Elizabeth B. Kautz has been mayor since 1995, elected after serving a two years on the Burnsville City Council where she replaced Ken Wolf (R) who was elected to the State House of Representatives in District 41B. Having been re-elected eight times, she has served for over 23 years. Kautz's framework of progressive activity and financial management has been studied and may explain her consecutive re-elections, or it could be that she always seems to run unopposed. She cites in her biography, that she has reduced Burnsville's debt, increased infrastructure improvement, maintained the property tax scheduled decrease, established a new youth center, and oversaw the establishment of the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority.