Zimmerman City Council: Josh Bondus

Joshua Bondus

Address: Zimmerman

Family: Son: Cade 23; Daughter: Lauren 20.

Education: Dunwoody Institute

Age: 48

Briefly summarize your personal background and qualifications. I’m proud to say I raised my family in Zimmerman. I have made a career as a problem solver. I have also served on the Zimmerman City Council in the past with the past two years off to explore other life opportunities. I have a wonderful working relationship with city staff and many in the community

What are your top three priorities if you are elected? I want to work to improve parks and public space as I have in the past to keep them safe and enjoyable for all.

I would also like to promote business growth in a manner that also respects the small town feel that I have loved as a member of this community for over 25 years.

I also want to aid in the transition from a stoplight to an overpass at County Road 4 as many challenges are likely to occur during that time.

What is your biggest accomplishment in public life? After seeing a trend of lake freeze outs many years ago I began taking care of Lake Fremont for the past 10 years without a fish kill through working with the DNR and being quick to deploy aeration when needed has made it a great spot for many to use.

What prompted you to run for Zimmerman City Council? I am running for City Council to keep Zimmerman a safe and healthy community to raise a family and enjoy the public spaces such as our wonderful parks and Lake Fremont. I also want to keep our tax burden reasonable as we grow and mature, maintaining the small town feel while welcoming the expansion of new businesses including growing in to a larger footprint by welcoming in portions of Livonia Township to join the city of Zimmerman.

What decision of the Zimmerman City Council have you liked most and why? What decision of the Zimmerman City Council have you liked least?

I feel the council overall does a great job with keeping our infrastructure one step ahead of the demand as the city grows.

I wish that the City would have purchased 5 Bitcoin at $19,900 each when I made the suggestion. It would have had a positive impact of the future of the city.

How would you rate the level of collaboration and partnership with neighboring agencies ranging from the school district, the county and the townships? How would you work to be a positive force in growing the number and strength of partnerships? I think that overall we have worked well with the neighboring communities. The school district has offered some challenges over the years.

I have had good conversations with the township members and worked well to come up with solutions together.

What experience do you have working with large budgets? What would be your approach to budgeting for the city? What city services would you consider reducing to balance a budget or cover new expenditures deemed necessary or important? I have served on the Zimmerman Council in the past keeping the budget balanced and believe in spending when needed but also being conservative when it comes to frivolous spending. I think the city does a good job at planning for the future expenditures.

Highway 169 in Elk River will be converted to a freeway. What are the opportunities this will create for Zimmerman? What are the challenges that will surface and have to be dealt with? What do you hope to be able to say about Zimmerman in 10 years? With the completion of the Elk River portion of the 169 corridor project it will greatly improve travel times to major highways. This makes Zimmerman even more desirable to build both businesses and residential projects. Zimmerman will have a great deal of congestion to deal with until the completion of the overpass. In 10 years I hope that we can say that Zimmerman is still a healthy small town community to raise a family and has the added benefit of successful businesses to employ residents and share the tax burden.