Stillwater's new elected mayor talks about the city's future

Ted Kozlowski did the research. His election on Nov. 4 made him Stillwater mayor No. 50, a memorable number. He would be sworn into office in January when current Mayor Ken Harycki retired. Then Harycki unexpectedly resigned a week ago Friday, and by law, vice mayor Mike Polehna took over the top job for the interim two months. Kozlowski, laughing, said he would review city history to find out if a mayor served twice — or if any other blip occurred that would restore him as the 50th mayor. "Mike Polehna is a great guy," Kozlowski said, and well-suited to lead the transition.

Kozlowski's four-year term will come at a time of historic change for Stillwater. A new St. Croix River bridge will shift commuter traffic from downtown, closing the 1931 Lift Bridge and changing business dynamics. A major new state trail, Brown's Creek, links downtown Stillwater to the Gateway State Trail. The city has invested in two riverfront properties that will become parks. Kozlowski, 37, grew up in Stillwater. He was elected to the City Council in 2012 to represent the oldest portion of the city surrounding downtown. He is CEO and founder of DemandQuest Marketing Institute, a school for Internet training and education.

One morning a few days after his election, the mayor-elect talked about his vision for Stillwater:

Q: What is your reaction to the challenge before you?

A: I'm very well aware of the historical significance of our town and the story of Minnesota. We are at a crossroads, but I don't necessarily think it's just because of the bridge or the bike trail. I think we've been approaching this for quite some time. Stillwater's really changed since the mid- to late '80s. It's become more of a part of the metro area than the little quaint small town on the river. People like to say, you live in a suburb of the Twin Cities. No, Stillwater was here first. We want to retain our identity as being separate from the metro, but the reality is, a lot of our residents work in the metro, rely on services throughout the metro, and our city has grown. It's really our job now to become a professionally organized and planned city.

Q: Do you think enough thought was given during bridge negotiations to the possible loss of business downtown?

A: I don't think so. In other cities, you see a Wal-Mart coming in, they lose industry, the freeway bypasses their town, their Main Street gets destroyed. It's not nearly as dire for Stillwater. We've got great bars, restaurants, everything else. We're not going to lose that soon. There are businesses down here that rely on that [interstate bridge traffic] and I think it should have been a bigger part of that discussion. We had a really good group come together, the downtown revitalization committee. It's a group of intelligent, passionate people who are very different from what we've seen in the past. How can we make Stillwater more beautiful? How can we minimize the impact of the bridge? How do we prepare for the future? In hindsight, I would have loved it if they would have started five or six years ago.

A: We can't cross our fingers and hope for the best. I was pretty concerned about that initially. Who's responsible for rebranding Stillwater? We've got 80 staff people at our highest time of year at city offices. That includes public works, police, fire, engineering. We're a relatively small city. We do not have a single person … to help rebrand the city. That worried me last year a lot more than it does now. I thought with the new construction, traffic was going to be really bad and might turn people away from downtown Stillwater, but the reality is MnDOT is doing a really good job managing that. It proves that even though Stillwater is a little more challenging to get to, people are still going to come here.

Q: What's your vision of downtown Stillwater 10 years from now?

A: With the [interstate commuter] traffic being gone, the hope is that we get more of our residents downtown. Without question, it's going to be a much more pedestrian-friendly city. We've got opportunities to widen sidewalks and even do some sidewalk cafes. On a nice summer day when the bridge is closed, everybody appreciates how quiet and enjoyable it is, even while it's active and busy. There is something special about the town when it's not jammed full of cars trying to get to Wisconsin. We have the potential to start attracting some of those businesses that used to be downtown, the hardware stores, pharmacies, stores our residents use on a frequent basis along with the special occasion shopping, the eating and drinking. The addition of two pieces of parkland that we bought, north and south of Stillwater, will be a tremendous draw. We'll have this great bike trail that connects a gorgeous property north of Stillwater to the gateway to our national park. It would be a great place for weddings, for picnics, for playing with your dog, for fishing off a pier. And then the park south of downtown Stillwater for boating, for the potential to have public docks.

The idea that you're going to be able to walk from one side of town to the other without having to deal with traffic and exhaust is going to make the city feel more connected.

Q: Does Stillwater's image as a tourist town help the tax base, or hurt it?

Q: Other metro cities struggle with teardowns of smaller houses. Does that threaten Stillwater in any way?

A: I don't think so. We've got a historic preservation commission. That's our first line of defense. We also have our city code. In the old part of Stillwater, it would be tough to build something significantly bigger unless you want a three-story house with a 900-foot-square foundation because of setbacks. In Stillwater, people have preserved smaller houses. I live in an 1,800-square-foot 1886 home in Stillwater. People have taken good care of the older homes that used to be in neglect. If you look at Stillwater's neighborhoods, there's a 3,500-square-foot Victorian mansion worth a couple million dollars right next to a 1970 home on a slab that's 1,200 square feet. It makes Stillwater so awesome and unique.

Q: You're replacing a mayor, Ken Harycki, who's been somewhat controversial after the collapse of Lumberjack Days and an Internal Revenue Service raid on his office. Does Stillwater have an image problem?

A: It's unfortunate with some of the circumstances our current mayor has found himself in and we'll see how all that plays out. We really don't know what's going on with his personal business. People in town took the Lumberjack Days thing personally because it was our festival and the community watched it implode. I really don't think it changed the perception of Stillwater throughout the metro. The Log Jam festival that replaced Lumberjack Days was a success. We drew plenty of people from outside our community but we didn't overwhelm our town or city services with it. We had good weather and it was a great day and we had lots of smiling faces. People love Stillwater. I've heard more of that lately than I've heard in a while. I don't think [there is] a negative perception of us at all.

Kevin Giles • 651-925-5037