Wendy Webster, who currently serves on the St. Anthony City Council, is challenging incumbent Mayor Randy Stille for a four-year term of office. She has served on the Council for six years. If she is elected, her council seat will be filled by appointment.
Randy Stille
(incumbent)
Randystille.com
Randy Stille is the incumbent mayor of St. Anthony Village running for re-election to another four-year term. He has served on the city council since 2004. Stille is a five-year employee of Associated Bank, handling commercial loans, and prior to that he had a similar position at Wells Fargo for 29 years.
What makes you the best candidate? A lot of community service is the same as my line of work. I’m used to managing projects and portfolios, and the job of mayor needs a similar skill set. For instance, the city and a developer are working to develop Ruby, a 500-unit apartment complex. The project needs some help, and my background can help move the project along. For instance, they may need tax increment financing. I can understand what goes on behind these projects.
How did it go the last four years? I became mayor in January 2020 and three months later COVID happened. And then in May, George Floyd was killed. I had to declare two states of emergency in my first six months, one to deal with the pandemic and one to set up curfews and other measures during the public unrest. Being mayor is a lot different than being on the Council, by far. At the time, we had new members on the council, but all we could do is hold meetings by Zoom. I think it took longer for us to gel, but we respect each other and we’ve set our differences aside. There have been some hurdles. We lost our city manager, our human resources person and our fire chief, but we made good choices in hiring.
What are the biggest challenges facing the city? I would say it’s a combination of two things, inflation and a worker shortage. Hiring police has been really difficult. It’s a question of how can we maintain our level of services and keep it at an affordable level. We are committed to provide service. I’m not here to cut corners.
What lies ahead for St. Anthony Village? We did a survey last year on the ten facets of livability, and we can compare our results with other cities that are the same size. Our citizens said the two most important things were safety and maintaining our infrastructure. The residents want us to maintain our level of safety — police, fire, public works — and not slide. We will focus on that. I believe in having a list of infrastructure priorities each year and not sliding on that. As soon as you get behind, you have a water main burst or something like that. People expect us to make good decisions, and we can’t get complacent on how we manage our town. We’re doing another survey on environmental sustainability, finding out what people think is important. A lot of people are very passionate about a climate action plan, so we’ll have to see what the survey shows.
Wendy Webster
electwendywebster.com
Wendy Webster is director of community services for the St. Anthony-New Brighton School District, where she manages a 30-person staff and a $2 million budget. She has served six years on the City Council, the first two by appointment, the last four by election. She and her husband Seth have lived in St. Anthony since 1999.
Why are you running for mayor of St. Anthony? I’ve thought about it for a long time. When I reflected on my past community experiences I realized I could transfer my skills to the City Council. My leadership style is collaborative — bringing people together to solve problems.
We have a weak-mayor system. There are five people on the City Council and we all have one vote. Our open forum time should be a place to honor the fact that people are taking the time to speak to us. We need to be open to helping people feel heard and understood, and not leave them feeling frustrated with the city.
It’s time for women to get involved in city leadership. I’m only the fifth female on the City Council. New Brighton and Columbia Heights have female mayors. Sandra Feist and Mary Kunesh represent us at the Legislature.
What are the biggest challenges St. Anthony faces? Since COVID we have experienced staff shortages. The majority of our staff — 90% — works in City Hall. We still need to deliver high-quality services to our residents.
The past seven years have been some of the most difficult in St. Anthony. We’re at a turning point between what we want to be — a more welcoming and inclusive place for all — and where we are.
The police department has gone through a transformative process and has become focused on community-oriented policing. We are not done on focusing on continuous improvement, to find better ways to serve the community.
How do you attract more businesses to St. Anthony? We have more than 300 businesses in St. Anthony. The city is only two square miles; we’re kind of landlocked. We need to encourage citizens to purchase services locally. It’s the best investment for the city. The city needs to work closer with the Chamber of Commerce, to meet with businesses and learn more about them.
What other attributes would you bring to the office of mayor? I have a solidrecord of leadership and community involvement. I’ve lived here 24 years, getting to know people and understand what’s important to them. I’m naturally curious. I’m always interested in learning more. The City Council has been a great fit for me. I’m looking forward to the challenge of being the mayor.
Read about St. Anthony City Council candidates on here.
St. Anthony has three voting precincts. Hennepin County: Precinct 1: Autumn Woods, 2600 Kenzie Terrace; Precinct 2: St. Anthony City Hall, 3301 Silver Lake Road: Ramsey County: Precinct 1: Silverwood Park, 2500 County Road E. Enter your address at https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/ to find more voting information for your precinct.