About Jean Kidd: A Lifetime of Service

I proudly served as a firefighter and chief officer for the City of Minneapolis for 28 years. That experience taught me the importance of planning, accountability, and measurable performance. Qualities I will bring to the Golden Valley City Council.

Why I’m Running

Golden Valley is at a turning point. The city is preparing for major capital improvement projects:

A new public works building
A public safety building
A fire station
A water tower (2029)
A civic plaza

These projects are large in scope demanding strong planning, oversight, and clear contracts. They risk becoming costly and mismanaged. I will make sure these investments are on track, on budget, and built to serve our community for decades.

Emergency Preparedness

The recent water emergency revealed gaps in response, communication, and coordination. Citizens deserve timely notifications, well-trained staff, and actionable plans. I will push for thorough after-action reviews and ensure weaknesses are corrected.

Public Safety

Our police department is in a holding pattern without defined leadership, leaving residents underserved and employees uncertain. I will work to establish clarity, direction, and stability so our department can effectively serve Golden Valley.

Budget

Golden Valley benefits from a strong commercial presence. Instead of focusing primarily on high-density rental housing, we should emphasize

Expanding commercial capacity to strengthen our tax base
Exploring housing options like townhomes for balanced growth
Addressing financial disparities in state funding formulas that take much-needed revenue from our city
Growth must be intentional, sustainable, and beneficial to both residents and businesses.
We need a detailed budget instead of general categories.

Transparency

We need to be able to see what is going on and track what is going on.

Look to our neighbor city and implement several of their programs to help our citizens do just that (taken from City of New Hope)

SMART goals to track Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely objectives- what is expected, why important, who is involved, when it will happen and what attributes are important
Project Efficiency and Transparency Report Assist with monitoring budget variance associated with large, capitalized projects and continually improve future budget projections. Includes estimated costs, change orders, and final payments for project.

I would look to other cities first to see if there are initiatives for better governance that we could implement, saving money and time. Keeping you empowered and informed.