– At-Large Candidates
– Ward 1 Candidates
– Ward 4 Candidates
— Link to watch Northfield City Council Candidate Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Northfield and Cannon Falls
Northfield City Council At-Large
Katy Vondrasek
Please list any previous political office you’ve held. (if any)
I am new to the political arena, and I see that as a strength. I will bring an independent, open-minded approach to decision-making, without preconceived ideas about how things have always been done.
But being new to politics doesn’t mean I’m new to the issues. Over the past few years, I have closely followed what’s happening at City Hall, actively engaged, and shared information publicly all with the goal of helping residents stay informed and engaged on the issues that matter most. Now, I’m stepping up to represent all of you.
Please list any civic, community, or professional organizations/clubs you’re a part of. (if any)
N/A
What qualifies you for the office you’re running for?
As a former business leader for a Fortune 100 company, I bring extensive experience solving complex problems, managing budgets, and delivering results. After earning my degree in Electrical Engineering, and before moving into senior leadership, I worked across engineering, business development, contracts, subcontracts, finance, and program management. That broad experience gave me a diverse set of skills that translate directly to effective city leadership.
Throughout my career, I worked alongside people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Along the way, I learned the importance of listening, asking questions, and valuing different viewpoints. I also learned that bringing those perspectives together leads to better outcomes.
I will bring that same disciplined, common-sense approach to City Hall focused on affordability, thoughtful and informed decision-making, and meaningful resident engagement with the goal of preserving the quality of life that makes Northfield such a wonderful place to live.
What inspired you to run for office? If you are running for re-election why do you want to stay in office?
My increased involvement with the City began when the voices of more than 1,100 residents were ignored after they signed a petition asking the City to reconsider the bike lane projects that directly affected them and their neighbors. Despite that strong response from the community, the City moved forward – literally plowing ahead. The response from the City Council didn’t sit well with me, so I decided to get more involved. I began closely monitoring what was happening at City Hall and sharing what I learned with others online. My goal was simple: help residents better understand what was happening, encourage more people to get involved, and bring greater transparency and accountability to decisions being made on their behalf.
The more I paid attention, the more concerned I became. I’m running for City Council At-Large because, like many of you, I am concerned about unsustainable city spending and the impact higher taxes are having on affordability. I’m also concerned that residents, especially those most directly affected by projects and decisions coming from City Hall, continue to not being heard. Once elected, I will work to curb unnecessary spending, strengthen and expand community engagement, and pursue responsible economic growth that broadens our tax base. My goal is a strong, more affordable, and welcoming community where City Hall listens and everyone who calls Northfield home has the opportunity to thrive.
What is something that you would like to accomplish while in office?
While there are many things I hope to accomplish while in office, two priorities rise to the top for me: easing the tax burden on taxpayers and creating more meaningful community engagement.
Curbing unnecessary spending and growing our tax base are two effective ways to ease the burden on taxpayers. Neither is easy, but both are achievable. By prioritizing needs over wants, holding to approved budgets, demanding value for taxpayer dollars, and making Northfield more business-friendly, we can strengthen our local economy while helping make Northfield more affordable.
Improving community engagement will take all of us. I will push for earlier and broader communication, greater transparency, and more opportunities for residents to have a meaningful voice before decisions are made. But true engagement is a two-way street and requires residents to participate. I hope you will join me in this effort!
What does being a leader mean to you?
For me, being a leader means inspiring, guiding, and empowering others through effective communication and thoughtful decision-making. Good leaders act with integrity and empathy and hold themselves accountable for their decisions and actions. Great leaders see themselves as part of the team, not above it.
My leadership experience has taught me that listening is one of the most important things a leader can do. Some of the best ideas come from unexpected places, and the strongest teams are those where everyone feels heard, valued, and respected. As a member of the City Council, I will bring that same approach to City Hall by listening to different perspectives, leading with integrity, and working to ensure that every member of our community feels represented.
What is one bill that you would like to pass if you’re elected?
It’s not one particular piece of legislation I want to pass; it’s a change in mindset I want to bring to City Hall. Too often, City staff and the City Council spend significant time and taxpayer dollars pursuing projects that I believe fall outside the City’s core responsibilities or provide too little value for the resources they require.
