There’s a battle brewing for the role of Maplewood’s most prominent elected official, with seven candidates saying they want to take on the mantle of mayor. The field includes the incumbent mayor, a current council member, a former mayor, a former council member and three newcomers.
Those who go to the polls Sept. 15 will vote for one candidate of the seven. The two top vote-getters will proceed to the November general election.
The Review asked the candidates to fill out biographical questionnaires, specify if they have been involved in legal issues with the city and answer three questions in writing. Their answers are included below.

Bob Cardinal
Bob Cardinal, 57, is married to Sharon and is a business agent for Calhoun Companies. He is a former mayor of Maplewood, having been elected in 1999 and again in 2001, serving through Dec. 31, 2005. He holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of St. Thomas.
Cardinal says he has not been involved in legal action with the city. In 2006, he did request the Ramsey County attorney look into alleged violations of open meeting law by then-council members and the mayor, but dropped the issue when the county attorney’s office decided it was not in its jurisdiction.
Asked what experience and knowledge he would bring to governing the city of Maplewood, Cardinal points to his previous stint as mayor, as well as more than seven years volunteering on the Maplewood Planning Commission.
Cardinal says he’s spurred to run again by “watching the city government try to manage and operate these last four years with continued failure.”
“Maplewood had a good reputation and leadership prior to these past four years and except for some partisan party politics, functioned well for the years I served as leadership for the city government,” Cardinal says. “Since 2006, the city council has not been able to function well and continues to vote consistently with a 3-2 partisan vote. All city council members should vote for what is best for the city of Maplewood. The current members on the city council lack leadership ability, and some seeking a promotion to mayor does not respect the person in the office that they seek. The council needs a conservative voice and vote to help balance the partisan views of current council members.”
Asked what he sees as Maplewood’s biggest challenge, Cardinal says, “The public has no confidence in the city council and there is no trust or credibility at city hall. There is no legitimacy in the current leadership of Maplewood. The current city council lacks good leadership and continues to be dysfunctional. This picture should change with this election. Maintaining city services and restoring trust in the city government will take someone that is not part of the current council to accomplish.”

Marv Koppen
Marv Koppen, 57, hopes to be that outsider, though he, like Cardinal, has been elected and served the city in the past. He is married to Marilyn and is the proprietor of Party Time Liquor in Maplewood. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Mankato State University. Koppen was a city council member from 1993 to 2005.
Koppen says he has not been involved in legal proceedings with the city.
Koppen has been mayor pro tempore for the city and has served on a number of boards: NorthEast Suburban Transit, Suburban Rate Authority, Tartan Arena Joint Powers, and on the Suburban Cable Commission and Ramsey County Charter Commission. He is past president of the White Bear Avenue Business Association and the East Parks Lions.
Of his experience, Koppen says, “I have a unique perspective, having been a homeowner in two Maplewood neighborhoods, a business owner and an elected official serving our city.”
Koppen says he is running because “the division and dissention between our city’s elected officials is not good for our city. ... The important issues we care about - protecting our open spaces, public safety, business climate, preserving quality housing - are all negatively impacted by the current situation.”
“The biggest, single challenge Maplewood faces is to move beyond the turmoil and ill-will that makes each meeting of the City Council look like another episode of ‘The Bickersons,’” Koppen continues. “Maplewood has many challenges that must be faced. These include improving our property tax base, the effects of the foreclosure crisis, and infrastructure improvement. But we cannot address these issues head on until we have city elected officials that works together and puts aside petty politics.”

Diana Longrie
Diana Longrie, incumbent mayor, hopes to keep her position at Maplewood’s helm. Asked her age, she responds “Young enough to laugh, old enough to help others less fortunate.” (For those still curious, she said she was 47 in the last election cycle.) She is married to Kevin Berglund and is a self-employed neighborhood attorney. She holds a juris doctorate from Hamline University School of Law and undergraduate degrees in chemistry and biology from the College of St. Scholastica.
Longrie has been mayor for four years. She says she has never been involved in legal issues with the city in her individual capacity, though she’s been named in various cases as mayor.
Longrie chaired the Maplewood Design Review Board for two years, and is an active member of the Maplewood Historical Society. She also graduated from the Maplewood Citizens’ Academy. She has chaired the Minnesota State Bar Association’s General Practice section and is a member of the Volunteer Lawyers’ Network. She has won awards for her public-access cable TV program in 2005 and 2006 and has taught conversational English and basic legal principles in China.
Asked the experience that helps her as mayor, Longrie says, “I am accustomed to rolling up my sleeves, doing research at all levels and working a good day’s work. As a solo, general practice, neighborhood attorney, I am close to the community I serve as a Mayor and a Maplewood small business owner. The professional experience I bring to the office reaches beyond Maplewood and is not limited to political relationships with only the local career political.”
Longrie says she hopes to continue to guide “citizen and council involvement in setting the policy and direction of Maplewood’s future. ... The struggle I see our City wrestling with is determining the degree to which citizens can be, and should be, involved when the council creates public policy or determines City spending. Citizens are an invaluable resource. Citizens want and deserve greater access to much-needed information so they can make informed, balanced decisions; participate in the community dialogue; and determine if their elected officials are making informed, balanced decisions on behalf of our community.”
Asked what she thinks is Maplewood’s greatest challenge, Longrie says, “Elected officials and top administrators, including both City Manager Antonen and Assistant City Manager Chuck Ahl, must take into account the financial climate facing our nation, our state, our city, with businesses struggling to stay afloat or citizens agonizing to pay bills, feed families, as the jobless rates remain unforgiving. Everyone at City Hall needs to be part of the solution and make tough choices as Maplewood tightens the budgetary belt a notch or two.”

