Rochester City Council Ward 5 candidates

ROCHESTER — Two candidates will be on the Nov. 8 ballot for the Rochester City Council Ward 5 seat.

Each candidate was sent a short questionnaire seeking background information and their reason for seeking the council seat that served the city’s northeastern district.

Here’s what they provided:

Name: Shaun C. Palmer

Age: 62

Occupation: Project manager for Great Lakes Superior Walls; Red Cross certified lifeguard instructor and water safety instructor; retired Rochester building inspector; retired Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center front desk and swimming instructor.

Education: Bachelor of science degree in industry and construction from Winona State University.

Have you held elected office? Ward 5 council member, 2019-present.

Have you served on local government boards or commissions? Olmsted County Environmental Commission.

Community involvement: 

• Camp Olson YMCA past president.
• Winona Yacht Club founder.

What are your top three campaign issues:

• Public safety, public works and parks.
• To serve all the citizens of the 5th Ward.
• Have more public involvement in the workings of Rochester.

What makes you the most qualified candidate for this position? Having the experience and the depth of knowledge on the issues that face the everyday citizen of Rochester. Knowing who to listen to for their input from many different perspectives that our residents have.

What will be your top goal if elected? Continue to support the public safety of Rochester and public works and parks of Rochester. To work on getting more involvement into the decisions of Rochester. Having people feel their opinion counts.

Name: Saida Omar

Age: 59

Occupation: CEO and president of Remjoy Transportation.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in health care administrator; law and leadership in health care administration certificate.

Have you held elected office? None.

Have you served on local government boards or commissions? None.

Community involvement: None.

What are your top three campaign issues? 

• Equitable education.
• Equitable health care.
• Fair housing.

What makes you the most qualified candidate for this position? In the last 12 years, I have been working for vulnerable adults and children. I have seen what they have been going through firsthand, and to help them I must give back to the community.

Most importantly we need fair housing. Housing is a big problem; we need affordable housing that is livable for all Rochester.

What will be your top goal if elected? Tackle the housing situation and find a way to make sure that all families, no matter the size, have a place they can call home and feel comfortable. Promote and build homes that accommodate large-size families with home buying accessibility.

Make our city a humble welcoming city that our communities feel at home.