Hennepin County Commissioner Debbie Goettel, former Mayor of Richfield and civil/environmental, health and safety engineer is running for a third term to represent the communities of Bloomington, Richfield, and portions of Eden Prairie and Minneapolis on the Hennepin County Board. She is asking for support as voters prepare for the 2024 Presidential Election, and commits to supporting and uniting our diverse communities in achieving greater health and shared prosperity across all Hennepin County.
As Vice Chair to the board and Chair of the Budget Committee, Debbie guided $245.9 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars towards uninterrupted delivery of essential human services throughout the pandemic, achieved historic investment in affordable housing and climate action, and elevated innovative new programming borne out of pandemic response and recovery. Under this leadership approach, the county has moved upstream on issues related to homelessness, employment, public safety and mental health, investing heavily in Police Embedded Social Workers, School-Based Mental Health, affordable housing stabilization, and supportive housing programs to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring. During her time on the board, Debbie has regularly fought for a low and fair yearly property levy to reduce tax burden for homeowners and those on fixed incomes.
Her background as an environmental engineer was central in helping Hennepin create its first ever Climate Action Plan, passed in 2021. As the board representative of the regional Partnership on Waste and Energy, Debbie has consistently fought for enhanced partnership and resources to move our waste system closer to the state’s and county’s zero-waste goals, and to support greater public health outcomes for environmental justice communities on the front lines of pollution and climate change.
As a member of the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Advisory Board (which manages hundreds of millions of federal and state dollars), Debbie’s leadership has been instrumental in bringing home large investments in transit and infrastructure to District Five. Bloomington, Richfield and Minneapolis residents now benefit from both the Metro Orange Line BRT, the D-Line, and Eden Prairie and the entire metro area will soon see Southwest LRT come to fruition. The 77th Street underpass in Richfield now offers convenience to residents, and I-494 and Nicollet are seeing substantial investments through 2027 in large part due to Debbie’s leadership and advocacy.
Debbie is a strong advocate for local businesses and entrepreneurs, ensuring that Hennepin County is doing everything possible to support sustained, small business creation and enhanced regional economic growth. She also sits on the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area Foreign Trade Zone board, helping applicable businesses save millions of dollars each year and become more profitable.