From the Northfield News, Sept. 16, 2000, page 2:

Covey concerned about city process

By ADAM ARNOLD
Staff Writer

NORTHFIELD -- The past could return as the future if Keith Covey wins the race for mayor.

Covey served as Northfield's mayor from 1975 to 1977. He has decided to run again this year, challenging incumbent Bill Rossman and Lee Lansing.

Three focuses for Covey would be development, process and growth. "I've been concerned -- disturbed -- that over the past several years development issues have become so divisive in the community," he said. "My experience in my career and my earlier experience on the council tells me we don't have to divide the community to move ahead."

Covey sees his career as a good base for another mayoral term. He has spent 27 years working in facilities for Carleton College, the last 16 as director. He retired in July but he will stay on board until December to wrap up some ongoing projects, he said.

Covey's position at Carleton has required that he stay in touch with the council and the planning commission. The role has taken him before the bodies many times when the college's projects required city approval.

His dealings have clarified his thoughts on process. "My experience on the council 25 years ago and my work over the years at Carleton have been very much about bringing disparate groups together and solving problems," he said. "Those skills can solve the same things with the City Council."

Covey sees his work at Carleton in some ways as an analog to Northfield. The activities he has been responsible for are "much like what a small city does," Covey said. Overseeing a staff of 80 and a multimillion dollar budget, he said, "is extraordinary good preparation for what I'm hoping to do with the city for the next four years."

If elected, he would have goals: to learn, to implement comprehensive plan changes as quickly as possible, and make the council more effective.

He said he wants to see a comprehensive plan process, currently under way "completed in a way that develops as much consensus in the community as possible and implemented as quickly as possible."

He's concerned about city staff estimates that it would take two years to take those changes from concept to ordinance. "The development process in Northfield is moving so fast it can't wait two years," he said. "That has to be a priority."

He said his other emphasis would be on making the council's operations more effective, member to member, council to staff, and council to public.

The council should have more open discussion so "the public will understand why we've come to the decision we've come to," he said. "Frankly, I'm a process guy. I don't think you can get there without making the process work."

Coming to those decisions, Covey said, "The council has to find a way to work more efficiently in order for a lot of things to happen." One of those things is balanced growth. "Most of our development requirements and economic realities ... are in favor of opening up new land, but they don't look back at existing infrastructure and existing development."

Downtown is a special concern. Covey is currently a director of the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation, a post he would relinquish if elected.

"We need to work to shape how those big boxes shape our community," he said, "to keep it vital and find ways for it to grow as the community grows so it remains relevant."

Copyright 2000 Northfield News.

From the Northfield News, Oct. 21, 2000, page 1:

Stumping along the campaign trail

Ward meeting elicits mayoral candidates' experiences

By ADAM ARNOLD
Staff Writer

NORTHFIELD -- The city's three mayoral candidates used their life, work and political experiences to try to distinguish themselves during a forum Thursday night.

Ward 1 Council member David Koenig hosted the session at the Archer House. The occasion followed an early-morning forum for all City Council and mayoral hopefuls sponsored by the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Koenig changed the meeting's format at the last minute. The original plan called for, among other things, each candidate to ask one question of the other two candidates. When Lee Lansing and Bill Rossman balked before the meeting, Koenig redesigned the meeting's structure to omit that portion and instead increased the number of questions he took from from the audience. Some 40 people attended.

Incumbent Mayor Bill Rossman said be ran his first race for City Council in 1992 on a heritage tourism platform as a way to promote the city. Although he lost that race, he said, "To a large degree that has come to pass."

He reiterated his unflinching support for the development of the Target store on Highway 3. Addressing concerns about the store's impact on the business district, he said "I haven't seen any diminishing traffic downtown."

He also said that there are businesses that want to get into downtown but can't because of the lack of available space.

Former mayor and current challenger Keith Covey turned to his professional as well as his, political experience. He said he in his former role as director of facilities at Carleton College, he managed a staff and budget that is comparable to the city's.

"A large part of my work life has been to bring disparate views together," he said.

Talking about his involvement with Northfield Downtown Development Corporation, he said he is concerned about "balance on the edges of town with downtown renewal."

He then said his pet project as mayor in the 1970s was a "downtown renewal project."

Lee Lansing used his lack of experience to distinguish himself. "I'm a first timer in this group," he said.

Lansing said his business background as owner of Lansing Hardware gave him perspective on some local issues. Regarding the proposed swap of the municipal liquor for property owned by the Union of Youth, he said, "Mr. Covey: talks about meeting with the Union of Youth and I'm signing their paychecks ... Is [the other candidates' experience] better than mine? I don't think so."

Although some questions focused on concrete issues, others asked about how the three approach matters.

On what some call a high level of division among residents of the city, the candidates took different stances. "I'm not entirely sure it's unhealthy," Rossman said. "It's not unlikely in a town in a transitional period."

Although "it has been a sad thing because it has put friends against friends on occasion," he said, "we need to get by it, we need to get through it."

Unless you learn from them, Covey said, "in a sense it is futile to look back at past issues."

Regarding the events that have led to division, such as Target, "There are too many aspects of those issues to be clear about them," he said. "We need to find ways to develop sequences so we're deciding on the big issues first.

"I couldn't agree more," Lansing said. "It's time to get on with it ... but it's always something else ... I don't understand why it has to be that way."

Another question asked about fostering collaboration among council members. Lansing said that although council members have many things in common, they are different people with different backgrounds. "Respect the differences," he said, "Respect the other guy's point of view."

