I ran for this position four years ago. I made it through the primary and lost in the general by 134 votes. Four years later, wages in Faribault have not kept up with property taxes. The hospital is losing services. You can no longer plan to deliver a baby in Faribault. Retirees who lived their whole lives here can’t keep up with new expenses. The families building the next chapter are watching the same forces squeeze them out.

This is the story for the majority of Faribault. Not a few. Not the unlucky ones. The majority. 

The majority of jobs in our town are filled by people who don't live here. The majority of working households cannot afford basic stability on the wages we pay. The majority of seniors are aging in homes older than they are, with deferred maintenance they cannot take on themselves and bills they cannot easily come up with. When the majority of a town is squeezed by the same forces, that is a problem with the way things are being run. 

…

After the 2022 race, I did not stop working. I continued serving on the Faribault Planning Commission and the Heritage Preservation Commission through early 2024. I continued making documentaries about Faribault history. I ran Northfield Public Broadcasting for nearly six years, until funding cuts resulted in a sudden layoff last fall. So I had to rely on quickly expanding my small business. Now that is my main source of income. Thankfully, my family landed on our feet. 

Oh! Since 2022, I’ve also gotten married and welcomed my first child. And, believe it or not, during the long sleepless nights that come with a newborn, I was doing research. I relentlessly studied state statute and county policies; read reports on Rice County and synthesized its statistics; I looked into model policies from peer communities and I did the math to see what would work for Rice County.

That really sounds like a fake campaign story, but that is actually how I have spent my nights on and off for the last year.... and I STILL can’t fall back asleep!
…

I want to serve as your Rice County Commissioner because I want to get things done to help my neighbors. And I’ve done the research so I can get things moving as soon as I am sworn in. 

When I propose a specific policy, I am serious about its feasibility and its efficacy. Here is what I believe can and should be enacted at the county level to improve your life. I will vote to:

• Pass a public health and environmental standards package to stop data centers that hoard and then pollute our water.

• Create a county-level program that would mitigate radon, install reverse osmosis water systems, and fund aging-in-place modifications for homeowners across Rice County — for a fraction of what it would cost paying out of pocket. 

• Approve no county tax abatement, tax increment financing, or road permit for any project that does not pay the MIT Living Wage for Rice County and does not offer affordable rent for the duration of the agreement.

• Increase outreach for the property tax deferral, energy assistance, and food support programs most eligible Rice County residents have not accessed. 

• Increase capacity for Veterans Services to finally match the number of veterans we actually have here.

• Create a dedicated Family Crimes investigator and embedded civilian victim advocate at the Sheriff's Office.

These aren’t pie-in-the-sky ideas. They are researched. They have been proven to work in other communities under similar circumstances. And they are the sort of common-sense things that you need an active and energetic County Commissioner to champion across the finish line. I am asking you to vote for me so that I can work for these priorities with everything I’ve got. 

If any of what I have said has resonated with you, I am asking for your vote, your help, and your time.

Let's get to work.