City ordinances, housing, more business dominate discussion

By Robert Williams

Editor

The League of Women Voters of the Detroit Lakes Area and Creating Community Consulting hosted a 90-minute candidate forum at the Event Center on Monday, Oct 14.

Incumbent Mike Sharp and former Mayor Ken Miosek are vying for the two-year term for mayor. Sharp took over mayoral duties earlier this year when former Mayor Mark Flemmer stepped down. Miosek was mayor of Frazee prior to Flemmer.

There are four candidates for a pair of four-year term city council seats including incumbent Mark Kemper and challengers Drew Daggett, Michael Geving and Hank Ludtke.

The League of Women Voters provided questions to the candidates, along with taking submitted questions from the audience.

Bringing more businesses and increasing housing in Frazee were the two dominant issues, along with taxes.

Miosek spoke on all of the topics and got more specific into housing describing issues in Frazee as moving targets.

Sharp spoke last and acknowledged the issues brought up by the others, but like Kemper, stressed the upcoming tax levy and the need to lower taxes for Frazee residents.

“We can’t continue to sustain this level of growth in our levy without overburdening our residents and business owners,” he said. 

Sharp noted the preliminary levy is currently over 9 percent.

“We can sustain these increases long-term,” he said.

Daggett concentrated on how the natural amenities in Frazee, including Wannigan Regional Park, can be used to benefit local business and the city’s economic standing.

“I think this town has a lot to offer and has attractive qualities environmentally and recreationally,” said Daggett.

Gevin began his answer stating that he was going to sound like a “broken record,” by concentrating on the same issues, more businesses, more housing and less taxes. He was the first to bring recent inflationary issues to the forefront.

“In the last three years, everything has gone up 71 percent,” he said. “Two years ago, after COVID, you couldn’t afford to build a house.”

Gevin took a shot at recent Turkey Days celebrations stating the community needs to come together to improve the annual celebration and bring money into the town.

Ludtke brought up the need for both senior housing and affordable housing for growing families, in part because “we need to keep our school district.”

“We’ve seen so much of this where these smaller towns have lost their school districts…they lose it and they’re still paying on it anyway and then they end up paying on one or two other schools out of their taxes besides,” Ludtke said. “Without the people, you can’t keep your school district.”

Lutdke also took the opportunity to announce he expects the downtown retail building to be filled in 2025. 

He also stressed annexation for city growth and talked about how city officials have worked for 20 years to become a regional destination.

The group discussed future strategic initiatives ranging from utilizing Wannigan Park as a means for getting the thousands of people who come to visit Thomas Dambo’s Troll art installation downtown supporting local businesses.

Daggett was the first to bring up improving the look of the city and holding both city officials and residents accountable to make Frazee look better as a whole.

“I would like attractive entrances and an attractive downtown and I would like people to be able to drive around the entire city and be proud of it and want to live here,” he said.

He stressed increased city ordinance and law enforcement to accomplish that goal.

Speaking from experience of working for rental properties, Geving maintained that landlords and homeowners need to be held accountable. 

“I think, together, we can create a community where everyone thrives and everyone is proud to come visit,” he said.

Lutdke highlighted improvements to the Event Center and liquor store, but noted a big absence that is hampering visitors to Frazee.

“Where do you stay if you come here for an event?” Lutdke said. “We’ve expanded our ballfields and everything. We could have these teams come in for a weekend of competition, but we have six campsites for them to stay in. No hotel. No motel.”

A second initiative, harkening back to his talk on annexation, is the need to stretch city limits to U.S. Highway 10 as a means to try to compete with Perham and Detroit Lakes.

“Look at what happened to Perham?” he said. “We sit here between two powerhouses.”

Expanding the railroad quiet zone is one of Sharp’s initiatives, wanting to move the zone westward. He also discussed updating the dangerous dog ordinance, citing a local woman who was recently attacked.

“While our ordinance did work in the end, I feel, as a city, we can do far better,” said Sharp.

He also talked about improving public nuisance and building standard ordinances.

“We’ve made a lot of progress as a city but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Miosek echoed the sentiments of all the other speakers, but using his past experience as mayor, noted it is difficult to concentrate on one strategic initiative.

“By the time you go with that then something else comes in,” he said. ‘It’s a multi-faceted deal. You have to keep your eyes open to see what’s available to you and what direction you need to go in.”

The main four issues, especially ordinance enforcement, was highlighted by the first question from the audience.

What should be done to encourage landlords to stay within city ordinances and who should provide the enforcement and how?

“I wish that was something that didn’t need to be enforced,” said Daggett. 

He wants the community to self-govern and take pride in the way the town looks. 

“If your neighbor’s place is meticulous that can be enough to drive you to step up your lawn care routine,” he said. “If those things don’t happen the police should enforce it.”

Geving noted the large number of properties in Frazee makes getting a rental license difficult. 

“I’d like to see the properties we have now fixed up and cleaned up,” he said. “Nobody likes a mess.”

Geving joined Daggett as stating one of his goals was to make Frazee look better and also stressed the need for fines when necessary.

Lutdke stressed neighbors helping neighbors as a means to bring improvement.

Sharp’s belief is that the ordinances are there but enforcement and improving that process is the key to success to the point of pulling rental registrations after three violations.

Sharp also wants to pursue grant funding to help homeowners affordably improve their homes.

Miosek reinforced that there are enough ordinances and the need for improved enforcement is the solution.

Kemper discussed the city’s move to use fines more and the increased enforcement brought on by the current city council as making positive strides in the right direction.

After a short break, the group returned to discuss such topics as: Turkey Days, the Event Center and Municipal Liquor Store, workforce challenges, and city spending priorities.

For more information on local candidates see our Voter’s Guide in this issue.