In Rogers, the two-year mayoral term belonging to Paul Przybilla is up for election. Filing for mayor are current city councilors Scott Adams and Jason Grimm.

The four-year city council seats belonging to Adams and Grimm are also up for election. Filing for city council are Rob Bell, Jay Bunting and Tammy Sternal.

The candidates were asked to include their thoughts in statements. Each was asked to include in a response:

1. Candidate biography: Please include a short biography of yourself, your background, your personal and professional experiences and any other information you wish to share.

2. Candidate statement: Please comment on the top issues you feel are important in this election. Explain any changes you would like to see made and address the city's most urgent problems. Please include your vision for Roger's future and what the council should do to govern and guide future growth.

The responses received include:

Scott Adams

Scott Adams grew up in Brooklyn Center, attending Osseo High School, but graduated from Park Center. A year later, Scott started a career with NW Bell. Scott met his wife Cindy at work.

Scott was promoted to managing various IT groups. His career took his family to Denver, where he was in charge of and managed a Qwest Communications Data Center. In 2000 Qwest moved Scott's family back to Minnesota, promoting him to a staff position in charge of regional projects.

In 2005 Scott retired from Qwest with 32 years, starting a second career in business continuity planning with MoneyGram.

As a brand new councilman in January 2005, I fought against the proposed TIF and Tax Abatement for Cabela's. Unfortunately I lost. My opponent for mayor, Jason Grimm, voted in favor of those subsidies, costing Rogers' residents $6.1 Million.

In 2006 I started an effort to keep citizens as informed as possible about what was being discussed at city council meetings. I did this by sending my notes of meetings via e-mail to whoever wanted them. In most instances these were e-mailed out days or weeks before the minutes were approved and posted on the city web site. For over three years I have made the extra effort to do this for the benefit of anyone who wanted to subscribe. Several hundred residents have. Anything I have sent out can be verified against the official minutes for accuracy.

I made the motion to reduce the 2007 Tax Levy for the first time in over 15 years. The 2006 election brought changes to the council, namely Przybilla and Rauenhorst.

In 2007 the three of us, as a council majority, restored proper management to the city by requesting Gary Eitel's resignation and hiring Chuck Burnham as our city planner. The new council mandated that city staff post the entire council packet, online, on the city's Web site at the same time it was made available to the council. Funny, after six years on the council at this point, why didn't Mr. Grimm do this?

We took steps to hire an independent investigator upon hearing serious allegations of police misconduct. This was on a 5-0 vote. Interestingly, at the end of the investigation, councilman Grimm refused to accept the recommendations of the independent investigator and voted against them. He has never explained why?

In 2008 we further professionalized city staff by accepting the resignation of Chief Oldfather, replacing him with citizen input, with the number three man at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, chief Jeff Luther. Subsequently, we hired Steven Stahmer as our city administrator.

Lastly, we did what other councils were unable to. We set a date for early merger with Hassan that provides tax benefits to residents of Rogers in 2012. Again, Jason Grimm voted against setting this date.

Hard working, accomplished, please vote for Scott Adams.

Rob Bell

I have resided in Rogers since 1995 with my wife Paulie and children Heather and Taylor.

Living and participating here has provided me with a deep understanding of the area and its community members. Over the years my family and I have been active in Rogers, helping several non-profit organizations and assisting a local charter school through its development and opening. I was appointed to the Rogers Planning Commission in 2003 and have been chair since 2007. That opportunity has given me an inside view of how the city operates and has provided me with valuable municipal experience.

Two years ago I was concerned over some decisions the Rogers City Council had been making regarding important issues in our community. I had hope that the candidates running in that year's election would bring some changes to the situation. Indeed the newly elected councilors and mayor brought change. However, I don't think it was the style of change that many Rogers residents and business owners were anticipating. This is why I am running for a Rogers City Council position in the upcoming election.

What I have gathered from others in the community is that they share my feelings that some of the major decisions made by the council since the last election are not being handled in a desirable manner. Decisions involving city issues need to be based not only on valid, factual information; they also need to be discussed and considered amongst the council and with those involved so all parties can be heard.

At several council meetings I've attended in recent months there are significant decisions being made on 3-2 votes that don't involve any discussion at all. In my experience on the Rogers Planning Commission we sometimes end up with split votes as well, but we hear all sides of the issue before voting so we can make an informed decision.

I feel major decisions and changes should also be communicated to the community so that people can understand what went into the decision-making process. It is, after all, their city.

There are significant issues ahead for Rogers. These include things like annual budget shortfalls, the upcoming integration with Hassan, transportation challenges, and the uncertain pace of development growth. I will help Rogers face these issues by bringing my diverse background to the table: corporate topics (HR, budgeting, managing resources), technology and communications, municipal development planning, participating in volunteer organizations, and just being a good neighbor.

I look forward to representing the residents and businesses of Rogers as a councilor as well as providing overview and guidance to employees of the city. I come with no specific agenda to pursue.

My representation will involve listening to all points of the issues and making decisions that I'm comfortable standing behind in a way that Rogers residents and businesses can understand.

As an involved Rogers resident since 1995 and a resident of this general area since 1988 I believe I have the community experience to hold this role.

Jay Bunting

A Rogers resident since 2001, Jay Bunting has been actively involved in his community for years. He is a planning commissioner, church treasurer and Police Reserve Officer. He is a member of the Lions and Community Chest Foundation.

Jay and his wife, Jane, also support numerous local charities and philanthropic organizations through their spice business located on Rogers' Main Street. He has bachelors and masters degrees in business - finance and human resources, and almost 20 years of management experience. Jay is a veteran of the armed services, where he served 14 years on active and reserve duty.

