Voter's guide for St. Cloud City Council

ST. CLOUD — On Nov. 8, four ward seats are up for grabs on St. Cloud City Council.

Incumbent Dave Masters is running unopposed for the Ward 1 seat, which includes much of St. Cloud's downtown, the core neighborhoods and St. Cloud State campus.

In Ward 2, incumbent Steve Laraway did not file for re-election. Running for the open Ward 2 seat are Karen Larson, who earned about 43% of the vote in the August primary, and Sandra Brakstad, who earned about 29% of the primary vote and beat the third candidate Seal Dwyer by four votes in a recount.

In Ward 3, former planning commission member Jake Anderson is taking on incumbent Paul Brandmire, who was elected in 2018. During his term, Brandmire has faced pushback from residents — some whom asked him to resign — following a 2019 New York Times story where Brandmire said an uptick in refugee resettlement was causing some white residents to see themselves in a fight for survival. Then in 2020, the City Council censured Brandmire for comparing a mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic to wearing yellow stars in Nazi Germany.

In Ward 4, incumbent Mike Conway is being challenged by Hassan Yussuf, who previously ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2020 and St. Cloud school board in 2010 and 2014. If elected, Yussuf would be the first Somali resident to serve on the council.

The elected candidates will join at-large members Jeff Goerger, George Hontos and Carol Lewis on the nonpartisan board that oversees zoning regulations, the annual city budget and the adoption of city ordinances.

The Star Tribune asked each candidate the following questions in advance of the election to help voters decide. Answers may have been slightly edited for length and clarity. Candidates are listed alphabetically by ward.

Ward 2

The city's southeast side, east of the Mississippi River, and the north side by St. Cloud Hospital

Sandra Brakstad

Age: 76

Educational background: University of Minnesota

Occupation: Retired small business owner

Family: Two sons

Experience: Serves or has served as the following: President, Board of Minnesota Trucking Association and Safety Council, Central Minnesota Advertising Marketing Federation and Minnesota Wood Promotion Council; treasurer, the Forum of Executive Women; member, the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association.

Why are you running? St. Cloud has approximately 70,000 residents but because we are a regional hub, we service a community of upwards of 170,000 at any given point in time. The larger community is good for our businesses but can be demanding on our law enforcement personnel and our infrastructure. I'm running to assist local government to continue to fund what our law enforcement needs to keep us safe, to ensure our infrastructure is maintained and expanded to meet our requirements, to raise awareness of the business opportunities available, and to work within our neighborhoods to resolve issues.

What are the top two or three issues facing the city of St. Cloud? Our homeless population and the increase in illegal activities due to being a regional hub.

What are your plans to address those issues? As our population grows, it's important to encourage a connection between local government, law enforcement and all our residents. I believe connections can be achieved through a common sense approach that encourages mutual respect for each other, our differences, our beliefs and law and order. As we improve our connections and our respect for individuals, we will establish solid ground on which we can continue to build a community where everyone can thrive.

Karen Larson

Age: Will turn 73 before Nov. 8

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, University of the Pacific; Ph.D., University of California

Occupation: Retired professor

Family: Two children

Experience: Serves or has served as the following: Faculty secretary and senate president, Gustavus Adolphus College; parliamentarian, Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations; member, church council and personnel committee, Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program committee, and Mankato Reconciliation powwow organizing committee; law enforcement consultant with the FBI.

Why are you running? I'm running because I want to be part of taking St. Cloud into its future, helping to enhance its conspicuous strengths while addressing its challenges. I want to participate in fostering a vibrant economically and culturally diverse city — attractive to all types of workers — with suitable housing options and amenities for all. St. Cloud's existing community-orientation can be leveraged to build a better tomorrow. I want to serve in accordance with my long personal history of commitment and leadership.

