Golden Valley City Council Candidate: Gillian Uecker Rosenquist

There are 11 candidates running for three Golden Valley Council seats this year. Two seats are for two four-year terms and one seat is a special election to fill the two-year term seat. 

Below you will find the candidate biography for Gillian Uecker Rosenquist running for one of the four-year term seats. (All candidates were contacted by Patch via email and given the chance to answer the same questions.)

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What previous political experience do you have (including other governmental positions you’ve held, whether elected, appointed or volunteer)?

Golden Valley Open Space and Recreation Commission

Bottineau LRT Policy Advisory Committee

What other relevant experience do you have?

Practiced intellectual property law 1999-2003

Meadowbrook PTO Executive Board; Silent Auction Committee; active volunteer 2008-present

MOMS Club of Golden Valley 2003-2011; various leadership positions

League of Women Voters Golden Valley chapter member 2012-present

Robbinsdale Vote Yes Communications Committee 2007

Active with Minnesota United for All Families 2012

Civic Volunteer: lilac planting 2012 and 2013; Envision participant

What is your occupation?

Lawyer turned homemaker

Where did you go to school? 

J.D. William Mitchell College of Law, 1999

B.A. University of Washington, Seattle, 2004

Minneapolis Southwest High School

How old are you? 

43

Do you have a spouse, children or any other family members you’d like to tell voters about? 

I have been married for 13 years to Jeff Rosenquist, the owner of Rosenquist Construction, Inc. and we have 3 sons: Ben, Jonah, and Owen.

What are your campaign goals?

I want to use my experience with Golden Valley's civic groups, residents, neighborhoods and school districts to connect us: 1) physically with safe routes, trails and alternative transit choices for residents, be they pedestrians, cyclists or the differently-abled, within our city and to regional trails and destinations; 2) as residents with neighborhood gathering spaces; art; unique shopping and retail; and 3) as citizens who are organized, informed and engaged in the changes happening regionally and within the city. 

What issues are you most focused on?

1) Transit: I am committed, as a resident of Northeast Golden Valley and member of the Bottineau LRT Policy Advisory Committee, to making sure that we are an informed, engaged and important part of the planning process for the potential light rail line, despite our well-founded concerns.  Additionally, our residents want to be connected within the city and to the region with better, safer and more trails, sidewalks, buses, and smoother traffic circulation.

2) Housing: The evolution of Golden Valley must balance development for changing lifestyles (seniors who want stay in their homes or a local senior community; renters and younger homebuyers with different priorities) with the preservation of the neighborhoods that we love.

3) Parks: I was appointed to the Open Space and Recreation Commission because as a mother of young children, I have and will spend a lot of time in them.  Inspired by our residents, I believe they can be repurposed to be used all day as gathering spaces; places for programming and club meetings; and to enhance the fitness and health of all generations.

I bring an independent, non-partisan voice with a passion to connect and engage people and communities; a legal background; and deep civic experience as a mom and resident to the City Council.  Together we can keep Golden Valley a vital, unique and evolving place to live, work and play.