Q&A: New Apple Valley Planning Commissioner Brian Wasserman

Apple Valley Patch asked new Apple Valley Planning Commissioner Brian Wasserman about how he prepared to begin his planning commission term, what areas he'd like to focus on and also where you can find his favorite spot in Apple Valley.

Apple Valley Patch: For our readers who don’t know you, can you provide a bit of background about yourself and why you wanted to sit on the Apple Valley Planning Commission?

Brian Wasserman: I live in Apple Valley. I’m a professor at Minnesota State—Mankato. It’s part of my life philosophy that we should be giving back to the places closest to where we live, and when I moved into Apple Valley I really wanted to be able to do something for the city, and this is a really good fit. My department down in Mankato is construction management, and I really thought the city planning commission would be a good place for me to volunteer my time.

Apple Valley Patch: How did you prepare for your term as planning commissioner?

Wasserman: Maybe the best preparation was paying attention to what’s going on around in town. As I drive from Eagan to Burnsville to Rosemount to Lakeville … seeing where the borders are and which features belong to which city. Because if you’re not really paying attention one blends in to the other … where the parks are, where the trails are. It’s not a real special effort, it’s simply paying attention as I move about town as I normally would.

Apple Valley Patch: How has your experience on the planning commission been so far, after one meeting?

Wasserman: Well, it’s not just the one meeting, but it’s been a very welcoming experience, from the mayor to the city administrative people … really everybody along the way. The folks that I don’t all know their names yet … and the members of the planning commission … everyobody’s been very happy to have me involved. They’ve been very helpful … they answer any questions that I come up with. It’s nice to have some people who appreciate having me there and have a pretty efficient organization.

Apple Valley Patch: What are some of the areas you hope to be able to affect while you sit on the planning commission?

Wasserman: The first one would be in the area of sustainability. Some of the things that come up in front of the commission … creating livable longterm multigenerational sustainability in the planning that we do. I don’t want to plan short term and forget about the long term. I’m really, really planning not just for me but for the next generation.

Bus rapid transit …. Mass transit in general is something that I’ve put time and effort into over the years. I’ve worked with MNDOT [the Minnesota Department of Transportation] on some things to help build efficiencies into the system.

Another one would be job creation within Apple Valley. I’m looking at manufacturing kinds of positions and jobs, like an Uponor. Apple Valley is really strong on the retail side, but that doesn’t provide as many quality jobs as I would like to see us have. So it would be about attracting industry … and light manufacturing as opposed to heavy industrial.

Apple Valley Patch: What is your favorite spot in Apple Valley?

Wasserman: Probably Kelley Park. We just love going there. We take the grandkids there, just go watch families, sit by the fountain. We live in Regatta … and we walk and bike from our place … over to Target, over to have breakfast and coffee over at Panera Bread. So we walk that loop all the time over near Enjoy! Restaurant to the Ecumen senior center …. We just can’t wait for good plans to come around for Founders Circle.