While Mayor Jim Hovland has been consecutively elected mayor five times without opposition, this year candidate Ron Anderson is also vying for the spot. 

Hovland has a background in law and has been mayor since 2005, also supporting Edina through involvement in the Edina Community Foundation and Edina Chamber of Commerce. Anderson has been in real estate for much of his career while also serving Edina on the City Board of Appeals, Edina Crime Prevention Fund, and Edina Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Both candidates served on the Edina City Council.

According to both Hovland and Anderson, a key issue the election faces is public participation. 

“We’ve developed in Edina over the last 20 years a level of transparency and participation that’s unprecedented,” Hovland said, citing the resident input on the 2016 Vision Edina and 2018–19 Comprehensive Plan. “There were many public meetings where people were actively participating and thinking about land use, transportation, and climate. Last time we had a lot of high schoolers, which was terrific. It’s time to do some of that again.”

Anderson, in contrast, pointed out a lack of mayor office hours and transparency beyond televised decisions. “What I hear very often is the concept of not being heard,” he said. “If community input is limited, it’s hard to do better.” 

If elected, Anderson said he would establish mayor office hours to increase accountability. “Full disclosure is complete and absolute disclosure, not just the decision being televised, so there is no question in the eyes of the public,” he said. “Something that has been missing is the mayor being readily available for appointments with the community.”

Another key issue is development. While Hovland said his goal is to expand Edina vertically through new development plans, Anderson claimed that a focus on spending and key services is necessary. 

“A city is a living organism, like a rainforest: you need to keep growing to survive,” Hovland said. “We don’t have any green space to expand horizontally, so when we think about Edina, we want vertical growth; taller buildings and more density in some parts of town in order to attract jobs and businesses that might not be interested otherwise.”

Anderson said he sees Edina’s goals as “competing virtues,” arguing that they must be balanced to be financially responsible. “We need to examine our expenditures carefully,” he said. “We need to prioritize our core services and everything else should come into consideration. I view this as competing virtues. There are so many things we would like to do, all of which have merit on some level. Can we do all of them? The answer is probably not.”

This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on November 4, 2024