Cities, school districts have elections set for Nov. 3

City and school district elections as well as a few school referendums will bring voters out to the polls Tuesday. Voting places are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The most-watched races in the metro area are in Minneapolis, which is holding its first election since adopting ranked-choice voting. But several local races in other cities also have been competitive.

Here are some of those races:

BLOOMINGTON

An effort to get more people to run for school board, especially from the east side of the city, has resulted in a bumper crop of 15 candidates seeking four at-large seats on the seven-member school board.

Four of the candidates live east of Interstate 35W, and the candidates range in age from 23 to 78.

The new school board likely will have to deal with issues of racial isolation in some schools and possible adjustment of school boundaries.

All four incumbents -- Arlene Bush, Tim Culver, Mark Hibbs and Maureen Peterson -- are seeking reelection.

Challengers are Ruth Adu-Gyamfi, Lisa H. Bowen, Marcie Coval, Amanda Crombie, Julie Frankhouser, Larry A. Frost, Matthew Pawlowski, William Reichert, Melissa Riebel, Dan Wallerus and Melissa Halvorson Wiklund.

ST. LOUIS PARK

In St. Louis Park, the only City Council incumbent seeking reelection -- the First Ward's Sue Sanger -- is running unopposed. In the Third Ward, former council member Sue Santa has no opponent and appears a sure bet to regain the seat she held for several terms before losing to Loren Paprocki in 2005.

• In the Second Ward, two women with track records of political and community involvement are facing off for the City Council seat.

Claudia Johnston Madison is on the city planning commission and chairs the Minikahda Vista Neighborhood Association. Priorities listed on her campaign website include maintaining quality city services with reduced and balanced city budgets, working for strong and safe neighborhoods, and keeping strong ties between the city and schools and other organizations that affect St. Louis Park.

The other Second Ward candidate, Anne Mavity, has been a city housing commissioner and a member of a school site council. Her goals include development that retains neighborhood character, fiscal discipline, keeping citizens involved in city decision-making and creating livable communities that preserve green space and protect bikers and walkers.

• In the Fourth Ward, both City Council candidates live in the Greensboro Square Condominiums.

Julia Ross, an administrative assistant with Hennepin County, interned with Sen. Paul Wellstone's office and has been active in Democratic causes since college. In a League of Women Voters questionnaire, Ross said her priorities include helping the city figure out how to be efficient and creatively deliver services in a time of tight budgets. User fees for some services may have to be reexamined to raise more revenue, she said.

Bill Theobald, who is president of the condo association, said his priorities include having the city live within its means while providing core services. He said the city may have to look at cutting personnel to save money. The best way to generate revenue is to attract new businesses, he said.

MINNETONKA

Minnetonka Mayor Terry Schneider is running unopposed for re-election.

Two City Council incumbents are seeking reelection with opposition.

• Incumbent at-large council member Dick Allendorf, 67, a commercial real estate broker who has served on the council for 16 years, is being challenged by Bonnie Bina, who is seeking elected office for the first time.

Allendorf is running on his experience. "I think I have done a good job and I can continue to do a good job. People have to serve on the City Council who know what they are doing and will make sure their citizens enjoy their community,'' he told the Star Tribune.

Bina, 48, is a clinic manager for a medical group. "I am strongly motivated in my bid for City Council by the desire to improve communication with the residents of Minnetonka," she said in an interview. "I also want to do what I can to increase the availability of housing affordable to young families and to adult 'empty nesters' transitioning to smaller homes.''

• David Asp, a 31-year-old attorney, bills himself as "an advocate for Minnetonka taxpayers.'' He is seeking election to the at-large council seat now held by incumbent Amber Greves.

"I think the people in the community are looking for a new perspective and someone to come forward with new ideas,'' said Asp, who is making his first bid for office. Asp's priorities include encouraging the growth of business, protecting the city's natural environment and establishing a citizen budget advisory commission to involve more residents in city budget decisions.

