Eden Prairie is built-out.
In 2027, Eden Prairie has a path to one of the lowest tax levy increases in the Twin Cities while maintaining excellent city services. We need fresh leadership to secure what works and build what is needed for a changing city.
Like you, I chose to live in Eden Prairie. It is an excellent community. I've had the privilege of living, working, and raising a family in Eden Prairie for over 26 years. However, uncertainty is increasing and new challenges are emerging everywhere, including in Eden Prairie.
At this key moment in Eden Prairie's development, it is critical that our civic leaders are actively listening to Eden Prairie households and families moving Eden Prairie Excellence Forward in the form of:
Predictable neighborhoods: not constant housing developments, zoning experiments, construction detours and noise, surges in traffic density and safety problems, and the impacts to ponds, prairie, and trees.
Disciplined leadership and well-placed growth 1.) don't load costs on current taxpayers 2.) if current residents support growth then pursue it 3.) if city services, schools, and roads can absorb it 3.) if it earns its place by paying its own infrastructure costs.
Protecting Parks & Promoting Sustainability: Give Eden Prairie's 2050 net zero program a boost!
Essential city services - Police, Fire, Parks, and Roads: Every other dollar spent must earn its place from Eden Prairie home owners - Nothing "Extra". Secure our success. The first funding priority is fast response times.
New developments must pay new taxes - not Homeowners. Manage growth Sustainably. Hold the levy to Inflation.
When listening to Eden Prairie families and households about the City Council two things are consistent: 1.) Eden Prairie is an exceptional community and 2.) to remain exceptional the City Council's must maintain the value of my household's investment in the city and Guard My Tax Bill.
THE SITUATION:
Growth by building on undeveloped land in Eden Prairie is ending. In this regard, the incumbents deserve our sincere thanks for their service. However, work to sustainably secure success in Eden Prairie remains to be done; the Eden Prairie Mall continues to struggle, as does the Danfoss Campus, Prairie Oaks Corporate Center, 7500 Flying Cloud Drive, Crossroads Center and others. The Metro Green Line Extension is scheduled to become operational in 2027 adding uncertainty. At the same time needed upgrades to city services are being introduced (such as Eden Prairie's excellent full-time firefighting crews) 28% of Eden Prairie's total tax capacity represented by commercial property tax yields are declining.
The challenge? Declines in commercial tax yields are shifted onto resident tax levies.
At the end of the day, city taxes are not a political party issue, they are a financial fact faced by families and households. In 2026, you, the home owners of Eden Prairie, continue to face enormous pressures to keep your households secure and stable. It is also a fact that over the past four years this city council has increased the city tax levy by 20.5%: 4.5% in 2023, 5.6% in 2024, 5.8% in 2025, and 5.6% in 2026. For a median homeowner, that has meant hundreds of dollars more over four years while commercial properties’ share declined.
CHOOSING BETWEEN TWO PATHS:
Eden Prairie households deserve a choice. My candidacy represents a choice between a status quo City Council and a City Council with new ideas and perspectives about a uniquely Minnesota Way forward. Eden Prairie deserves active, data-driven and ethical representation and forward-thinking leadership. Households and families expect the City Council to sensibly guide the City Budget, and deliver SAFE streets & SECURE neighborhoods - FAIR taxes and SMART budgets, THRIVING parks and natural spaces, economic vitality and set a highmark for SUSTAINABILITY.
