A LOOK AT THE CANDIDATES:

SIXTH IN A SERIES

By Brooke Shepherd

There are two open seats for Hastings City Council, with seven candidates running. The primary election to narrow the candidate pool will take place on Aug. 9, and the final two individuals will be chosen based on number of votes on Nov. 8.

This is the sixth of weekly profiles of the candidates, who are: Joe Balsanek, 340 Crestview Drive

Angie Haus, 1421 Tyler St.

Dean Markuson, 436 Tiffany Drive

Ian T. Martin, 1770 Greystone Road

Dennis Gerald Peine,

120 Ninth St. W

Dave Pemble, 731 W. Fifth St.

Tom Wright, 770 Seventh St. W.

Dennis Peine

Dennis Peine is a longtime Hastings resident and experienced architect running for City Council.

Peine currently designs and builds custom furniture at Denali Woodworking in town. He is active in the community and has been volunteering for about 15 years. It started when he found a flyer to join the Riverfront Redevelopment committee and has progressed to running for City Council.

The candidate has been

See PEINE, Page 5

Dennis Peine elected president and vice president over a nine year stretch with the Hastings Planning Commission. Peine was part of the Metropolitan Council Comprehensive Planning Committee for 2030 and 2040, and the Dakota County Planning Commission. Peine was elected president and vice president of the Hastings Economic Development and Redevelopment Authority (HEDRA) over his 12year involvement.

“I enjoy sitting down at night and feeling like there’s something that is different because I woke up today,” said Peine.

Art holds great importance to Peine. He has been part of the Hastings Public Art Advisory Committee, the Dakota County Public Art Advisory Committee as well as the Hastings Arts Task Force.

Peine’s first project as an architect was with a company called BWBR, where he helped with the Robert Street plan in West St. Paul. Though he has experience with many forms of urban planning, the overreaching theme throughout his career has been residential. He’s worked with every type and scale possible, from simple home renovations to multihundredunit apartments, college dorms, high end residential and others.

“Residential holds a special place to me because of the heightened importance due to the time that people often spend there,” said Peine.

Peine’s campaign has three main focuses: Smart growth, staff retention and fostering communication. He said there are many areas of Hastings that could benefit from the idea of an urban village, where there’s a mixture of retail and commerce with an infusion of residential units. Peine said areas like the Vermillion Street Corridor and Crossroads lots by Burger King could be improved following this model.

“The work that has happened downtown lately has been amazing,” said Peine. “I think we’ve been able to figure out a few key pieces to make downtown function more on its own. We needed to get different types of housing at various price points and scales.”

The Peine family roots run deep in the surrounding area. Peine’s father’s family were generational farmers who came from Germany. His mother’s family farmed in West St. Paul, and his grandfather’s land is now the West St. Paul Sports Complex. During Peine’s childhood, his parents built a house just outside of Hastings. This is when he discovered his passion for architecture.

“I really love architecture, design, and urban planning,” said Peine. “Being relatively good at it, I feel fortunate to have an education and realworld experience, but also being able to bring that back to my own town where it matters most.”

Peine said if elected, he would find a process that works better for communication and participation from fellow residents. He said the city needs handson solutions, and that it’s gotten too easy for people to be an armchair politician. Peine said often bringing multiple ideas together can produce the most effective outcomes.

“I have several family members who are elementary school teachers and I’ve volunteered a few times,” said Peine. 'In the classrooms, we’ve done things called rip and tear projects, where you give the kids a pile of cardboard boxes and a hot glue gun. You just start formulating and putting things together. I would like to see what I could do to bring us back to getting people in the same room again.”

Peine said he is concerned with the future developments in Hastings. He said the history and values of the town should be reflected in the new projects.

“I don’t believe that new developments are doing a very good job reflecting what has been identified through generations as the most important things to us: our architecture and our attachment to the river,” said Peine.

In his free time, Peine enjoys landscaping and working on his own furniture projects. He often finds pieces at thrift stores and refurbishes them. He has been with his partner Dan for 14 years, and the two of them have a Miniature Pinscher named Barrett and a Manx cat named Rudolph.

“Our neighbors have nicknamed our cat the bobcat,” said Peine. “He’s a rather large and bulky fellow. He’s bigger than our dog.”

Educationally, Peine attended the University of Minnesota, Dakota County Technical College, and North Dakota State University. He studied architecture, furniture design and construction.

Peine said one of his biggest sources of joy has been the local retention of his family. His nephew’s family recently purchased their second home in town, his niece is finishing up graduate school in a month and has taken a job in town. His other nephew just graduated high school and chose a college in part because of its resemblance to Hastings.

“The fact that the next generation of my family has all decided to call this home is the most amazing success I’ve ever had,” said Peine. “I’m hopeful the ripple effects of that are everywhere.”

For more information about Peine, visit his website dennispeine.com.

A drawing done by Dennis Peine with colored pencil on packaging paper of the Hastings City Hall. Photo courtesy of Dennis Peine

Dennis Peine on his annual hiking and biking trip to Itasca State Park. Photo courtesy of Dennis Peine