Will Rossbach
Will Rossbach, 54, has been a council member for six years and ran against Longrie in the 2005 election. He is married to Beth and is president of Rossbach Construction, Inc. He has a certificate of apprenticeship from the state of Minnesota’s carpentry program.
Rossbach says the only time he’s been involved in legal issues with the city was as a council member when he was named as representing the city.
Prior to being elected to the council, Rossbach served on the Maplewood Planning Commission for 14 years. He has been president of the Ramsey County League of Local Governments and a member of the Northeast Suburban Transit Commission and the Rush Line Corridor Task Force. He has been a commissioner of the St. Paul Regional Water Service and a member of the League of Local Government policy committee.
Rossbach points to that record when asked about his experience. “In these positions,I‘ve established sound working relationships with the current state and county elected officials representing Maplewood,” he adds.
Asked what sparked a second run for mayor, Rossbach says, “Dedication to Maplewood, as witnessed by my 20 years of continuous service. Maplewood needs an experienced, strong leader; four years ago we gambled on an unknown, inexperienced person, and the result was chaos. During the first two years of this time I was able to point out when we were going the wrong direction, and during the last two years I‘ve demonstrated my ability to steer Maplewood back on the road to recovery.”
He says Maplewood’s greatest challenges “are recovering our pride and our professionalism during tough economic times. Maplewood has difficult financial and service decisions to make, as do all cities; we‘ll face development choices, infrastructure questions, and operating priorities. This is the daily business of the city that we can work through together. This election provides citizens the opportunity to elect a Council and Mayor who will concentrate on doing the citizens business in a cooperative and professional manner.“

Ken Smart
Ken Smart, 49, is a newcomer to the race. He is married to Kathy and is a financial manager at 3M Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin.
Smart says he has not been involved in legal action with the city.
Asked about the experience he believes would help him as mayor, Smart says, “I am a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor so would bring strong financial aptitude, experience and discipline. Also am vice president of Maplewood Athletic Association and have worked closely with Maplewood’s Rec Department. Have six children, lived in Maplewood for over 20 years in four different locations so I know the city. Also, member of Maplewood Community Center.”
Smart says he was spurred to run for council after “the extrememly poor attitude of some existing council members towards my comments and advice given at last December’s truth in taxation hearing. I clearly explained the economic realities coming in 2009 and the implications for the city and strongly suggested they curtail spending in the 2009 budget. They ignored the advice and as we know, the council had to reduce spending by $1.5 million last month due to the deficit resulting from the recession.
Smart said his second motivation was “the city clerk tried to charge Maplewood Athletic Association $10,000 for use of city services/baseball fields in April - after fees were set and collected for the season and despite the fact that citizen taxpayers already pay for these city services.”
“And despite the fact the MAA has invested thousands of dollars annually maintaining and upgrading these fields at no cost to the city. I think the city’s position extremely unfair.”
Asked about the $10,000 amount, City Clerk Karen Guilfoile denied the city asked the athletic association for that amount, and produced a letter which requested the MAA pay the city $2,500, an amount she said city staff based on “a time and cost study” of use of recreation property.
The city’s biggest challenges, Smart says, are “fiscal issues - high property taxes, high debt, missing monies. I also know that many residents feel the city is trying to take away private property rights.”

John Wykoff
John Wykoff is another challenger for the post of mayor.
Wykoff refused to answer any of the Review’s biographical questions.
He is the leader of a secession movement to remove the south leg from Maplewood’s jurisdiction and rename it “Innovation, Minnesota.”
Wykoff says he has the experience necessary to be mayor. “Having run my own business for 30 years, I would like the city manager (who holds the all the power in the city) to follow some of the same principles that I have - principles that would ensure that citizens get the best value for their hard earned tax dollars. The city manager needs to hold employees accountable to a high standard of prudent spending.”
Asked what sparked his run for office, Wykoff says, “I haven’t been happy with the city’s direction for the last twenty years. There are a number of issues over that time that I couldn’t begin to mention within the newspaper’s 75 word limit on my answers. What motivated me to run for mayor was hearing from so many residents who have the same concerns as I do, among them being property rights, the proposed ban on backyard weenie roasts, etc.”
Wykoff says the city’s biggest challenge is “Reducing the $75 million debt and putting an end to wasteful spending, which anyone can see by reading the city council meeting packets on the city web site. There, you will see your tax dollars being frittered away with the winds.”
Asked about the $75 million number, City Manager James Antonen said that amount is what the city has invested in streets, lighting, sewer lines and other improvements.
“It’s comparable to having a mortgage on a house; I don’t know many people who could pay for their house with cash,” Antonen says. “If a city didn’t have any debt, either it would be in decline or is stagnating.”
Wykoff continues, “Many business owners have told me they are being taxed out of business.”