Who Is Sherry Butcher?

Eden Prairie has been my home for 26 years, our family moved here when my oldest son, Nick was one year old. We lived in southeast Eden Prairie where we moved into a neighborhood with several farms and very few houses. In fact, we picked up our mail three blocks from our home on a dirt road! It felt like the "country" in the early 1980's, but Eden Prairie was changing quickly. In 1988 our second son, Neal, was born and he graduated from Eden Prairie High School in 2006.

Soon after moving to Eden Prairie I became involved in community work, focusing on environmental matters such as preserving our original prairie lands and big woods. It was this time in Eden Prairie's history that the landfill was becoming a dangerous toxic concern. I began working to get the Eden Prairie landfill closed and the site cleaned up. With great community effort we did succeed in closing down the polluted landfill and BFI made reparations to our town for the pollution they had caused.

In 1992, I was appointed by the City Council to the Eden Prairie Heritage Preservation Commission and was a member and chair until I was elected to the City Council in 1996. During those years of service the city gained numerous grants to assist in the preservation of city-owned historic properties, established a local heritage sites system, completed a book on "Preserving Eden Prairie," and partnered with the Oak Point Intermediate School to introduce local history curriculum to sixth grade students.

As an elected official:

I am honored to be serving my third term on the Eden Prairie City Council and I am excited to be running for a fourth term this year. Over the past twelve years during my tenure as a member of the city council, Eden Prairie has grown into a vibrant city that has been nationally recognized as one the 10 best places to live. I am privileged to have worked with insightful leaders and talented city staff in helping to lead our city. The future direction of Eden Prairie is essential in maintaining our high quality of life and our continued economic prosperity. I am running for reelection to ensure that sound decisions are made to keep Eden Prairie on the right track. I respectfully ask for your support for another four years on the City Council. I promise I will continue to make "smart government" decisions for our community. In addition to serving on the Eden Prairie City Council my service also includes:

Five years as a member of the Advisory Board to the Hennepin South Services Collaborative (formerly known as South Hennepin Regional Planning Association)
Four years as a member of the Eden Prairie Foundation
Served for two years on the Committee for Democratic Governance for the National League of Cities
Since 2001 I have served on the Board of Directors for the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust

City Council Accomplishments:

Read the Minnesota Women's Press article on Sherry!

Over the past twelve years Eden Prairie has grown to a population of 65,000 residents and our business community has reached a healthy 2,620 businesses. We've added new parks and trails, including the Richard T. Anderson Park and Purgatory Creek Park, which opened with a symbolic bridge dedication to our former mayor, Dr. Jean Harris and have recently added a resident-driven memorial to Purgatory Creel Park celebrating our current and past veterans. During my time as a City Council member we have cleaned up a beloved swimming lake, and shaped up a shopping mall, which boasts more than a million visitors a month! We've (finally) built a portion of highway 212, the long planned highway that opens up the western part of the city and relieves traffic congestion for all travelers.

In the past twelve years we have become a safer community. We have added more community police officers and a fire chief and lieutenant, along with many more volunteer firefighters. We have built two new fire stations to serve all regions of our community and we have and added state-of-the-art firefighting equipment to each station.

I have voted to continue an active Senior Center and I have voted to partner with a business to transform a lovely historic farm house into a popular meeting place for all ages that sells great coffee. With strong community pride we have remodeled our aging Community Center, and recently added a donated Arts Center to our list of assets to better serve our residents.

We have worked hard to provide the highest quality public service amenities in the most efficient and efficient way possible to keep our taxes low and our property values high.

I value the legacy of past city councils who voted to adopt finanancial policies that guided the City and continued the long-time investments in infrastructure and viable programs such as road improvements, public works, and parks. This is a philosophy I share.

The City of Eden Prairie has consistently won awards for its budgetary planning and is consistently recognized for its natural beauty, excellent parks, trails and open space, attractive business environment, commitment to public safety, high rated schools and its retail conveniences. Eden Prairie is a great place to raise a family, buy a home and establish a business. While the city has accomplished many goals during by twelve years of serviced to the community, some of the highlights include:

AAA bond rating from Moody's (the highest bond rating awarded)
An assessed property value of more than $8 billion for homes and businesses
National recognition in CNN/Money Magazine for being one of the "Top 10 Cities" in the United States.
National recognition for being selected as one of the best cities in the United States to raise a family
National awards for budget preparation, public safety and excellence in transit

Work life:

After graduating with a Master's degree from the University of Minnesota, I worked as Curator of Collections at both the Science Museum of Minnesota and the American Swedish Institute. In 2002, I became the Project Leader for New Initiatives at the College of St. Catherine for the Leadership Institute, promoting leadership programs for women in business and public office. Currently, I am the Director of Continuing Education and Training at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, where I direct the Public Leadership Academy for Elected Officials and I create learning programs for Minnesota businesses to foster innovation and build new capacities in companies.

As a curator and historian I have authored articles and books, including "Historic House Museums," published by Oxford University Press, which has an international audience.

Education:

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in anthropology/archaeology and a master's degree in American history with a specialization in museum studies, both degrees from the University of Minnesota. I am also a certified civil mediator, receiving training from the Dispute Resolution Institute at Hamline University School of Law. In 2007, I was honored to be selected by the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts, as an Alumni of Notable Achievement. I am committed to life-long learning, especially in leadership development and I have been awarded a Bronze certificate from the National League of Cities Leadership Institute for leadership in public office.