One example is the Ames Mill Dam. If elected, I will advocate against the City taking ownership of the dam and against spending any further taxpayer dollars pursuing City involvement in it. The dam is privately owned by Post and the DNR has regulatory authority. The City of Northfield does not need to insert itself, and thus the taxpayers, into a responsibility, potential liability, or financial obligation that belongs to others.
Other examples where I have questioned whether City resources are being directed toward the right priorities include the Bridge Square redesign, expansion of the municipal liquor store, and the 5th & Washington redevelopment project.
I believe the City should spend less time and fewer resources on efforts like these and focus instead on higher-priority needs that directly serve Northfield residents. That means being more disciplined about distinguishing between needs and wants, asking whether a project is truly the City’s responsibility, and demanding clear value for every taxpayer dollar spent.
That is the change in mindset I want to bring to City Hall. A vote for Katy Vondrasek for City Council At-Large is a vote for thoughtful priorities, fiscal discipline, improved engagement, and a greater focus on the things that matter most to Northfield residents.
Campaign Website & Social media
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590383229582
Adam Wale
Please list any previous political office you’ve held. (if any)
No elected offices held so far. 1 year on Northfield Parks & Rec Board (2021), 3 years on Northfield Human Rights Commission (2022-2024)
Please list any civic, community, or professional organizations/clubs you’re a part of. (if any)
No Civic or Community organizations at this time. I am the Treasurer of the Minnesota Chapter of a Professional Security organization for my career call NCMS.
What qualifies you for the office you’re running for?
I have over 24 years’ experience combined in my career and volunteering in Northfield. I have been a people manager and leader of company security departments across multiple states, ran multi-million dollar projects across various states, worked with government officials at the federal, state, and local level to successfully navigate, interpret, design, and deploy projects, operations, approvals, and so on. I have hands-on leadership experience working in the corporate world and volunteering in Northfield. I was enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves for 8 years as a Counterintelligence Special Agent with 1 year in Iraq, 4 years on Northfield Boards & Commissions, which included 2 1/2 years as Chair of the Human Rights Commision, and 2 years as a Cub Scout Den Leader in Northfield. I have worked with our City Staff, and I have sat in the Council Chambers at City Hall as Chair of the HRC running meetings. I have an MBA from Boston University, a BA in International Relations from American Military University, and a Professional Certificate in Project Management from Cornell University. I am a bit of a history and geopolitical guy, and a classical liberal who believes in our American form of government. I am passionate about saving American politics and government institutions at all levels.
What inspired you to run for office? If you are running for re-election why do you want to stay in office?
Democracy is not a spectator sport, and it requires people to step up, serve, and help accomplish things necessary for a functioning society. When I saw three sitting Councilors decide to not run for reelection, I wanted to help ensure steady leadership stepped up to carry the baton and help guide Northfield through the next 4 years of growth, development, financial stewardship, and serving the people.
What is something that you would like to accomplish while in office?
I would like to increase trust in our local government and city staff, grow and diversity our job market and economy, continue with the development of affordable housing, and find ways to reduce the property tax burden.
What does being a leader mean to you?
Being a leader is many things to me. There is the emotional side of leadership that sets the tone, temperament, and connection with those in your care and whom you are serving. There is the inspirational and hopeful side of leadership, which sets the vision and strategy of what is possible and should be accomplished. There is the compassionate side of leadership, which is empathy plus action. The action part is key in leadership roles, as you are the one empowered to do something when something needs to be done. And of course there are the foundational elements of leadership such as your values, principles, and virtues. Examples are wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, living your life in a moral and ethical way, selflessness, and service to others.
What is one bill that you would like to pass if you’re elected?
I would like to pass Council legislation that will grow and diversity our economy and job market. I have a poll on my website asking 10 multiple choice questions, and the question related to this topic received the most consensus (~75% want to grow jobs and the economy in Northfield).
