Edina Mayor Election (2024)
Continuing blogging about Edina local politics… today’s race: mayor!
There are two candidates for this race:
- Ron Anderson
- Jim Hovland (incumbent)
Both candidates have tenures in Edina’s government - Anderson served on the Edina city council for one term (he lost his bid for reelection), whereas Hovland has been mayor for almost 20 years (and was on the city council for seven years before then). While mayor is a non-partisan position, it’s worth noting that Hovland is a DFL member; Anderson is unaffiliated.
This race is a tough one for me. I prefer it when the choice is blindingly obvious, but that’s not how I feel here. I think both candidates present a cogent view of Edina and the role the mayor plays in it, and both have real experience in Edina politics.
Thus, it comes down to their priorities. And on that, I think the starkest difference between the two is the rate of development & the use of tax increment financing (TIF). Hovland is comfortable with the amount of development in Edina and uses TIF to achieve his goals; Anderson would like to slow down development and reduce the use of TIF.
An example of this argument played out in the Star Tribune recently. A mid-August Strib article discussed TIF in relation to redeveloping the former Macy’s furniture site. Hovland defended the use of TIF, saying it’s not being used to court developers, but rather to force them to improve the public’s experience of the finished development (via better sidewalks, climate readiness, art, etc.). Anderson rejects that reasoning, saying that using TIF this way hurts people now (via higher taxes/lower non-TIF benefits) for improvements they won’t see for years.
The way I see it, this argument comes down to priorities. To me, it feels like Anderson leans more towards serving people now, whereas Hovland is willing to invest in the future even if it costs us money today. I see it in other projects Hovland is part of, such as his climate action plan initiatives and pushes for the SWLRT - big initiatives that won’t pay off for decades.
Personally, I am more a fan of long-term thinking, so I’m voting for Hovland. Also - I have no big complaints about how Edina has been run. It’s hard for me to justify switching away from a mayor who has been doing a good job to a somewhat unknown quantity.
(All that said - given that both candidates are in their mid-to-late 70s, I’m hoping that whoever wins now steps aside in the next election so a younger generation of leaders can take over.)