Between now and Friday, the Austin Daily Herald is running a series of articles that will hopefully help area residents make informed decisions on primary election day, which is Aug. 10. Two city races — mayor and City Council Ward 3 — currently have more than two competitors, meaning they will be part of the primary process, which will whittle the respective lists down to two. The Herald is printing responses to questionnaires sent out to the three Third Ward challengers and the four mayoral candidates. Feedback and discussion are encouraged, as both are vital to a healthy democratic process.

Tom Stiehm, Mayoral incumbent

Q. Facing budget problems, the State has decreased LGA in recent years. How should the City deal with reduced LGA funding and should it reduce its reliance on LGA?  If so, to what degree?

A.  large percent of the city budget comes from the state in the form of Local Government Aid (LGA).  We have received reductions every year since 2006 so we are slowly being weaned off LGA, at least to a degree. The only ways of dealing with LGA cuts are through reducing spending and increasing revenue. So far, the Council has addressed this issue through reduction of spending. We have kept tax increases to a level that would be expected had we not had LGA cut. We have done this by delaying capital improvement projects, reducing funding of non-city organizations, negotiating a zero percent increase for one of our bargaining units, and budgeting the same zero percent increase for the rest of the city bargaining units. We currently have a city-wide hiring freeze with certain positions selectively reviewed by Council.

Q. If the City needed to make emergency budget cuts while you were Mayor, what specific cuts would you make?

A. Basically, this is what we have been doing for the last four years. Austin has had its LGA cut by $2,116,946 since 2008. That is a very large portion of our budget. We can probably expect another reduction this year so we are developing an alternate budget with appropriate reductions to meet any future cuts.

Q. The City has a new fire chief and soon a new police chief.  How should the Council and Mayor collaborate with these new department heads to make sure their departments operate effectively?

A. The Police Department will be relatively easy, as it appears the new chief will be Lt. Sgt. Brian Krueger. Brian has 26 years with the Austin Police Department and is very aware of current policies. I think what we should expect is a continuation of what we have come to expect from the Police Department. I’m sure Chief Brian will have ideas of his own, and at some point in the near future, we, the City Council, will need to sit down and discuss the future direction of the Police Department.

Fire Chief Healey will have approximately six months to get to know his people and the citizens of Austin. After six months, the Council will meet with him also and discuss the future direction of the Fire Department.

Q. Immigration, both legal and illegal, is an issue in Austin. What policies, if any, would you change? And what, if anything, would you do to address workers being employed with fraudulent identification?

A. The federal government has allowed immigrants to come to the United States with no screening at all. The government does not enforce the immigration laws and forbids local governments from doing so. In Austin, our Police Department actively pursues people who are here illegally and are breaking our laws. If an immigrant does break our laws, we will and currently do turn them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Anytime our officers find out a person is here illegally, they report it to ICE. It is then up to ICE to determine what action to take. I bring up the subject of immigration every time I speak to any of our federal representatives, such as Senators Klobuchar and Franken, and Congressman Tim Waltz.

Q. A large vacant lot remains downtown following the 2009 fire.  What, if anything, should the City do to facilitate redevelopment of this property?

A. We need to remember that this property is privately owned. Craig Hoium, the city’s community development director, regularly speaks to people who may be interested in this property, but at this time we can only wait for a final determination on the insurance issue. When the insurance issue is completely settled, the City can influence positive development of this property through various local development tools such as the Main Street Project.

Q. What role should the City be playing in developing retail spaces such as the former K-Mart and Cashwise sites, as well as other sites along 18th Avenue NW?

A. The City has various tools such as tax increment financing (TIF) that could be used to help businesses develop these areas. At the same time we need to look for ways to help get Oak Park Mall back on its feet. The city staff is currently working with real estate brokers to market these properties, and there is continuing dialog with national retailers to develop these properties.

Q. Why do you want to be mayor?

A. I have spent 30 years on the Austin Police Department. I have seen the city through many changes, and the city has given me and my family much.  I want to continue as mayor to help ensure that our town is not taken over by outside influences who would turn Austin into a battleground over the immigration issue. I worked for the police during the strike, and have seen how families and the community itself were ripped apart. We have seen groups come to Austin and try to turn us against each other over immigration, but the people of Austin have not responded to them. We have seen this issue divide and tear other communities apart. No one is in favor of illegal immigration; that is not the question. The question is, how should we respond to it. The answer must come from the federal government, because they, the federal government, shoots down any law passed by local or state government, such as the recent case in Arizona. We need to keep cool heads here in Austin. When the federal government does get around to the issue of immigration, we will follow the new law to the ‘T’.

