By Forrest Adams

Elected in the fall of 2002 and sworn into office in January of 2003, Chanhassen Mayor Tom Furlong bases the success of local government on how happy people are in the city.

Needless to say, when he reflects on the results of the 2007 citizen survey that showed approximately 94 percent of respondents rate quality of life in the city as either excellent or good, he feels the glow of satisfaction.

When in the midst of economic anxiety in the region and the nation, he’s able to work with city staff and other elected officials on a budget that results in a lower city property tax rate and lower city taxes, it’s a satisfying feeling.

“We live within our means,” he said.

Tom Furlong

For the five years that he has been the mayor, people’s city tax rate has dropped significantly. In 2003 they were 39.03. In 2007 they were 24.84. Along with that, civic pride has grown, and that’s a measure of success, he said. Giving credit where it’s due, he praised “quality work” from city staff and the support of his family.

“It has never been about me,” he said.  

Family man (married with five children), civil servant, business president (APEX Financial Services, Inc.), Furlong is all of them. He’s a busy man but graciously took time out from his scheduled for an interview with The Villager last Friday. The interview lasted just under two hours. We’ve broken down his comments into four categories: economic development, city hall, personal life, mayor’s experience and moving on.

Economic development

Q: Looking at the current economic situation in the country and the Twin Cities, where do you see Chanhassen, and why do you think this is?

A: I think overall, everybody’s going to be affected by macro-economic conditions. In terms of Chanhassen, I think we’re doing just fine. The challenges in the credit markets and the housing markets have had their effect, but they have not been as large here locally as even other parts of the region or other parts of the country.

There was an article in the Star Tribune recently that talked about housing. In their list of cities, Chanhassen actually had an increase in the years that they compared. Many cities are looking at decreases. There was an article in the paper yesterday that talked about median housing prices in the area. That referenced Chanhassen specifically to say that the effect isn’t here.

Why is that? A variety of factors. There’s no one answer. I think it has to do with the overall quality of life- being where people want to live- both the businesses that are here and the public services, in terms of parks and recreation programs. There are so many factors that go into high quality of life that we enjoy here. I think the other factor is the comprehensive plan. One of the major parts of that is the land-use issues. How will land develop? We have been very diligent in not following the whims of the market or the latest fad in terms of land use over the years- saying no to developers that wanted to change zoning. And that has been very successful.

Q: Based on your discussions with city staff, are you seeing developers still wanting to get into the Chanhassen market?

A: Absolutely! Is it at the same rate that it was a few years ago? No. In 2006, we approved over 1,000, near 1,200, residential parcels. We didn’t go through that last year. That didn’t happen. But as part of that improvement, some of those parcels have been developed this last year- even though it’s such a tough housing market.

The reason is there were a variety of different types. We have the traditional single-family residential. We have some other multi-family units that are being developed that are very popular. We have some other smaller lots, single-family units that are very popular. Having a mix of uses and land uses and property- that diversification of land use takes away the ups and downs that occur within a particular market setting from time to time.

Q: So it’s like diversifying your investment?A: Absolutely.

City governance

Q: How important are council actions toward encouraging developers and businesses to come to Chanhassen?  

A: I think there are a lot of reasons businesses and developers come to Chanhassen. I think the marketplace and the opportunities here for a marketplace are the primary reasons that people look to Chanhassen. The quality of life and the demographics of our area are very positive.

From a council’s standpoint, I think a council can work with the help of the planning commission and puts together the comprehensive plan and within that lays out the vision of how we want our city to grow. That’s really a culmination or a collection of the vision of our residents and businesses. I think the council’s action working with the plan, looking to the future, and helping to make sure we’re going in that direction toward the vision we have is very important.

