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Troy Goracke
Name: Troy Goracke
Age: 38
Family: My wife Diana, and our two daughters, Mara and Emma.
Office: City Council
1. Please share your background and previous political experience?
Legislative Liaison at St. Cloud Technical College 2001-2002.
While at St. Cloud Technical College I was part of an outstanding team that designed and constructed the new addition to the College.
2. What is the city’s biggest issue?
Population growth/development issues
Education/school issues (Need a High School)
Traffic transportation issues
Crime issues
Streets/roads maintenance
Taxes
Public services (Need a Library)
Affordable housing/cost of living issues
Zoning/city planning
City service issues
3. How do you propose to address this issue?
In the future the cost of energy will keep going up; the city needs to start investing in ways to save energy; in-turn this would save money. The best way to do this is to invest in smart technologies and renewable energy.
What is a smart technology? Well generally speaking, if a machine/artifact does something we think an intelligent person can do; we consider the machine to be smart. In practice, smart technology is mostly about harnessing a combination of IT products sensors, monitoring systems, automated controls, modeling and other decision-support applications more intelligently. For example, we can use modeling software called STELLA to research population growth for the next 10 years to see what areas may present traffic or transportation issues. STELLA can also compare and estimate the savings between buying electricity from the power company or installing 10 solar panels. Smart technology can save our community money by having up-to-date information so we can make better decision for our future.
4. With plans to build a new government center, what would you like to see incorporated into the building.
I would like to see the city invest in renewable energy to show our kids we are planning for their future. This could consist of large windows to allow for natural sunlight, a wind turbine and solar panels to produce electricity.
5. What suggestions do you have to improve the city’s downtown landscape and economic development appeal?
Library and community center
Splash pad for hot summer days
Build a brand new High School