Much of-the lack of collaboration comes from some council members feel left out. "When people think their opinion doesn't matter ... they're not going to act up to their potential," he said

Lansing suggested "simple rules of conduct" so the council could "agree on how process works."

Covey said he wants to generate "a spirit of respect for everyone involved ... including the time people spend."

It is appropriate to "challenge procedures when it serves a public purpose," he said. If that is not the case, he said he would seek support to limit debate and deal with the concerns of council members outside of council meetings.

Rossman was pessimistic. "We have-to live with it," he said.

Although the council has a code of conduct, he said the council members generally don't enforce it.

As far as limiting debate, the council has decided not to. "We are operating as the council has chosen to operate," he said.

The contenders each named "the issue or area" where they have "the steepest learning curve."

"This is a humbling experience," Lansing said. "This is the first time for me."

After that, he added "I need to be better informed about policies and procedures. There's a lot of detail I'm not up to speed with."

Covey said he needs to bone up on ordinances and regulations. "A lot of that has changed," since he was mayor, he said. "I've worked very hard to come up to speed since Sept. 12 on major issues of the city. I haven't taken time yet with the underlying details."

Rossman's sensation is that "I still feel I'm learning every single day," he said.

Even though the learning never stops, he said he is "quite often called to task" for things he doesn't know.

I'm learning how to develop a real thick skin," Rossman said. "It's a real difficult town. It doesn't try to be, but it is."

Copyright 2000 Northfield News.

From the Northfield News, Oct. 21, 2000, page 1:

City candidates cluster at Chamber forum

By ADAM ARNOLD
Staff Writer

NORTHFIELD -- Agreement on many issues punctuated by distinct differences characterized the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce candidates forum Thursday at the Northfield Community Resource Center.

The entire field of City Council and mayoral contenders turned out for the 7 am. event.

Topics included a recently completed transportation study, to annexation policy, business recruitment and retention, the proposed hospital project, development, the grain elevator and the suit against the city regarding the process that led to the recently completed Target store. Chamber officials developed nine of the questions, four more came from the audience.

Those who had read the transportation study were impressed with the document, which identifies and proposes solutions for 12 problem transportation areas in the city. A Northfield Industrial Corporation task force wrote the report.

Four-year at-large candidate David Garwood-DeLong said specifically he had a "little problem" with the section dealing with North Avenue but there were bigger issues with plans overall. "How are you going to do it?" he asked. "How are you going to pay for it?"

Ward 3 council incumbent CC Linstroth also had concerns about North Avenue and representations made to those living in the area. "There have been many promises to the neighbors about North Avenue," she said. "The next step on North Avenue is in the hands of the city. I'm very concerned about promises made, promises kept."

The candidates shared various outlooks on annexation. Some saw it primarily as an aspect of Northfield's relationships with surrounding townships. "Annexation is going to happen," Ward 3 aspirant Tom Kotula said. "We have to be concerned about the communities around us. We need to plan regionally.

Keith Covey, one of two challengers to Rossman, agreed with Kotula but expanded his answer. Annexation done in the future must be coordinated with the comprehensive plan," he said. "We are critically in need of coordination with regional governments."

The mayoral candidates each took a different tack on business recruitment and retention. Bill Rossman cited his experience on the Economic Development Authority, the development of a rapid-response team to deal with situations such as the closing of the Fairway Foods plant and the hiring of an economic development manager.

The best growth will be home town growth and preserving growth we already have," Lee Lansing said.

We must continue to recruit industry," Keith Covey said. "The EDA is important 'but: other entities are important," including the Chamber and the City Council.

"We must think more flexibly about what industry is," Covey said.

Regarding the hospital, the candidates supported the proposal.

"It's the best planned major project in the five or six years I've lived in Northfield," two-year at-large challenger Victor Summa said.

Other candidates stated concerns about the proposal. "I'm support of the hospital but I would go along with David Garwood-DeLong on this leased land [provision]" Two-year at-large candidate. Ray Menard said.

Current plans call for the city to lease the land on which the hospital would sit from St. Olaf College for 60 years with options for two 20-year extensions.

Some residents have expressed concern that the city would lease rather than own the land.

Dale Snesrud, another two-year at-large candidate, said he supported the both the hospital project and proposed site. "Concerns about leased land can easily be taken care of," he said.

Opinions varied on the city development process.

"Things seem to drag," four-year at-large candidate Kris Vohs said. "Things could move ahead at a faster pace.

Dixon Bond, bidding for the two-year at-large seat, framed the issue differently. "Northfield has had a difficult development process since I've lived here," said, "but we get what we want."

Bond said the city should "not just be a policeman ... but shepherd people through."

Dana Graham, the lone Ward 2 candidate, expressed some frustration with how the city handles development.

"Sometimes we try to please everybody and it comes back in our face," he said. "The City Council has to be better managers of that process."

The most pointed question of the session came from Clancy Dokmo, owner of Dokmo Ford Chrysler. He asked the candidates if any of them participated in or supported the lawsuit against the city resulting from concerns about the process :used to bring Target.

Most of the candidates emphatically answered "no," but Summa, the candidate at whom the question appeared to be aimed, said he was "very much in support of it philosophically"

After the meeting Summa clarified his position, saying while he is not legally a party to the suit he has contributed financially to the Mainstreet Defense Fund, which helps support the legal action.

Although Bond called the suit an "embarrassment," he also said "it talks about trust in government."

Copyright 2000 Northfield News.