Mayor Rogholt speaks on past and future policies

by Dave DeMars

news@thenewsleaders.com

After four years as the sitting mayor of Rice, Dale Rogholt confesses he will probably try for one more term as the town’s mayor. It’s not that he’s in love with the job or that the power of the office attracts him so much. It’s just that there are a few things he has left to accomplish and he is willing to give it another two years if the voters are willing to give him another two years.

If he doesn’t win re-election, he has other things to do, he says. And his re-election is not a sure thing he acknowledges.

“There are always those people who will vote against the incumbent anyway,” he said. “They just don’t like the incumbencies.”

Rogholt makes it clear six years is all he’s willing to give anyone who takes on the job of mayor or congressional representative or even that of a senator.

“Six years is long enough for anybody to be in any elected position,” he said. “That’s my opinion.”

Surveying the past

Rogholt has lived in the Rice area or the city proper since 1977, so he knows the area and the constituents well though he concedes he may still be considered too new to be part of the old guard. Throughout the years he has seen lots of changes. The biggest change is the population expansion.

The major residential expansion took place before 2005-06 when the recession hit. In his estimation, the expansion was a good thing for the area. With the residential expansion came some growth in the industrial landscape.

“Virnig has been the addition to the city,” he said. “That has been a nice addition for the city property income. And then Roma Pizza and Carco on the highway, and Ferche Construction. You don’t see Ferche from the highway.”

In addition, Rice has been able to keep the small “mom-and-pop” businesses and even help many of them grow. Of course, all of the growth is further facilitated by the construction of the underpass off Hwy. 10 that allows for easy-on, easy-off access. That will enhance another expansion as soon as the economy starts to really get its wind.

As much as he liked the possibility of increased growth in the area, Rogholt also sees the need for improvements to help the possibilities become realities.

“There has to be some major improvements done, especially on Main Street or CR 2,” he said. “Where it comes to the stop sign and you can take (roads) 12 and 21 off of that. Sit there and watch the traffic. There should be a three-way stop like there was during construction.”

He relates the story of trying to get to a 4 p.m. appointment east of town and he left 10 minutes early to go three miles. And he was still late for the appointment. The problem is the traffic coming off Hwy. 10 onto Main Street, trying to go either left or right. It’s a difficult thing to negotiate those turns and get where a person wants to go, he explained. The county has been asked to examine the problem and he is hopeful some action will be taken soon.

What’s ahead

It would be nice if city officials could call on Madame Zelda with her crystal ball and be able to show the constituents what is needed in the future and why, but the best that can be done (lacking a Zelda) is to gather the city council together and do some long-range planning.

The city council did recently have a finance committee meeting at which some long-range ideas and plans were laid.

“We are talking three, five, six years out,” Rogholt said. “So we could bring to the voters what we need to levy or bond for to make these improvements. If you drive through town, anyplace outside the new developments, take a look at the streets. Most of them haven’t been touched in 25 years. And they are wearing out. There is only so much you can do to fill a pothole.”

On the bright side, the water and sewer system is relatively new. Twenty-five years. But water and sewer don’t take the kind of daily pounding city streets do. So that’s an improvement that is going to have to be made, especially if another round of expansion is to take place.

Rogholt said the facilities in the city are going to need some work done on them as well.

“We have one facility that is really high maintenance – the old city hall,” he said. “The roofing especially. And the heating system. We’ve got four furnaces – three of them are dead right now.”

The building has different furnaces for different levels, Rogholt noted.

“And we are going to have to decide on what we are going to do about that,” he said. “It’s a wonderful place and can be used for all manner of community meetings such as Boy Scouts and other groups. Right now a Baptist church is using the building for services. It serves the community well and is a real historic gem built by the WPA in the 1930s. But its age and design also make it expensive to maintain. That’s why voters in a referendum are going to have to give some guidance as to what they want done with the building.”

The building has been rumored to be a candidate for the national historic landmark designation.

The impact of the Hwy. 10 overpass hasn’t been fully assessed since it has only been a year since its completion, but Rogholt says whatever the impact, it will also affect townships. If there is to be growth and annexation, it must be done in cooperation with the townships.

“We can’t be greedy and take everything away from them, otherwise they will never associate with us again,” he said.

Rogholt made some observations on a recent presentation on investments to the city council in recent weeks. There is room for improvement, he suggested.

“The majority of that money talked about in the presentation is from the city water and sewer fund,” he said. “That is a dedicated fund and has to be a self-sustaining enterprise fund. City and water must be solvent by state law.”

But he sees the need for improvements in the general fund. The general fund is used for the day-to-day operation of city government, payrolls, lights, heating and so forth. The improvements, he suggested, are mostly common sense.

“Fiscal responsibility, not to invest but to keep a cash balance if possible,” he said. “It’s so easy to spend, and then be at zero or negative and then go and get the money from some other place.”

At the same time, Rogholt said it’s important to know where people want you to spend the tax dollars and what they think they want. Last year the council held meetings and invited the citizens to come and voice their opinions on a wish list the council put together. To his recollection, not one person came and voiced a negative opinion on what the council recommended and why a tax increase was necessary last year. Rogholt said he takes that as a sign the council is listening and getting it right.

“The major item on the list was a part-time police officer,” Rogholt said.

A police officer was needed simply because the area they patrol is huge, Rogholt said. Even with mutual aid and officers from other jurisdictions coming to help, it’s still huge.

Northstar possibilities

On the issue of the Northstar Rail, Rogholt said a committee was organized, but basically it’s only in effect for correspondence only. He’s hesitant about whether he would support the Northstar saying only he does not know the history of the whole proposal.

“I know there are better people than me versed in the process,” he said.

Is there a benefit to be had from getting the Northstar to Rice? Rogholt is not sure, and if he does have thoughts, he’s not saying.

“Maybe a cheaper ride down to the Twins game,” he said with a grin.

St. Cloud has been discussing bringing it to St. Cloud and all the wonderful things it will do for them, Rogholt noted. Then he followed that comment up with his own question. How has it helped? He said there is a chance something might happen, just like there’s always a chance something might happen, but he really doesn’t foresee the probability.

Final thoughts

In his mind, the number one issue in small-city politics is fiscal responsibility. It’s the largest plank in the platform he ran on. His background is in public finance serving as business manager for Holdingford School District for 33 years and now as a tax preparer.

“I know how to serve the public,” he said. “I know how to serve as the elected official. And I know how elected officials want people to be informed. It’s not by a demand to do it (on the part of the officials to the public), but let’s present this information publicly and openly. I’m serious when I say that, and I think we have done that in the last couple years.”