Specifically to an individual development proposal, I think the biggest thing we can do is make sure the approval process is done in an objective, fair, consistent manner to make sure that not only are we working within the planning process but also providing a fair process for other interested parties, whether they’re existing residents, business owners, or others. The developer is someone who has an interest in the property. There are certain property rights associated with that. Our role is to make sure that it’s a fair, objective process so that all have an opportunity to be heard. What I want to see, what everybody wants to see, is that when development occurs, that it adds and improves the quality of life and the job opportunities and business opportunities rather than being detrimental or taking away.

Q: What exactly do you mean by marketplace?

A: The overall economy. I think of the demographics of our area and the labor force- the overall economic drivers of the market.

Q: So the city council can create a good marketplace by being consistent and fair. Is that what you’re saying?

A: Absolutely, in terms of the development process. The city provides public goods, public services. We want to provide those in an efficient, cost-effective manner to create the opportunity for businesses to be successful, for residents to enjoy a high quality of life. That all is part of it.

I think that we need to and can encourage businesses to work here. Having a good, strong work-force locally is very positive. I think the council’s role in economic development shouldn’t be about writing checks to get businesses to come here. It’s about doing what we’re supposed to be doing as a government well and creating the opportunity for people to create their own successes.

Q: How satisfying was it in 2008 to set a budget without having to raise city taxes?

A: Obviously, it was satisfying. This budget was similar to the last five budgets because it is a budget that provides necessary services, but we live within our means. For the last many years, we have limited the growth of the tax levy to the real growth in the tax base. Many residents are aware when they get their assessment statement, which will be coming out very soon, that even if they didn’t make improvements to their property, their property values went up. That’s an inflationary increase. We have limited our levy increase to the rate of real growth, effectively. By doing that, we are still able to make all the investments. By real growth, I mean that’s the new development or the remodeling or improvements. For the last many years, that’s been our guideline. By doing that, by providing necessary services but living within our means, I think it is very satisfying.

Even within this budget, we budgeted to add public safety personnel. There will be two new hires. We are setting aside money for some major collector road improvements that need to be done and continue to make investments into our infrastructure. We passed a capital improvement plan that is a significant investment in public assets and maintenance of our existing assets. Managing that whole process and doing it in a way that taxes in the last five years, since 2002- One gentleman came to the truth in taxation hearing in December. He didn’t speak, but he showed me his tax statement and his assessed value. His assessed value went up significantly since 2002, but his city taxes actually went down. That was not a trend that was happening prior to five years ago.

Personal life

Q: How long have you lived in Chanhassen?

A: My wife and I moved to Chanhassen in 1993 at the time we were first married.

Q: Where are you from originally?

A: I grew up in Bloomington and went to Bloomington Jefferson High School and then the University of Minnesota both for my undergraduate and graduate degree. It was during the graduate program my wife and I met.

Q: How do you balance running a business, serving as mayor and being the father of five kids?

A: Balancing the role of mayor, business and a family of five children… The answer starts with I have a very loving and understandable wife, and there’s no question that without Anne, I wouldn’t be able to do all of the things that I do. My schedule, needless to say, is very busy. There are times when I personally wish it wasn’t so busy, but I don’t regret being involved in any of the activities. There’s a lot going on, but it’s all good stuff. To be involved as the mayor of Chanhassen right now is a great role. It’s a great opportunity to serve other people. I’m humbled time and again when I think about the opportunities that I’ve been given to try to serve others. So I just try to do the best I can and keep it all in balance and do as much as I can when requested and knowing that just because of other commitments, I probably can’t do everything all the time.

Q: Is running a business at all analogous to serving as mayor? How?

A: There are many similarities, sure. In business, your goal is to provide good products and services to your customer and profit from that and grow. I think with the city, clearly there’s no profit motive. But there clearly is a motive to provide good products and services to the residents and businesses of the area.

And from a growth standpoint, growing a government isn’t necessarily a sign of success. A true sign of success, I think, is [whether or not] you’re providing the providing the products and services to meet the needs in a cost-efficient manner. The measure to that is if you don’t have a profit motive as you do in a business is the overall satisfaction. Obviously, satisfaction is measured at the polling booth, but obviously you have other measures whether it’s our community survey or just the comments and discussions that you have with individuals. You know whether things are going well and whether you’re providing those products and services in a manner that the people think they’re getting a good value for what they’re paying.