Campaign Website & Social media
Northfield City Council Ward 1
Sean Allen
Please list any previous political office you’ve held. (if any)
none
Please list any civic, community, or professional organizations/clubs you’re a part of. (if any)
Executive Director of the Northfield History Center, Member of the Economic Development Commission, assistant track coach at Northfield High School
What qualifies you for the office you’re running for?
I have extensive experience in the areas affordable housing development and finance, economic development, non-profit leadership, and community service. I have served on Northfield’s Planning Commission (1 year as chair), Heritage Preservation Commission, Economic Development Commission, and a 6 month stint on the City Council. I have a degree in political Science from St. Olaf College and I have lived i Northfield for most of my life.
What inspired you to run for office? If you are running for re-election why do you want to stay in office?
I want to continue to serve Northfield and I believe my experience can be helpful to the City’s governance.
What is something that you would like to accomplish while in office?
I’d love to see the City provide better communication between itself and the community. I also think we have opportunities for affordable housing and economic development and I’d like to bring my expertise to these issues.
What does being a leader mean to you?
I think listening and supporting the people around you, as well as having ideas and skills that keep things moving forward. Resiliency and adaptability are also important aspects of being a leader.
What is one bill that you would like to pass if you’re elected?
N/A for City Council
Campaign Website & Social media
seanallen4northfield.org
Kris Johnson
Please list any previous political office you’ve held. (if any)
None
Please list any civic, community, or professional organizations/clubs you’re a part of. (if any)
None
What qualifies you for the office you’re running for?
I am a lifelong Northfield resident with deep roots in this community, and my professional background is built on listening, collaboration, and structured problem-solving. Growing up here has given me an enduring understanding of Northfield’s history, culture, and the challenges our families face today. Professionally, my experience has taught me how to manage competing priorities, navigate structural processes, seek to identify what is working and what is not, and remain focused under pressure. I understand how local government impacts everyday budgets, and I bring a practical, methodical approach to ensuring our city operates efficiently while keeping the cost of living manageable for everyone.
What inspired you to run for office? If you are running for re-election why do you want to stay in office?
My inspiration comes from my deep affection for this town, but more importantly, from a desire to ensure the voices of Northfield residents are actually heard and respected. It has become clear to me that there is a profound disconnect between the community’s wishes and the choices made by those in decision-making seats. Our local government should reflect the people it serves, not overshadow them. I decided to run because Northfield needs leaders who prioritize active, genuine community representation over top-down decisions. As someone who wants to continue to afford to live here, I hear the shared financial anxieties of my neighbors every day. I am stepping up to bring your voice to the table—advocating for fiscal responsibility, common-sense solutions, and a sustainable future that leaves no resident behind. As public servants, our first job is to listen. I want to shift the focus back to practical infrastructure, civic respect, and protecting the budgets of working families and seniors. By ensuring our local government is truly accountable to its people, we can keep Northfield an affordable, welcoming place where future generations can build their lives just as my family did.
What is something that you would like to accomplish while in office?
My primary goal is to champion fiscal responsibility and bring balanced, common-sense solutions to our city’s budget and infrastructure choices. I want to ensure our city investments prioritize essential services—like public safety, street maintenance, and local business opportunity—without overburdening taxpayers. Additionally, I want to enhance transparency and community engagement, making it easier for Ward 1 residents to have a direct voice in city decisions before major financial commitments are made. A healthy city council requires leaders who are dedicated to seeing major projects through responsibly, asking the tough questions about long-term costs, and remaining consistently accountable to the residents they represent.
What does being a leader mean to you?
To me, leadership starts with listening. True leadership means being accessible and genuinely invested in the unique stories and concerns of the people you represent. It requires the discipline to research the facts, the courage to make fiscally prudent choices, and the integrity to maintain a high level of civic decorum and respect—even during difficult debates. A leader’s job is not to push a personal agenda, but to serve as a reliable, transparent bridge between the citizens and the local government.
What is one bill that you would like to pass if you’re elected?
No taxpayer-funded dam redevelopment or liquor store
Campaign Website & Social media
krisforcouncil.northfield@gmail.com, Kris Johnson for Northfield City Council
Northfield City Council Ward 4
James Clinton
Please list any previous political office you’ve held. (if any)
None
Please list any civic, community, or professional organizations/clubs you’re a part of. (if any)
None
What qualifies you for the office you’re running for?
