them when they become entrenched in government. He promised to scrutinize spending by starting each year’s budget creation process with a blank slate instead of using the current year’s budget as a baseline to be increased. He also criticized the current council for being opaque. When he reviewed council minutes over the years, he found unanimous decision after unanimous decision—a pattern that made him wonder if issues were being discussed behind closed doors. “A lot of things are not out in the open,” he concluded.  
• Quote of the night: “There’s always ways to cut waste and come up with ways to do things more efficiently,” he said.  

James Beauchene

• Major point: Hopkins needs to cut local taxes. All the candidates talked about fiscal responsibility to some extent, but Beauchene pounded on the theme the hardest—whether talking about property taxes, Blake Road development, business retention or light-rail plans. “I think they have to cut spending somehow. It’s just getting out of reach. No one can afford to live here anymore,” he said.
• Quote of the night: Beauchene had several zingers but his best came as he was lamenting the loss of small businesses in the downtown, including clothing stores “It’s bad news when you can’t even go up town and buy a pair of underwear.”

***

(Want to talk to the candidates yourself? Join Patch for from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at . Much like traditional speed dating, you’ll be able to sit down and briefly get to know someone in a casual, one-on-one atmosphere—only this time you’ll be getting to know City Council candidates and talking to them about vital local issues. When the time is up, you’ll move on to chat with the next candidate.)