The key from a financial standpoint in the government is as much as possible work toward those people that are utilizing the services to pay for the services- from a fairness standpoint. A public street is a good example. Everybody drives on public streets, so there’s an overall city responsibility from a cost standpoint to maintain our public streets. Parks is another good example. Not everybody uses our park system; not everybody uses our trail system; but we’ve got a very high-quality system. Overall, that adds to our quality of life.

Mayor’s experience

Q: In your travels and experiences over the course of the past year, what have you learned about how the city compares to others of its size, and how could it improve?

A: We compare very well. There’s no question about it. The quality of life here in Chanhassen is really top notch.

In terms of what we do and how we do it, we’re doing it as well as anybody. Are there ways that we can improve? Sure, there [are] always opportunities to grow and do things better. I think we need to keep looking for ways to do things better. We keep trying to learn and push ourselves.

Q: Could you talk a little bit about the conference that you went to in Mississippi?

A: It was in Madison, Miss. Madison, as was Chanhassen, was named one of the top 10 cities by Family Circle Magazine in which to raise a family in the country. It was a good conference. We found out that there are a lot of similarities. Each city had an opportunity to make a presentation to share with the other mayors what made our cities unique. We found out there are a lot of similarities. Family focus, recreation activities, high emphasis on quality of parks, trails, the overall philosophies of services we provide were very similar. It’s that connection that affected civic pride.

I picked up some good opportunities there in terms of some things other people were doing. In terms of emergency preparedness, we do a good job here. I think we can do some other things, try some things. Economic development. I think we do a good job here. I think we can do some other things. It was very worthwhile in part because it reaffirmed how well things are going.

But you always pick up new ideas.

Q: When you began serving, how much political experience did you have?

A: The answer to that probably has to be none. When I first ran for mayor, I had not served on any of the city commissions. I had not served on the city council before. I clearly had experience serving on other volunteer boards, which are very similar. I served as the chair of the finance council at our church. I served as a trustee and treasurer for a national non-profit educational foundation. So there were other experiences.

Q: Had you ever run a political campaign?

A: No. From running a campaign standpoint, the experience was zero. From serving in a government organization, the experience was zero.

Q: What brought you to the point of wanting to be the mayor of Chanhassen?

A: It seems like a long time ago. It was after the election of 2000. One of the council members was elected mayor. That opened up a council position for the remainder of her term. I was one of the many that applied for that position. I wasn’t appointed, but that peaked my interest. And then in the next election cycle I looked for opportunities to get involved.

A number of people encouraged me to run for mayor, and it has worked out well.

Q: What was your platform when you ran in 2002?

A: A lot of what we’ve done. It was make good wise decisions- financially astute decisions. It was manage growth, plan for growth. It was improve the road system and transportation. It was lower taxes. It was reinvesting back into our public infrastructure. It was all the things that we’ve done. It’s very pleasing that we’ve been able to get so much done.

Q: What do you think is your most significant accomplishment as mayor?

A: That’s always a tough question because it usually isn’t one thing. Getting things done is the mayor’s job. When I was first running for mayor, Senator Norm Coleman (former mayor of St. Paul) was running for his senate seat as well. That was something he said, and I heard that. I have kept that in mind and in heart.

I think we have gotten a lot of things done, so to say one thing is tough. If there is an overriding one thing, when I was first knocking on doors in the fall of 2002, there was one woman that I talked to. She was glad to meet me. I’d never met her before. She said, ‘You know, I embarrassed to tell people we live in Chanhassen.’ When I heard that, it really pulled at my heart because nobody should be embarrassed about where they live. So if there was a goal that I made for myself personally, it was to do all that I could to increase and to really grow civic pride. Civic pride has definitely grown. For whatever [way] I play a responsibility in that, I am grateful.