Rogers is at a historic crossroads. Our city faces severe financial challenges. We must keep essential services without raising taxes. From experience, I know this is possible through financial planning, expense management and by using untapped fiscal resources. Some have advocated "hacking" away at our budget and eliminating essential services. This will change our "small town character" and friendly atmosphere of Rogers. This is not an option.

Land use planning and congestion reduction are needed immediately. We need to bring together interested citizens, business owners and property owners to determine the best development for Rogers' long-term viability and vibrancy. We must work with higher levels of government and surrounding communities to address transportation problems. I have committed to going to Washington, D.C., as Jason Grimm and Jamie Davis have done, to draw attention to our traffic problems. With the cooperation and participation of surrounding communities, we can draw attention, and funding, to our congestion issues.

We must change the negative atmosphere. Our city employees unionized after two questionable "resignations." Many business people have told me that Rogers has an anti-business atmosphere. Our city is embarrassed by letters and stories in the local papers on a regular basis. Enough is enough. We must get back to treating our employees, citizens and business owners with respect. We need leaders that seek out and value their input. We must bring transparency, integrity and civility back to our local government.

I will work to create an atmosphere of teamwork and engaging communication that seeks out and values the input of Rogers residents and business owners. We must do this to fully understand the challenges we face and to determine our community's goals. We must create a long-term plan, a "vision," for our city so we maintain consistent direction through changes in our leadership and avoid future financial crises. I will use my education and experience in finance to assist in creating effective budgets that plan not only for next year, but for many years to come. These two essential issues - vision and planning - will allow us to prioritize our city's needs and wants.

Rogers is a fantastic town. That's why so many of us moved here. We must maintain the character of our community while being fiscally responsible. We must address the challenges our city faces. We must elect leaders that put Rogers first. If elected, this is what I promise to do.

Jason Grimm

I have lived in Rogers for nine years where my wife Amy and I have had the privilege of raising our three children, Kayla (12), Carson (6) and Kayden (5months).

I have proudly served the citizens of Rogers for the past eight years as a city councilman. Over the past nine years I have developed strong relationships with citizens, charitable organizations, business leaders, youth sports groups and city staff. As we enter the toughest economic times in our lives we need to come up with ideas and solutions that are outside the box. Together we will do just that.

Over the last two years I have heard from individuals from various groups throughout our community that they have felt alienated, mistreated and unheard by our current council majority. I have heard this from citizens, business leaders and charitable organizations.

Citizens have taken the time to ask the council questions as to why decisions where made and don't get an answer. If you can't get answers from your local government (who happen to be you neighbors) then what hope can a citizen truly have that their vote is meaningful. I will answer those questions pro or con and take into consideration the thoughts and ideas of the people I serve.

We have the best charitable organizations around. Why, because their work is focused on benefiting our community. One such group the Rogers Lions, which by the way is largest Lions Club in the state, has donated over $500,000 to the city in the last five years. How did the council majority show their appreciation? They nearly put an end to Rockin Rogers. I will work with all charitable organizations as if they were an extension of the city; because I know what they do benefits our community.

We are in tough economic times, but even so there are business leaders within our community who want to develop. They don't want handouts to do this; they just want a level playing field when working with the council. This is something they feel they haven't had in the last two years. During these difficult times I would rather encourage growth not through giveaways but through cooperation. If your child belongs to a youth sports league then you know that the businesses in Rogers are extremely generous, because they know if they support you, you will support them.

We need to bring transparency back to our council, allowing the voice of the people of Rogers to be HEARD AND RECOGNIZED. We have a number of tough issues ahead such as traffic, our merger with Hassan, budgets and what we will with do with our growing youth population. As we take on these challenges I will ensure that we do it inclusively because together we will make Rogers an even greater place to live. Vote Jason Grimm for Mayor.

Tammy Sternal

I have been a resident of Rogers for the past 10 years.

I am fortunate to have spent 15 years married to a wonderful man, Mike. We have two children, Jessica, 7, and Matthew, 5.

For the last 19 years I have worked in management and understand how to operate a business, set and achieve goals, negotiate agreements, balance a budget, and work with people. I also volunteer in our community as part of the Women of Today and helped bring educational choice to Rogers through participation on the board of Kaleidoscope Charter School.

I was recently chosen to serve on a Citizens Committee to help interview the new Rogers Police Chief and City Administrator.

There are a number of key issues facing the city of Rogers, my position on each is clear.

I believe the taxes in Rogers are too high: The business deal composed to build the ice area has left our city with a large financial burden. I will work to find ways to balance the city budget by making careful decisions with regard to city spending rather than increasing the burden on the community through raising taxes.

I believe we have a transportation problem in Rogers: I will work hard to get greater state-federal involvement in transportation upgrades for our city. We cannot pay for this ourselves. In addition to this, with the rising cost of fuel and the level of traffic heading into Minneapolis on I-94, I intend to work with the Met Council and discuss options for bringing the Express Bus out to Rogers. This will help reduce commute time and expense for those traveling into Minneapolis for work.

I believe communication is paramount to the success of any organization: I will work to replace the animosity and division that exists within the council today with open communication and group discussion. I will also seek to encourage citizens to share their ideas and concerns with the council and assure them that their opinions will be considered when decisions are made.

I look forward to hearing from you between now and Election Day. I believe with your help and support I can and will make a difference!

For further information, contact me at tjsternal@hotmail.com or 612-508-6658.