Laserfiche WebLink
Why do you want to serve on a St. Anthony Village Commission?* <br />I hope to serve on the Parks and Environmental Commission because as I move through our community each day, I am <br />constantly thinking about ways to increase accessibility to parks, how our city can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and <br />how we can continue to implement additional sustainability initiatives. <br />Having worked previously on sustainability, transit, and climate planning teams at the Metropolitan Council, I understand <br />well that implementing meaningful initiatives and improvements takes time. Because of this, I hope to begin contributing to <br />our community’s parks and environmental decisions as soon as possible since by nature I am a long-term planner. For <br />example, while considering my family's plans to replace our driveway, I first went to the city website and read long-range <br />public works documents to find out when our street is expected to be redone and factored that into our project planning <br />through 2030. When purchasing our home in 2021, I checked flooding risk maps to determine how our property may be <br />impacted by climate change in the coming years. While walking on the sidewalk up to Silverwood Park, I brainstorm ways <br />to make the path along Silver Lake Road safer the next time the street is redone to improve connectivity between the <br />green spaces in our community. I plan to bring this same comprehensive, long-term thinking approach to our community <br />decision-making as a Parks and Environmental Commissioner. <br />In addition, my professional career experience will offer expertise to the Commission on a variety of topics. I have worked <br />in the following roles since earning my Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management degree from the University of <br />Minnesota in 2015: <br />- Sustainable Materials Management Specialist, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (beginning November 2024): I will be <br />working on waste reduction statewide by providing technical assistance to communities, administering grants, and <br />analyzing policy to minimize waste-related climate impacts. <br />- Senior Market and Policy Analyst, New Energy Equity (2020 - 2024): I led a three-person team in analyzing solar project <br />financing, recommending action strategies to the CEO, writing and submitting comments to state Public Utilities <br />Commissions to improve implementation of community solar programs, and continually communicating energy policy <br />information to internal and external audiences. <br />- Three one-year Metropolitan Council internships (between 2014 and 2020): I created a data tool for tracking electricity <br />and natural gas emissions in the Twin Cities region, managed Inflow and Infiltration inspections at Metro Transit facilities, <br />designed and implemented employee engagement campaigns around saving electricity and water, and implemented an <br />improved recycling system which included organics collection at several agency office buildings. <br />- Great Plains Institute (2017 - 2018): I worked on stakeholder engagement efforts for clean energy initiatives, <br />administered the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program's Steps 4 & 5 reporting, and compiled community-level energy <br />reports for local planners. <br />Finally, I believe it is particularly important today to implement city initiatives using very clear communication in order to <br />minimize community confusion or distrust and maximize engagement. I believe I have the skill set required to <br />communicate clearly with community members and collaborate as needed to make improvements. For example, when the <br />water service line inventory was first announced, I noticed the pamphlet instructions were ambiguous regarding how to <br />distinguish between copper and brass water lines, which created confusion about whether lead was likely to be present. <br />Because of this lack of clarity, I didn't just take my best guess and fill out the survey right away; I also called the City and <br />spoke with someone from Public Works about the issue to help clear up the ambiguity. I plan to apply this same level <br />thoroughness and dedication to future environmental efforts in the City. <br />In short, I want to serve St. Anthony because I love our community, and I hope to help shape its future. There is rarely a <br />day that goes by that I don't spend time in one of the parks in the Village, either reminiscing about the times my <br />grandparents took me out to see Santa here as a child or daydreaming with my husband about which sports our future <br />children might play at the Central Park fields. I look forward to contributing what I can to our community and collaborating <br />further in the future.