Mayor Q&A: Jerald Kelly

Q. What should be the top three priorities for city government?

A. Create population growth, allow more younger people to come to Austin and grow more families small businesses through less local government spending and the lowest property taxes in the state. This will bring more businesses from outside the state of Minnesota. Today, Austin has nearly 24,000 residents. Thirty years ago, the city had 22,000 people. We are not moving ahead like other cities such as Rochester and Owatonna. We need to control government spending and focus on private sector development.

Q. What other issues do you believe the city of Austin must address, and how would you provide leadership on those issues?

A. We need to grow our educational programs and focus more attention on science and mathematics for our young people. In China, the average fourth grade student is learning advanced algebra. Our fourth grade students are still trying to do basic math skills. There is much room for improvement. You need to take away the high tech games, the sleezy internet, and television from our young people and have them do their homework so our nation can produce more high-tech jobs for the future.

Our young people are also too overweight. There is an obesity epidemic and 1⁄3 of our kids are fat. Parents and the school system need to grab the bull by the horns with their kids so they don’t become lazy. They need to be involved with more activities at school, at home and in the community.

We need to preserve our city’s heritage and cultural awareness through volunteers organizations and churches all working together to save Austin’s history, such as the Hormel Home, Paramount Theatre and many historic buildings in the downtown area.

 

Kelly declined to answer the other three questions on the questionnaire.