Six Candidates Compete For Two City Council Spots

As of Tuesday evening, Hopkins has six candidates for the two City Council positions up for election this year. Hopkins Patch talked with Wendy Andersen about her qualifications, the issues she’ll focus on and what she’d be like as a council member.

Details on the other candidates are available in . Check back with Patch regularly to see more-detailed discussions with the candidates about the issues facing Hopkins.

Wendy Andersen

Time in Hopkins: 10 years total

Education: Bachelor’s in secondary education, diplomas in pastoral counseling and leadership

Job: Teaches science to inner-city, high-risk students at Minnesota Transitions Charter School in Minneapolis, police chaplain with Minneapolis and Hennepin County

Family: Three children

Government experience

• On the Minnesota Transitions Charter School Board and also worked on the board’s finance, personnel and policy making committees
• Works with the Hennepin County watershed districts

Other relevant experience

• Foster parent for six years
• Was on the board for the Edina Girls Fastpitch Association

Issues of interest

• Fostering an active community life: Although Andersen thinks Hopkins has quite a few things to do, she’d like to see even more events in the community— such as National Night Out, Music in the Park and the arts. “I’m just interested in the goings-on in our community,” she said.
• Community education: She’d like to teach residents about how government works and get more residents involved in programs like Hopkins’ Community Emergency Response Team.

Biggest challenges facing Hopkins

• Keeping Neighborhoods safe, she said. But she also noted that, “Most people feel Hopkins is moving along at a nice steady rate.”

Approach as a councilwoman: “I like to listen to ideas. I like to brainstorm together,” Andersen said. She would enjoy taking the pulse of the community and then going after whatever needed to be done.