What are the top two or three issues facing the city of St. Cloud? City infrastructure, promoting east side development and pride, and facilitating better communication between neighbors and between citizens and their city. The last priority is overarching and also applies to the goal of promoting business and residential development. St. Cloud needs to clean up its appearance with better roads, readable street signs, and (for safety) appropriate lighting and speed limit signs. I am my fiscally conservative father's daughter and will look to address these issues in terms of budget reallocation instead of budget increase. All of the city's downtown areas need redevelopment but the need is acute on the east side. Enhanced community communication can be part of addressing downtown redevelopment and other issues.

What are your plans to address those issues? I plan to address infrastructure needs by advocating for prioritizing these concerns in the budget. I plan to address east side development by leveraging the power of community communication — beginning with a post-election roundtable meeting on east side concerns and development. That effort's new motto is "Realistic scope, Real hope." The city's downtown redevelopment efforts will understandably be focused over the short term on the core downtown. The east side needs to leverage its rich history, eclectic nature and gritty reputation to jumpstart its own development process, which can later — in collaboration with the Downtown Alliance— be coordinated with and integrated into the city's overall redevelopment efforts. We are one city. The east side effort can focus simultaneously on promoting affordable housing, walkability and business development.

Ward 3

The city's north side, north of Fifth Street North and west of the neighborhoods by St. Cloud Hospital

Jake Anderson

Age: Will turn 43 before Nov. 8

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, St. Cloud State University

Occupation: IT project manager, Stearns County

Family: Wife Rachel

Experience: St. Cloud Planning Commission, 2009-2020; St. Cloud Park & Recreation Advisory Board, 2010-2020.

Why are you running? I'm running to be a consensus-builder, bringing reasonable people together to find solutions to our shared challenges. I'm running to be an actively engaged council member — meeting with residents on a regular basis and serving as a liaison between city staff and constituents as a way to improve relationships and communication. My experience on both the planning commission and park board has given me a good understanding of the challenges we face as a city. Those experiences also gave me the opportunity to work with people of differing views and backgrounds, which I feel are invaluable as a City Council member.

What are the top two or three issues facing the city of St. Cloud? St. Cloud faces a number of public safety challenges, some real and some perceived. Certain parts of our community have seen an increase in certain violent crime. This has been fueled, in part, by an increase of fentanyl on our streets. It isn't a problem unique to our community. With that said, we are generally a safe community. We also have some real budget challenges approaching in the years ahead that will require careful and transparent planning. Residents — like anyone — don't like surprises and the city needs to be upfront about the challenges. Finally, if we want people to invest in our community as either a business or a resident, the city must show it is willing to invest in our overall quality of life.

What are your plans to address those issues? We need to invest smartly in our public safety by ensuring we have sufficient staffing with competitive wages. It's all about recruiting, training and retaining the best public safety professionals. Public safety also requires an active and engaged community. We need to foster and leverage better relationships between the police and the community. As a council member, it would be my job to help facilitate and nurture those relationships. For our budget challenges, we should expand on our existing capital improvement program by using tools like interactive mapping that could show the age of infrastructure and potential project dates. Finally, we need to invest in our parks and the aesthetics of our community. We want to grow and have investments made by the private sector; we need to show the private sector we invest in ourselves to have a good quality of life for everyone.

Paul Brandmire (incumbent)

Age: 63

Educational background: Associate's degree, Los Angeles City College; bachelor's degree, University of Maryland; master's degree, Central Michigan University

Occupation: Retired U.S. Air Force officer, commercial truck driver

Family: Seven children, one deceased

Experience: First elected to St. Cloud City Council in 2018. Serves or has served on the following boards or organizations: St. Cloud Area Republicans, Lutherans for Life, Paramount Center for the Arts, Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud Area Planning Organization, local American Legion and church congregations; elected delegate.

Why are you running? As a retired career military officer, I have the experience of living and working with people all over the world and in numerous cultures, both as a supervisor and as a subordinate. I am used to working in the government system. As a former cop, I fully support law enforcement and the rule of law. I am a constitutional conservative who believes in smaller government, preserving property rights, greater individual rights and responsibilities, and lower taxes.

