Lisa Vatnsdal: Neighborhoods of Choice

By Rebecca Lahlum
Contributing Writer

I had the pleasure to sit down and visit with Lisa Vatnsdal on a cloudy Saturday morning. She and I had such a comfortable conversation sitting on a park bench in one of Moorhead’s many neighborhood parks.

Lisa is one of the people who works hard to ensure that Moorhead has the nice city neighborhoods that it does. That is just one of the many, many things Lisa contributes to our community.

Lisa Vatnsdal is the Neighborhood Services Manager for the City of Moorhead, and recently received the 2010 Minnesota Women in City Government Leadership award.

Lisa oversees community development with respect to code enforcement, including managing housing financing, environmental health inspections, property maintenance, and much more.

Basically, this department encompasses a broad range of factors to make neighborhood safe, clean, and accessible. Lisa summed it up best with “making sure Moorhead has ‘Neighborhoods of Choice’“.

Lisa is not new to city government. She started with the City of Moorhead 20 years ago as an office associate. She had her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration when she started her position with the city, and then earned a Master’s of Science degree in Public and Human Services while working full-time.
She said studying for her Master’s degree while working was a good fit; because so many things she studied applied to her career. In 2005 the city reconfigured to contain the Neighborhood Services Department.

Lisa now leads an all-female team that includes interns, graduates fresh out of college, and women who have been working in their field for some time.

When I asked Lisa to tell me more about her award, she said she initially had mixed feelings about her nomination. She explained that she didn’t consider herself a woman who stood out in city government, but an individual working in city government. After enjoying the presentation at the League of MN Women in Government’s awards, she began to realize that women are not well represented in many levels of government.

Lisa was very pleased that she had brought her daughter, Jillian, to the award ceremony, so that Jillian could see all the women who represented their communities and cities. Jillian has been exposed to local government from an early age. Lisa laughed when recalling her daughter going to civic meetings with her. She also joked, with a note of pride in her eyes, that her daughter could probably teach some of the civic classes she was taking.

Another way Lisa gives to our Fargo-Moorhead community is through her volunteer service. She says she loves to volunteer because “it’s so different from my day to day”. Lisa and her dog, a schoodle, are a pet therapy team. Lisa and her dog Ruby visit various hospitals, retirement homes and assisted living facilities, and even some community events. She and Ruby have just been at the Dog Days of Summer event at Eventide.

Lisa is also involved with Habitat for Humanity. She served on the Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008, and as Vice President of the Women Build Steering Committee.

Lisa has been a huge asset to this organization with her expertise in neighborhood planning. She said her favorite part of being involved with Habitat for Humanity was watching the family move into their new house.

The West Central Initiative, where Lisa has sat on the Board of Directors since 2008,  is yet another way that Lisa gives to our community. The West Central Initiative is an economic and community development foundation comprised of a nine-county region.

Lisa Vatnsdal is a remarkable individual. She does so much for the city of Moorhead and surrounding communities through her career and volunteer work. She has struck a balance between her professional and personal lives that is beneficial to so many people, while rewarding and satisfying to her at the same time. Her helpful nature and calm, accommodating demeanor is so well suited to both her work and her interests.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to sit down and spend a morning in one of Moorhead’s numerous neighborhood parks with Lisa, one of the people who works hard to ensure that Moorhead has these neighborhoods of choice.

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