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The two candidates for mayor squared off in a candidate forum Tuesday night sponsored by the New Babbitt Weekly News.
Joe White and Andrea Zupancich answered questions from moderator and Babbitt Weekly Publisher Nick Wognum.
White is currently on the council and Zupancich previously served as mayor before running for state Senate in 2022.
Zupancich said she has lived in Babbitt for almost 30 years, raising four children and now has two grandchildren here as well. She served eight years on the council and two years as mayor. Zupancich is also on the county and city planning commissions.
White has lived in Babbitt for 12 years, he and his wife have six children and a granddaughter. He has a military background and was awarded a Purple Heart. Smith was elected to the council in 2022 and serves on the audit, steering and library committees. White currently works for NewRange Copper Nickel and is involved in leadership positions in the local VFW and Legion. Smith is the assistant director of the ambulance department and a captain on the fire department The possibility of a new city hall building didn’t really sit well with either candidate. Smith said he has been involved with looking at ways to improve the current Municipal Center.
“I think this building is well worth keeping,” said Smith.
Zupancich said she agreed. “I’d like to know what needs to be done and what the costs are,” said Zupancich who owns zUpNorth Realty. “I deal with real estate every day and work with the cost of building versus fixing something up. I think we should see what we have and is it fixable.”
Housing is a need for the community and Zupancich said she was on the council when the West Babbitt housing development was first proposed. She said new housing needs to serve a variety of needs.
The lack of houses for sale is at an all time low, according to Zupancich. White said part of that is due to short term rental properties.
“I think the city needs to look at limiting the number of Airbnbs. We have around 800 houses we can’t have 50 houses be Airbnbs,” said White. He advocated sitting down with NewRange, Twin Metals and Pulsar Helium to talk about future plans. “There’s not an easy solution. We need to be working together to solve this problem together.”
The mayor only has one vote and has to build consensus on the counci. White said he did after getting elected.
“The council was not on the same page when I started,” said White. He said getting the council to work better together took eight months.
“Everybody was going different directions and I kind of pulled back when we had an issue with the library and budgeting time. I got to work with them and kind of made some peace with the council and the library board,” said White.
He pointed to improvements being made around town to city facilities and said he pushed state legislators for funding. White said that turned into the city getting $1.5 million for the arena and $200,000 for parks.
Zupancich agreed with White and said, “We need to make Babbitt look very attractive to people to get them to move here. We need them to move here and raise their kids.” She added Babbitt needs to continue to embrace the “minerals God gave us” including Pulsar. “And we need to look viable to businesses coming in here. I think we have so much potential. And I’ve always thought Babbitt is either the brink of either expanding and exploding, greater than what we ever were, or just becoming a suburb of Ely.”
Both candidates were asked about taxes including levy increases.
Zupancich said, “We are always going to have increases in wages and health care and a maintenance list that goes on and on. You have to determine, as a council, because we are stewards of the taxpayer’s money, at what point do you sacrifice services versus necessity? And that’s a decision that no council ever wants to make.”
Zupancich said she is a huge supporter of the library and recreation “because those are the things that make the town, you know, more attractive and we want people to come here.”
White agreed on the importance of the library and recreation department but that the city has to be responsible financially.
“The city has to operate like you do at home, right? Inflation is hurting everybody, and if we don’t deal with the levy to some degree down the road we’re going to end up where you have to raise it a lot higher,” said White.
The city council also serves as the Economic Development Authority but monthly meetings are sometimes only two minutes long.
White admitted the council needs to focus more on this. “It needs to be a primary issue and will be one I will work on.”
Zupancich said the city council as a whole has a responsibility to help the town grow. She said there has been misconceptions on why the dollar store and the bulk fuel tanks didn’t build in Babbitt.
She said the dollar store was offered land in the city limits but turned it down.
As was the case with the council candidates last week, there wasn’t a lot of support for the city building a marina on Birch Lake.
Zupancich pointed out she was originally against the city campground project. “I don’t believe the city should run a private business,” she said. “Now I am 100 percent for the campground, it’s absolutely beautiful.”
However, Zupancich said she has a lot of questions about the proposed marina and “I’m not for it being a city run property and not for the location. I feel it will take away from recreation for that spot.”
White’s answer was similar. “I’m not in favor of the marina I don’t like the design or the location of it,” he said. “I’m also not a fan of the city owning a business but I want the campground to succeed.”
Whether chickens should be allowed in town was also discussed.
“I’m for chickens otherwise my wife will have me sleeping in the backyard,” said White. He noted the change will require four of the five council members vote for it.
White said he will take into account what the community survey comes up with. “It’s not just a matter of what Joe White wants.”
Zupancich said she is for having chickens and pointed out Babbitt is already home to plenty of ducks and geese.
“As long as it’s regulated and taken care of if we have complaints about the smell you need to call and lodge a complaint. We have a zoning officer. If you want to have chickens have chickens,” said Zupancich.
On the proposal for a regional ambulance service run by Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital both candidates had questions.
Zupancich said, “It’s something that really needs to be looked. It’s not an easy situation. I would like to see that we’re able to keep our own. I would like to see that we’re able to expand on more volunteers.”
White said for Babbitt it’s not a budget issue, it’s having enough personnel. “Our aging department is at a point where we have to start seriously looking at ways to improve it to where it can become a living wage for a lot of the shifts or we’re gonna end up being forced to go to Ely and be a part of that program.”
Later Zupancich said the city needs to look at additional areas for light industrial zoning since the land behind the Municipal Center is all that is available now. She said the planning commission has been working on a land swap with the DNR.
White said there nees to be more commercial spots for businesses to build on.
“I go back to working with Pulsar and the mines to help plan land options and get funding. Babbitt is extremely resourceful at getting funding, maybe it’s because we’re good BSers.”
White added he has nothing against Zupancich and if he loses he will still be on the council with her. “I think we’ll work well together.” He also encouraged younger people to get involved and run for office.
“Nothing against old faces but we need some new faces,” said White.
Zupancich said she had to pivot as mayor when Covid hit to running meetings on Zoom. “It was definitely a trying time.”