What are the top two or three issues facing the city of St. Cloud? First, as a midsized city and also a regional center, and being only an hour from the Twin Cities, we have our share of crime. While statistics don't show an increase in crime, citizens' perceptions indicate more crime and increased violence. Continued attention to crime prevention, resolution and prosecution is imperative. Second, we need to continue to address quality of life issues to keep St. Cloud a desirable place to open a business and to raise a family. Doing so increases the vitality of the community and benefits all citizens.

What are your plans to address those issues? On the first issue, I will ensure our law enforcement is fully funded for equipment, officers and training, and that they know they have the complete support of the City Council. I will encourage our city attorneys to prosecute lawbreakers to the fullest. On the second, I already serve on the boards of the Paramount, the Great River Regional Library and the St. Cloud Area Planning Organization. I serve in numerous positions in my church and support various benevolent activities such as food drives and homeless issues. If I am re-elected, I hope to work on the city's economic development board to help make St. Cloud a more attractive place for businesses to operate.

Ward 4

The city's south side, including the area with the new Tech High School

Mike Conway

Age: 56

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, St. Cloud State University

Occupation: Solution consultant, Wolters Kluwer

Family: Wife Lisa and three children

Experience: First elected to St. Cloud City Council in 2018. Also serves on the St. Cloud Housing & Redevelopment Authority board.

Why are you running? Four years ago I promised to be a voice for the residents of the Fourth Ward. I feel I have done that and wish to continue this promise. The Fourth Ward is the fastest-growing part of the city. I want to make sure the needs of the city and the residents are first and foremost.

What are the top two or three issues facing the city of St. Cloud? Public Safety and infrastructure. The city has added four officers this past year and is planning to add six more in 2023, as well as an additional position in the fire department. We have added an additional mobile monitoring platform and will be updating the security cameras around the city: in parking ramps, public places and city buildings. The new system will provide real-time imaging to emergency response teams. Road maintenance has had a very visible increase this past year. We have resurfaced more street miles this year than ever before. We will have to plan for the additional development of the 33rd Street corridor and keep pushing to get a new Mississippi River crossing as part of that development.

What are your plans to address those issues? The city needs to continue to prioritize public safety. I believe we can continue to increase the number of officers. We also need to continue the push to increase the number of COP houses (Community OutPosts) around the city. These locations can provide a base for neighborhoods to develop relationships and increase the public's involvement in their safety. Continuing the road resurfacing process needs to continue. There are also sewer lines that need replacing in the next 20 years. We may need to look at other ways to pay for these expensive upgrades other than assessing property owners. New development will also need to be able to cover the expansion without adding additional burden to the current systems.

Hassan Yussuf

Age: 41

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, St. Cloud State University; master's degree, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Occupation: Owner of a tax services business, former teacher

Family: Wife and six children

Experience: Serves or has served on the following nonprofit boards: United Way Partner for Student Success, Feeding Area Children Together, Stride Academy, Iqra Education Center, Local Education and Activities Foundation, Eradicating Achievement Gap and Learning Empowerment, Somali Elders Council, Islamic Center of St. Cloud. Also volunteers as a mentor with the correctional facility in St. Cloud.

Why are you running? I am running to make St. Cloud better for all of us. All means all.

What are the top two or three issues facing the city of St. Cloud? Public safety through the lens of community engagement and neighbors looking out for each other so that our neighborhoods can be close to each other, take care of each other and be there for each other so that when something happens, we're able to stick together and help one another. As a small business owner, attracting businesses to St. Cloud is important to help the community thrive and provide work. We also need to prioritize public infrastructure improvements: fixing streets and sealing all potholes. We also need to make sure our streets are safe and assessable so that the elderly can move through their neighborhoods without many obstacles.

What are your plans to address those issues? By listening and using the little resources to work on those priorities.