But it’s not just me either. This has never been about just me. There are members of the city council. We’ve got a great city staff. We’ve got businesses and residents. We’ve got churches, civic clubs. There are so many people doing good things day after day that all together really create the pride that we have here in Chanhassen. Over the last three years we’ve been recognized nationally by Money Magazine as one of the best places to live in the country, by Family Circle Magazine last year as one of the top 10 cities in the country to raise a family. Civic pride has grown tremendously. I think if you look at all the projects, all the things that have been done, all the activities, having people feel happy and proud about where they live is a very important thing, too.

Q: How does your job change from year to year?

A: I continue to learn. There was, needless to say, very little experience from an inside-city-hall standpoint. There was a big learning curve. I was bringing with me my business experience and the life experiences I have. But there was a learning curve, and fortunately there were many people helping [who] were there to work together to get things done right from the start. How has it changed? It’s really a question of my evolving into the role over the period of time.

Q: What do you like most about being the mayor of Chanhassen?

A: I think the thing that I’ve come to appreciate most about being mayor of Chanhassen is the opportunity that it has given me to meet so many good people. In the role, it’s very highly visible. While serving as mayor I’ve had the chance to meet so many great people- great in town and around the area. Especially here in town, you grow to really appreciate and love where you are. That has probably been the most satisfying, most enjoyable part. I would never have had the opportunity to meet them.

Moving ahead

Q: The comprehensive plan is on schedule for completion this year. How beneficial is it for you to have a plan to follow?

A: I think it’s very beneficial. The comprehensive plan is really the collective vision of our residents and businesses. Where do we want to be when we grow up, as we continue to grow? We’ve done a lot of growing in recent years, and the comprehensive plan has been helpful to get us to where we are today.

Those who were involved in the process back in 1998- we’re enjoying the fruits of their labors. We’ve done a lot of work in recent years too. Now is our turn to take a look at where we are, what opportunities present themselves, and really establish that vision for the future.

In terms of having a comprehensive plan to follow when individual development opportunities come along, it gives us the ability to evaluate those opportunities in the context of the comprehensive plan. It’s a very useful tool for a variety of reasons.

Q: Do you have any political ambitions beyond serving as mayor? How long do you hope to serve as mayor?

A: (Laughter) My current term runs for another two years. I hope to complete my current term. No, at this time I’m not looking for a next step or having anything in mind. I continue to tell people I view this as my time to give back and serve others and in doing so I want to do the best that I can in this role at this time. If other opportunities present themselves in the future, we’ll see how those look at that time.

Q: Going forward, what are some strategies we might see you [and city staff] employ to gain funding for some of the projects that need it, like the reconstruction of Highway 101 from Lyman Boulevard to the old Highway 212?

A: That’s the $64,000 question. The state is facing what everybody’s dealing with. I think what we need to do is everything we can within our means to put ourselves in a position to move these projects forward as money becomes available. We did that with Highway 212. There was a significant local contribution that was required for that road to be done. We were able to do that. It was done by working together with the country, with the state, with our representatives, with our elected officials, to get some good things done.

You mentioned 101 south of Lyman. That needs to be improved. It’s a terrible road. It’s unsafe. It proves the rule that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That is so curvy. That needs to be improved. We need to find a way to do it. One of the things we’ve done this last year in our budget process is to start to build funds to be ready when funding is available. That’s a state road. It’s going to have to be a combination of money sources, some of which will be turnback dollars from the state. The county will be involved with that.

It’s a good example of how I’ve grown to appreciate the city working together with the county and the state. The three government entities are all sharing equally in a scooping study for the alignment for that road. That’s the first step. We know we need to update it, improve it and realign it. Let’s take steps along to do it. The idea that we need to have all the money in place before we get started is crazy. You don’t wait until all the lights are green before you back out of the driveway. You get going, and you start going. And you get there eventually.

