Julie Nash

I have held several positions involving compliance, budget management, oversight, and policy issues. I have been a city councilmember since 2006, was previously a board member for the Lola and Rudy Perpich MN Center for Arts Education and Postal Family Federal Credit Union, and former member of the technology committee for the DGF school district. I am on personnel committees with both the City of Dilworth, the executive committee for Metro COG, and previously as a board member of my credit union, and I have management experience with direct supervision of staff, and indirect supervision of several different program areas.

• One priority is balanced growth. We need to balance developer desires with available infrastructure access and growth potential. We also need to be flexible in our planning and zoning to work with changing needs while also making sure we utilize the same for assessing fit. As a council, we also need to balance growth with reinvestment in our community to support all of our residents.

• A second priority is supporting housing and business growth through policy, advocacy and incentives.

• A third priority is support for community amenities, including a community center and park initiatives.

Our communities continue to become more diverse; supporting a diversity of interests and needs is critical to supporting our communities. This support comes in many forms from offering a diversity of housing options, connections to transportation options, child care access, parks and community events of interest, hosting joint events in the metro area, and support for our staff to meet those needs. Addressing these needs involves being open to changes in zoning, policies, and practices that will allow us to grow with the changing needs of our community.

Each metro community tries to create an environment that is appealing to current and new residents through the homes, businesses, parks, and other amenities we provide. Being a border community, we have found that we can be at a disadvantage when building codes are significantly different or add additional costs to projects. I have helped to advocate for changes to policies that affect our local builders to our legislators. I have also supported tax abatement policies and other policy changes to support builders and homeowners including adjustments to support multi-family homes and apartment complexes that would support affordable housing options.

Not only has demand for housing unis increased, but the demand for varied housing options in close proximity to transportation, services, and amenities has evolved. Our role as elected officials is to continuously assess our land use policies for fit to our community needs and growth. In my role as a councilmember, I have supported tax abatement policies and other policy changes to support builders and homeowners, including adjustments to support multi-family homes and apartment complexes. It is imperative that we continue to work with developers and builders to address the needs for our growing workforce.