Q. What skills do you have that you think are unique and make you stand out as a candidate?

A. A mayor has to build consensus within the council and work with the individual members of the council toward goals that are for the good of the community. A mayor needs to be a positive thinker and continue to look forward. I have learned a great deal since I have been mayor, not just about the city, but also about people and myself. A person can never get too comfortable and think there is nothing or little else to learn. New challenges demand new insights.

Q. What other issue or issues are important to you as a candidate, and what policies do you favor in these areas?

A. I think we need to continue to find ways to keep taxes low. Right now the City of Austin ranks 222 out of 224 cities in Minnesota in per capita taxes. That means only two cities in Minnesota have lower taxes per person. The City has done a good job so far in keeping taxes under control, and we need to continue this effort. The LGA cuts are and will continue to challenge us in this area. We need to find new ways of cutting the cost of local government, new ways to redefine how and what we as government do. We have to assume that things will not return to the good old ways of doing business. Our city has changed. Our economy has changed. And we in government must change in order to meet these challenges.

Jeff Bednar, Third Ward candidate

Q. Facing budget problems, the State has decreased LGA in recent years. How should the City deal with reduced LGA funding and should it reduce its reliance on LGA?  If so, to what degree?

A. We as a city need to reduce wasteful spending on non-essential budget items. LGA is going to continue to decrease. So in order to maintain key core services, we need to look at all departments for reductions in non-essential spending.

Q. If the City needed to make emergency budget cuts while you were on council, what specific cuts would you make?

A. During a budget emergency we will have to look at departments to make hard, tough cuts in services that are not core essential. Also, we need to explore the furlough process for all departments in order to not have to cut staff.

Q. The City has a new fire chief and soon a new police chief.  How should the Council and Mayor collaborate with these new department heads to make sure their departments operate effectively?

A. If elected, as a council we need to give these two department heads the financial and staffing support they need in order to maintain public safety. But as a council we cannot try and dictate how these departments are run day-to-day; we need to give the department heads the control they need to run most efficiently.

Q. Immigration, both legal and illegal, is an issue in Austin. What policies, if any, would you change? And what, if anything, would you do to address workers being employed with fraudulent identification?

A. At the city level, it is very difficult to change these policies/laws. What we all need to do is get educated on the issue and ask the public to contact their senators and representatives to urge for reform at the federal level. Until that happens, the local authorities’ power is limited. On fraudulent ID’s, employers need to be more vigilant to double and triple check these documents. It is 100 percent the employers’ responsibility.

Q. A large vacant lot remains downtown following the 2009 fire.  What, if anything, should the City do to facilitate redevelopment of this property?

A. To me, it is frustrating that we have not prosecuted on this arson case!! At this time we need to let the legal process continue, then at the time a property forfeiture happens, the city needs to solicit proposals from private developers to redevelop the site, not build a city owned structure on that site.

Q. What role should the City be playing in developing retail spaces such as the former K-Mart and Cashwise sites, as well as other sites along 18th Avenue NW?

A. Ideally, retail in these buildings would be preferred, but in a down economy, that is not very realistic. The city needs to assist, not subsidize the property owners to market the property for light commercial or industrial. The city may also may need to explore moving Job Z acres to that site.

Q. Why do you want to be on council?

A. I will bring a new and outside-the-box view to the council. I feel the city has spent unneeded dollars on projects that are not crucial during a down economy with budget cuts looming.

Q. What skills do you have that you think are unique and make you stand out as a candidate?

A. I have been in the construction industry since 1987. With the large amount of flood control work and other city building projects in the future, I feel my background allows me to make an educated decision on the process projects are awarded and built. I also have been on the planning commission for two years and have dealt with tough issues, such as the wind turbine ordnance.

Q. What other issue or issues are important to you as a candidate, and what policies do you favor in these areas?

A. in talking to people, the main issue as a candidate I have heard is the lack of responsibility from landlords and property owners to maintain a clean and maintained property. This is a huge concern all over town. We need to adopt a more aggressive series of fines or rates for cleanup on the repeat landlords and property owners in order to resolve this problem.