We’re doing the same thing with Highway 5 west of 41 out to Victoria and Waconia and Norwood/Young America. There’s a small section of that road in Chanhassen, but Chanhassen is participating along with the other cities, Carver County and MnDOT in starting the planning stages to update and improve that section of road. We’re seeing how Highway 5 east of 41 going to 494 what a difference it makes once you get on that section of road in terms of mobility, safety, and we need to do that going west. You start out in little chunks. Cities and the county, along with MnDOT, are doing that out there.

That’s how these things are going to get done. It’s not going to be somebody coming in with a big check. It’s going to be- let’s be ready to move to the next step each and every time and work together with the county and other cities and the state and anywhere else we can see [to] support the growth of our transportation system.

Q: How difficult is it to work with other government entities and get them on board?

A: I think recognizing the need is pretty easy. The devil’s always in the details. How do you get it done? I don’t know that it’s necessarily difficult. What it always comes down to is relationships, working together, looking for common ground, looking to find a way together to get it done rather than insisting that somebody else does it. That would make it more difficult- if we just expected everybody else to do things for us. Working together and recognizing other people’s efforts- it’s not just one person or one entity. It’s going to take everybody working together.

Is it difficult? Boy if everybody just agreed with me, life would be a lot easier, but that’s not the world in which we live. We have to work together with everybody and look for common interest. We have to find a way to get it done. We’ve got some very good examples. The Highway 101 gap. Highway 212. It was a huge project. MnDOT was very cooperative in working with the city and the county in terms of that project. There was significant investment that we had to make. Every bridge that’s wide enough to carry a trail, we paid to widen that bridge.

There were other sections of the road. 101 between 312 and Highway 5 wasn’t part of the project. We had a ¾-mile gap. That was a gap that required the state, city and county to work together to get it done. If we hadn’t done that, we would have gone from a beautiful freeway, a four-lane divided road back down to a two-lane shoulderless, curvy road back up to Highway 5. People would have been justified hitting themselves in the head and saying ‘What are these guys thinking?’ The thing is we were thinking, and we got together and found a way to get that done so that even though it wasn’t part of the 212 project- they were funded separately- they were done in a coordinated manner. When it was time for the freeway to open up, we had taken traffic off that road and turned old 101 into a local street cul-de-sac, and now we’ve got the traffic on a four-way divided road that’s safe. Traffic moves more freely. Now all the people in those homes on the west side of 101 can back out of their driveway without worrying about somebody coming along and clipping them. It’s working together with the different agencies.

I don’t know that I’d label it difficult or easy. It’s not. It’s just what you do. It’s how you do it. Everybody, it’s been my experience, the people involved, whether elected or appointed to the positions, at the local, county, state, even at the federal levels, these are all good people. It’s government of the people. They’re all us. They’re good people trying to do their best to get things done. When you’ve got that group that you’re working with, sure there are going to be challenges because there’s only so much you can do. But things will get done.

Q: As Chanhassen develops, how important is it to manage the change and maintain a community feeling?

A: It’s absolutely important that we maintain that and improve it where we can. As we grow, we do need to manage that. We manage it through the comprehensive plan.

Q: How are you able to maintain the governing principles that you follow in a changing political environment?

A: I think having good policies in place helps. If we were all dropped in here with nothing in place, it would be different. It helps that other good people were in there doing some things. How we’ve done it recently is to focus on your goals. Our council goes through a strategic planning session. A lot of ideas are thrown on the table. Just because somebody throws an idea out there doesn’t mean we’re going to do it. But collectively as a council we figure out what are our collective goals, the ones we have in common. Let’s work to get those done.

I think the political pendulum swings back and forth. You stay focused on the long-term goal- providing good, quality services in a cost-effective manner that sustains and improves the overall quality of life. That shouldn’t be moving back and forth. I think the key there is knowing where you want to go and then sticking to the course. Staying focused on the long-term goals deals with a lot of the noise that occurs day-to-day from council meeting to council meeting.  

 

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.