Name: Dale A. Parks.
Qualifications: Current city council liaison to Transportation Committee, Brainerd Housing and Redevelopment, The Center, and Brainerd Parks and Recreation. Currently Brainerd City Council president. I'm finishing my fourth year of service on the city council. Previously a supervisor in Crow Wing County Community Services giving me valuable management and budgeting experience.
What do you want to accomplish if elected?: I would like to continue the work and vision started by the late Bonnie Cumberland. Specifically I would like to work with the council and staff to fulfill the goals of the city's 2013 Strategic Plan. This includes investing in neighborhoods, provide stable financial planning and to provide improved communication and public relations with citizens. In addition I want to work on filling the Brainerd Industrial Park, Brainerd Industrial Center and fill the storefronts in downtown Brainerd.
Specifically, how would you accomplish your goals?: I will work with the Brainerd Police Department to help establish neighborhood organizations. The goal is to assist neighborhoods in organizing self-sufficient groups to provide pride of ownership and livability within neighborhoods. I will also continue to work hard to stabilize our current financial planning. We need to establish long-range planning. This includes being proactive and not always reactive. I will work with the Brainerd Lakes Chamber and Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corporation (BLAEDC) to have industrial and business owners relocate to Brainerd.
