Mayor’s Minutes: Crystal’s Julie Deshler
Newly-elected Crystal Mayor Julie Deshler spoke with CCX Media’s Dave Kiser as part of the on-going Mayor’s Minutes series.
Deshler outlined a few of her priorities headed into her first term.
Crystal Mayor Julie Deshler in the CCX Media studios in January 2025.
“My biggest and largest priority is the appearance and the streetscape areas in our business communities,” she said. “I think it will just make the city look more welcoming, and hopefully that will improve the opportunities for new businesses to come into town.”
She also talked about wanting to better understand water rates the city charges.
“I’d like to have the council and the staff do a deeper dive into water rates just to make sure that they’re fair across the board,” said Deshler. “When I was out campaigning, a lot of people were discussing the water rates and the disparity.”
Deshler also reminded residents about better parking practices during snow storms. The City of Crystal has a year-round ban on parking on city streets between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and when it does snow, the city asks drivers to move their cars off the streets after 1.5 inches of snow has fallen to allow plows to clear the streets from curb to curb.
She also encouraged residents to not put their trash or recycling containers in the street if it snows, as that also impedes the progress of clearing the street from curb to curb.
Finally, Deshler promoted the city’s Neighbors Recognizing Neighbors program, which is taking nominations until February 21.
“There’s a lot of wonderful people and residents in the city of Crystal, and there’s a lot of times when a neighbor goes out of the way to be helpful,” said Deshler.