Since City Council Member is a representative role, I believe I am qualified mainly for three reasons:
1) Some of my neighbors who live in Ward 4 asked me to run because they thought I could do a good job and that it would be helpful to them and Northfield overall.
2) I am happy to serve if elected and believe I can do a good job.
3) I have spent the past 3 months going door-to-door and speaking with anyone in Ward 4 willing to talk to me about what they do and don’t want for Northfield. While I haven’t gotten to every door yet nor spoken to every person (and I can certainly continue to do better at outreach and networking), I believe the initial work I’ve done collecting feedback puts me in a better position than most people when it comes to considering and voicing what people in Ward 4 want.
In case it’s helpful to add beyond those three main items, I am a service and people-oriented person who loves to help others succeed. I highly value meeting with different people, showing up, listening, caring, keeping my commitments, identifying the crux of issues and defining tangible action steps based on facts and thoughtful reasoning. I also really enjoy connecting people who seem like they can help each other out and then getting out of their way to watch them do great things together!
In both my professional and personal work, people have always counted on me to be honest, kind, thoughtful, collaborative, caring of others, creative, diligent on all the important details and someone who follows up on things. I am proud to be able to tell you that if you speak with anyone I’ve ever worked with, I believe they will confirm that I am very good at doing these things.
I currently work full-time as the Physical Security Technology Coordinator at Carleton College. Before that I worked as an Office Generalist at Northfield High School. Along with these employments, the past few years I have especially enjoyed helping to informally promote and support the wonderful arts, culture and businesses of Northfield that move me in positive ways I couldn’t have imagined before experiencing it. Since moving to Northfield, I have also volunteered privately behind the scenes with individuals to help various non-profits in Northfield and Dundas. If you would like to know more about what I did before moving to Northfield in 2018, you can read a bit more on my website (northfield.info).
What inspired you to run for office? If you are running for re-election why do you want to stay in office?
Some of my neighbors who live in Ward 4 asked me to run because they thought I could do a good job and that it would be helpful to them and Northfield overall.
What is something that you would like to accomplish while in office?
If nothing else, I would like to help facilitate the building of more trust between individual neighbors as well as between neighbors and their city government by making public project involvement more inclusive to any Northfielder who wants to be involved…
– Inclusion should focus on co-creation with a wider range of people where possible as opposed to trying to design it all in a small group and then present it to others when it’s almost fully baked. I realize outreach and broad engagement can be a tough to effectively achieve at times – we all need to work together to figure out how to do this better.
– I want people to see and know that the people serving their city care about them and are doing their best to make Northfield for everyone, even if we can’t always make decisions that please every single person.
– I want more people to feel empowered to build positive relationships with one another and use those relationships to create great things that benefit themselves, their community and the bigger world around them.
What does being a leader mean to you?
Being a leader to me has always meant being a trusted servant to others with the aim of co-creation. Don’t tell people what they should want and do, trust that they know what’s best for themselves and help them bring out their best! It means loving the people you are with and wanting what’s best for them, even if you don’t fully understand everything about them and maybe even disagree with them on some things. Listen and learn as much about what each person wants and needs and then do your best to help put everyone in their own special position with the resources they need such that they are able to (largely) have fun working and playing together to get what each of them want and need. I love to help people shine, especially when they’re shining because they are helping build up the overall community and the individual members in it!
Being a leader also often means saying things and taking actions that others may feel uncomfortable with at first. You do your best to broadcast your intentions and rationale, but understand that people often need to *see* the change happening and process your words and behavior in their own way before they are willing to move with you. That resistance is healthy – people are thoughtful, independent beings and don’t just do what some “leader” says, – good! Because you sometimes need to take uncomfortable steps and challenge norms to get things started, trust and communication between one another is so important for good leadership. If people are going to let you lead them at times, they need to trust you. Each person has their own criteria for trust and leadership and it takes time and effort to build deep trust with many people. Building positive relationships with those around you is essential to good leadership.
