Tales of Three City Managers

Our Program on December 4th was a presentation by three of the local city managers. Making presentations were the City Managers of Excelsior, Chanhassen, and Minnetonka. 

Kristie Luger is the manager of Excelsior, and has been there for over 5 years. She showed graphs and pictures showing that Excelsior has issued more building permits this year, has seen more commercial improvements, and has had a very good year. New businesses have opened, and more are on the horizon. Residential building in town is also at a high.

 Todd Gerhardt has worked for the City of Chanhassen for 26 years, and has been the City Manager for the past 12years. Their city is mainly new homes, but the infrastructure has been in place for a long time, and they are reserving funds to refresh their streets and parks. The new transit station is completed by the dinner theater, and no major construction is planned in the downtown area. With the city still growing, a rise in the home construction market will increase the city’s population in the next five years.

 Geralyn Barone has worked for the city of Minnetonka for over 20 years, and prior to her current appointment as manager was assistant city manager for years. The city’s problems involve an aging population, an older stock of housing, and the perils of the LRT route, which runs through the city. With retail shopping patterns changing, the future direction of Ridgedale and other shopping areas is a major concern of the city. Aging populations are being replaced by younger families, creating issues with the 3 school districts in the town, as well as the many private schools in the city.  (Story by Tad Shaw)