Heath Dobberpuhl

1.) What is your background and why are you running for office?

I have been an educator for 25 years. During those years, I served as a teacher and principal in elementary schools, spent 15 years as a science instructor at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School, and am now in my third year as a science professor at Martin Luther College. On the side, I provide a plat drawing service for some of the legal firms in New Ulm.

I am running for the office of city councilor because I think my skill set could serve the city well. According to CliftonStrengths, my top strengths are Strategic, Learner, Achiever, Deliberative, Intellection, and Analytical. I like to analyze details and learn how things work to make them better.

New Ulm is a great place to live and raise a family. I’m hoping to be part of our leadership in order to not only keep it that way but inspire others to come live in New Ulm. Every day I talk with young adults at the college about their experiences in New Ulm. Their insights about New Ulm could be useful to attract other young adults to our city.

2.) What is the top issue facing New Ulm?

The top issue is housing. I am happy with recent developments, such as selling the Garden Terrace Apartments. I believe we have a lot of great people and ideas already working on this problem. I’m hoping to support their push forward.

Realistically, our city cannot continue to have housing as its number one issue. Eventually, our second largest issue of not having enough workforce living in our city might cause housing to no longer be an issue. This cannot happen. We need the great employers and businesses of New Ulm to confidently plan their futures knowing that the citizens of our city are skilled and plentiful.

3.) What is your goal for this term if elected?

Four years from now I would like to not have housing be our number one issue. It has been for too long.

I would also hope that we could have our entrance into the city on the south side be more welcoming. There are too many empty buildings greeting visitors as they come in on the south side.

4.) How should we address shortages in housing, workforce, and daycare in the community?

With the Garden Terrace Apartments now sold and no longer having the city itself be a competitor in housing, hopefully, more investors will consider our community for investment to provide housing. We have strong employers in our city and investors should be attracted to a community like ours. The city should look for ways to reduce startup time and costs for potential investors.

I have been a part of some of the programs our strong local high schools have used to encourage their students to consider building the skills that would be useful in many of our city’s employers. They are some great programs! We need to show our current and future citizens that there are opportunities for career growth and success within our great city.

The daycare issue is difficult. We need more daycare in our city, but we need to help it grow in a way that does not make it more challenging for our current facilities. Our first goal should be to help our current providers stay in business and facilitate any potential expansion they could provide. Then the city should reduce startup time and costs for those wishing to open new day care opportunities in the city.

5.) Are there any areas of the city’s budget you would increase or decrease?

Our budget should match our priorities. We should compare our city’s budget to other cities. Looking at the budgets of other cities, you will notice that not all cities budget with the same priorities. We should compare our city’s budget to other cities. Looking at the budgets of other cities, you will notice that not all cities budget with the same priorities.

One example: Like many of the people in New Ulm, I appreciate our city’s legacy

One example: Like many of the people in New Ulm, I appreciate our city’s legacy of parks and recreation due to the influence of the Turners. But realistically we should be careful with this part of the budget. In 2024 our city’s budget for Parks and Recreation was $4,243,111. Compare this amount to the City of Mankato, a community more than three times our size, which spent $5,658,040 in 2024 on Parks and Recreation. Realistically, this level of funding is unsustainable for a city of our size. We should at least freeze that portion of the budget for a few years.

I think one investment the city could make at this time is in trees. So many trees have been cut down due to the ash borer and most of them have not been replaced. As I walk in New Ulm, I have missed the once plentiful shade. Trees can take a long time to grow, so encouraging the planting of more trees during the next few years would be a good idea.