I think anyone can be a leader and I encourage everyone reading this to do their best to be a leader in their own way when they feel moved to be one! I recommend you don’t hesitate or talk yourself out of it! It doesn’t mean taking over anything or overcommitting yourself to the point of self-sacrifice – you don’t have to do it all! It means building us all up and helping out in your own special way such that we’re all left better for having worked with you!
What is one bill that you would like to pass if you’re elected?
One thing I would like to achieve is to explicitly bake public trust building into public project success criteria. City council members and relevant city staff leads should have to answer some kind of simple question on all significantly-sized public projects like “Do you believe public trust in the city government will increase, decrease or remain the same if this project comes to fruition in its current state?” While the question is simple and should be easy to answer, I think the process of needing to consider and answer this question is important both for project design considerations as well as for public record. Related to this, I think we should strongly consider banning elected officials from signing non-disclosure agreements for economic development projects.
Campaign Website & Social media
Peder Jothen
Please list any previous political office you’ve held. (if any)
N/A
Please list any civic, community, or professional organizations/clubs you’re a part of. (if any)
Northfield Park and Recreation Board (2017-2025); Bethel Lutheran Church Council (2017-2023); Friends of Way Park Board (2016-22)
What qualifies you for the office you’re running for?
In particular, my experience being on the Northfield Park and Recreation Board for 8 years makes me uniquely qualified for the City Council position. Doing so taught me several things: 1) The importance of working to ensure direct and thoughtful citizen input as a key component of any decision about maintenance and investment in amenities.; 2) Designing and building any communal improvements work best when the city partners with local developers and community organizations. An example from the Park Board is the partnership between the Rotary Organization, Friends of Way Park, and the City to build the Rotary Outdoor Music Plaza in Way Park. As a model, such a partnership includes a depth of community input as well as stretching the city budget through outside fundraising.; 3) Being on the PRAB meant asking tough questions of City staff and goals, inc. questioning the long-term value and cost of designing parks that serve a wider demographic beyond just children.
What inspired you to run for office? If you are running for re-election why do you want to stay in office?
I am running for city council for three reasons: One, we live in a time of polarized politics. I can’t change the national scene, but I can try to build consensus at the local level; Two, I have experiences that make me ready to be a pragmatic leader, including eight years on the Park and Recreation Board, the Friends of Way Park (including as treasurer), and the Bethel Lutheran Church Council; Three, as a professor, I think about the values and practices that help us all flourish, and would bring this know-how to my position on the Council.
What is something that you would like to accomplish while in office?
I will focus on three primary concerns, all of which protect Northfield’s livability. The first is affordability. We need affordable housing; I will engage developers around barriers that limit affordable housing and emphasize public-private partnerships to find new ways to incentivize the construction of a variety of housing options. We need to prioritize increasing the commercial tax base by building shovel-ready infrastructure. We need to budget for infrastructure projects that will address climate resilience, prioritizing projects that save money in the long-term. The second concern is accountability. I will focus on making smart, community-driven, transparent decisions about how we spend public money, thereby working with city staff to ensure a responsiveness to public concerns. The final issue is accessibility. I will analyze the complexities of both what the council is doing but also explain why I think an action deserves our support, thereby being accessible to citizen input and concerns.
What does being a leader mean to you?
I believe a good leader builds consensus by being accessible and open to a diversity of views. A good leader is willing to way the tensions and compromises in any choice and seek a path that serves the common good. A good leader seeks input from as many voices as possible. A good leader offers clear communication about the deeper reasoning and justification for any choices made. A good leader ultimately knows that to lead is to make choices that are messy and imperfect, but that must be made for the long-term livability of a community.
What is one bill that you would like to pass if you’re elected?
Within my first year, one concern I would like to focus on is to work with city staff to create a affordable housing task force that includes non-profits like Habitat for Humanity as well as local developers to discuss the impediments and possible solutions to increasing both the diversity of housing choices (ex. duplexes, condos, single-family) as well as construction costs for new housing. For instance, are there current city lots that can be offered at sub-market rates to increase development.
Campaign Website & Social media
