Bill Hoffman, A Roseville Council Candidate With a Public Administration Background

Bill Hoffman is running for city council after a more than 15-year career in the commercial and non-profit world of Washington, DC, and Minnesota.

He said he’s running in order to use his academic background—he holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh—to help his adopted community of Roseville.

“I’m a professional guy who’s worked in the business world having to meet budgets, having to manage budgets,” he said. “Across the array of my educational and professional background, I’d be a good representative.”

Hoffman grew up in the suburbs of DC, moving to Pennsylvania for his family before heading south to New Orleans for college.

He moved to Minnesota in 2004 from DC, where Hoffman had held a number of jobs related to policy analysis and advocacy, after he was offered a position with Novartis Nutrition. He met his wife shortly after he arrived in Minnesota.

Currently, Hoffman, 44, serves as the state program manager for Connect Minnesota, a non-profit dedicated to spreading the availability of broadband Internet access.

He looks to play a large role in monitoring the city’s finances.

The key issue areas that I would like to focus on would be fiscal responsibility to make sure we maintain and even enhance our city’s fiscal position for the future,” Hoffman said. “ I’d look at ways we might find more efficiencies that result in savings [such as] maximizing our return on investment.”

He also said he had plans to expand the city’s community engagement.

“One of the reasons I like living in Roseville is we do a pretty good job engaging the community through both private operations such as Patch and Roseville View and public such as the city’s newsletter,” he said. “I’d like to look at more ways to do it: If I am elected, I’m committed to holding a monthly informal gathering—whether it’s at the library or at a local business—just to get people to come and discuss issues of importance to the community.”