Candidate Profile: Justin Kaufman

Editor's Note: Each day this week, St. Louis Park Patch will profile one of the five people competing for two seats on the City Council this year. Absentee voting in the 2011 city election begins Friday. A primary for one seat is Aug. 9, with the general election for both seats Nov. 8.

Justin Kaufman isn’t big on drawing attention to himself. In fact, in his job as a negotiations manager for the state, it is often best when he stays in the background and quietly pulls the strings.

So that’s a pretty good indication that his run for City Council isn’t about putting himself on a platform, but rather bringing some new ideas to St. Louis Park.

“It was sort of a why not?” Kaufman said of his decision to seek office. “I have some ideas for what I’d like to see in St. Louis Park. This is the best way to achieve them.”

The first-time candidate, who is facing off against Steve Hallfin for the “at-large A” seat being vacated by Paul Omodt, said economic development is something he really wants to focus on. Specifically, Kaufman said he wants to see St. Louis Park develop more of a downtown, as well as more neighborhood-centric shopping destinations that are accessible by foot—something that the candidate acknowledged will require long-term planning.

“This is a ways off … (and) we’re not going to build it out of scratch,” Kaufman said. “We need to focus on what’s vacant now.”

In addition to community development, Kaufman said crime is a big issue—and one that he said is getting lost in the shuffle amid all the discussion over a regional light rail line that is planned for the area.

“No one is talking about how many more people will be coming through the community,” Kaufman said. “That presents some challenges for us.”

As far as where freight traffic should go in the community, Kaufman said he generally sides with the majority of council, who voted earlier this month to adopt a resolution that . But Kaufman added that he doesn’t want to see the issue become a simple “not in my backyard” argument, adding that the city should be pushing hard for proper mitigation if the trains are rerouted.

While this is Kaufman’s first time running for office, he has worked on a number of campaigns before, both here in Minnesota and in his home state of Wisconsin. He said he understands the importance of knocking on doors and putting up yard signs, but he said even more important to him is simply being accessible to people and being honest with them.

“I’m really more interested in hearing what’s important to them,” Kaufman said, “not me telling them what’s important to me.”

When not dealing with politics, Kaufman said he likes to spend a lot of time with his kids, who are 6, 4 and 2. Often, this means hitting the water for a canoe or kayak trip—something quiet for the behind-the-scenes guy.