Elizabeth Kautz is an American politician currently serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Burnsville, Minnesota Burnsville () is a city south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County, Minnesota. The city lies on a bluff overlooking the south bank of the Minnesota River upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Burnsville and nearby subur ...

since 1995. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, she has been re-elected to her office eight times.

Career

Burnsville City Council

Before being elected mayor, Kautz served as a councilwomen on the Burnsville City Council from 1992 to 1994.

Mayor of Burnsville

Kautz was first appointed mayor in 1995 to serve the remainder of Ken Wolf's term following his election to the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

. She is currently serving on her eight term with her most recent election being in 2020 where she won re-election with 63.6% of the vote. As Mayor she has focused on community development, quality of life and financial management green-lighting renovation campaigns to turn unproductive parts of the city into its financial backbone, allowing more money to be spent on public transportation and retrofitting all municipal buildings with

LED lights An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

. She has also financed a new $20 million Performing Arts Center in the city's downtown, initially receiving public backlash for using taxpayer dollars, but successfully turning the Center into a pillar of the community. She has also participated in national politics, being a strong supporter of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and his presidency, being one of the first politicians to travel to

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...

directly following the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

to congratulate him in person.

United States Conference of Mayors

Mayor Kautz was selected to serve as the 68th President of the

United States Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...

. She was appointed to finish the remainder of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

mayor

Greg Nickels Gregory J. Nickels (born August 7, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 51st mayor of Seattle, Washington. He took office on January 1, 2002 and was reelected to a second term in 2005. In August 2009, Nickels finished third in the p ...

2009 to 2010 term as his re-election bid was defeated shortly after being named the Conference's President in 2009. She also held her own tenure from 2010 to 2011. During her term she focused the conference's efforts on immigration issues. Namely creating a universal and concise definition of a

sanctuary city Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...

and streamlining how local law enforcement interacts with

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

and the

DHS The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

. Following the expiring of her term, she has also worked as the conference's Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee.

Personal life

Kautz is currently unmarried and 75 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kautz, Elizabeth Living people Minnesota Republicans Mayors of places in Minnesota St. Catherine University alumni Adler University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)