Greves, 34, was appointed to the City Council last January. A mother who works as a speech-language pathologist in the Minnetonka public schools, she is now the only woman on the council. Greve said: "I provide a valuable perspective and viewpoint on the council.'' Issues that are important to her include "making sure we spend wisely,'' improving transportation, protecting the city's natural resources and expanding Minnetonka's "life cycle'' housing options to include more housing for young people and seniors.

WAYZATA

The Wayzata School District is asking voters to approve two special levies -- one for operating expenses and one for technology needs. Both would extend existing levies without increasing taxes, said Robert Noyed, director of communications for the district.

The $18 million-a-year operating levy would replace three existing operating levies and be collected for 10 years. The current levies were approved in 2001, 2003 and 2005 and would individually expire in two years, four years and six years. Voters will be asked if they would like to revoke the old levies to authorize the new one.

"Given the unstable nature of the state funding, our board thought it would be best to do whatever we can to secure these levies'' and extend them so the district doesn't have to go back to voters every two years, Noyed said. "We are not looking to initiate any new programs from these levies. They are really maintaining what we already have.''

The district says on its website that "More than 30 years ago, state funding was adequate to provide a basic education to all students, and districts asked residents to approve operating levies to enhance the programs that the state could fund. Over the years, state funding has not kept up with inflationary costs, and operating levies are now needed by districts to help pay for the basic education costs.'' The operating levies make up about 18 percent of the district's total operating budget.

The levy approved in 2005 was in part used to hire more teachers to lower the student-teacher ratio across the district. Approving the new levy would maintain existing ratios at about 19 to 1 in kindergarten, 21 to 1 in first grade, 22 to 1 in second grade, 24 to 1 in third grade, and 26 to 1 in fourth and fifth grades, Noyed said.

The technology levy, set to expire in two years, would be revoked and the new levy would be extended to 10 years, providing $3.1 million a year for the purchase and replacement of classroom computers and other technology, Noyed said.

The School District has more information on its website at www.wayzata.k12.mn.us/wps/images/stories/communicator/October_2009.

ROBBINSDALE

In the Robbinsdale School District, where voters still feel the sting of recent school closings, 11 candidates are running for four at-large board seats.

"I think the interest is heightened because the school board accomplished a lot over the past two years," said Robbinsdale School Board Chairman Tom Walsh of Plymouth, who is seeking reelection. That includes last year's successful referendum effort to raise more funding, after losing out in a contentious referendum the year before. Walsh also cited the board's preparation of a district strategic plan, which attracted the involvement of hundreds of district residents, and the closing of three schools, which is projected to save the district $2 million a year.

The pain from the school closings, which resulted in the displacement of almost 3,000 students beginning this school year, still lingers, though. In his door-to-door campaigning, Walsh said, he still encounters dissatisfaction with the closings. "It depends on the neighborhood," he said. "In the neighborhoods where schools have closed, that's a big issue. The other thing is taxes in general."

One Robbinsdale board candidate, Mark Bomchill of Plymouth, was former PTA vice president at New Hope's Sunny Hollow Elementary School, which was shut down as a neighborhood elementary school and converted to house the district's Spanish immersion program.

"There are people who are ticked off that the schools got closed," he said. Bomchill, whose candidacy arose out of the school-closing process, said he's more concerned with how the school board picked the schools to be closed.

"Schools had to be closed," he said. "Did we close the right schools? That's the question. ... I was more upset with the process that the board and administration took. We thought there was misinformation and half-truths given us."

Other Robbinsdale candidates include Darlene Baker of Plymouth, Richard J. Brynteson of Crystal, incumbent Patsy Green of New Hope, incumbent Linda Johnson of Golden Valley, Jim Oathout of Crystal, Andrew Richter of Crystal, Beth Sharpe of Brooklyn Center, Sue Stavenau of Plymouth, and Brian Zirbes of Crystal.

LAURIE BLAKE,

MARY JANE SMETANKA,

NORMAN DRAPER