It's hard not to talk about the presidential election this cycle, but in some cases what happens on the local level has a greater effect on your daily life. The politicians at the county and city level are just as able to raise your taxes and are even more likely to enact rules and regulations that can hamstring your freedom.
With that in mind, it's time to visit where we are at in some of the local races that affect New Brighton and the surrounding suburbs. The family and I were at Long Lake Regional Park this evening for a BPOU 50B bonfire/confab and a number of candidates were present, including several that this feature supports. Following is a long-overdue update on where the candidates are, one month from Election Day.
- Ed Matthews continues his quest to unseat Betty McCollum in the 4th Congressional District. It's a tough job, given the unfavorable demographics of the district, but Ed's opportunity to get noticed is nigh. McCollum has been essentially hiding from Ed for most of the campaign, but a debate will take place next week at Hamline University. It may be the only time that Ed will get a chance to share a stage with the incumbent, who is most often seen these days in one of two places: either serving as a footrest for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or quoted in anti-Al Franken ads. Today was the fourth time I've seen Ed and he continues to grow in confidence, precision and presence on the stump. He also picked up an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police, which is quite a coup in the 4th. Betty is hoping that people won't pay attention to the upcoming debate. It's quite easy to understand why.
- Lori Grivna's campaign to unseat Kate "Agent Orange" Knuth in 50B continues apace. Lori is doing very well in getting her message out this time and while yard signs are at best anecdotal evidence, it would appear that the message is getting through - I'm still seeing about a 55-45 split on signs in Lori's favor. Even though Knuth is the incumbent, Lori has a sizable advantage in experience, both politically and in life. Knuth's enthusiasm for the embrace of a bigger government is obvious and has been noticed in the district -- people I talk to aren't happy about the tax increases we've seen in Ramsey County and there's reason to believe that people are noticing that Knuth had a pretty big hand in making it happen. Knuth's maniacal fealty to global warming/climate change/cap and trade isn't resonating so much in this cycle, especially with gas prices remaining north of $3 a gallon. The next few weeks will be crucial and Lori will have opportunities to debate Knuth in the coming days; the distinctions are strong and clear and Lori should have the better of it.
- Richard Moses faces a tough but winnable fight against the entrenched incumbent, Jan Parker, for the District 2 seat on the Ramsey County board, which primarily includes New Brighton, Roseville, Lauderdale and parts of St. Anthony. Rick has a presentation up on his website and shares a truly maddening tale of the way the Ramsey County board currently operates. You should definitely click the link and hear what Rick has to say, especially about a supposedly open budget meeting that suddenly adjourned after only 10 minutes when it became clear that citizens wanted to participate. Parker chairs the County Board and she apparently thinks that she is above scrutiny. Rick is the guy to call her out on the egregious behavior that the Board has undertaken. Reform is needed in St. Paul and Rick will fight for it. He's a smart guy and he will take constituent service seriously, unlike Commissioner Parker, who is the political equivalent of Brigadoon, only appearing when she needs votes.
- Both candidates for District 1 (generally comprised of Mounds View, Arden Hills, Shoreview, North Oaks and White Bear Township) attended the event this evening. Tony Bennett is the incumbent and has been a member of the Republican Party for many years. He has performed valuable service for his constituents as a state legislator and on the County Board - it would be uncharitable to say otherwise. But at this point in his career, we're seeing diminishing returns. Commisioner Bennett has gone along with the other commissioners and has too often voted in ways that are contrary to taxpayer interests. That's why District 1 voters really owe it to themselves to take a close look at newcomer Jim Schottmuller, a very impressive young man who is challenging Bennett. When it comes to the issues, Jim stands with Rick Moses on the need for reform. I hadn't seen Jim before tonight and I came away very impressed. Jim has an excellent grasp of the issues and makes his case quite well. He understands that changing the culture on the County Board will be difficult and has no illusions about it, but my guess is that he would be a dynamic force for change on the board. No matter the results of this election, we will be hearing more from Jim Schottmuller, whose picture appears on this post.
I'll continue to watch these races as Election Day approaches. We have some excellent candidates in Ramsey County and they deserve your support.
Cross-posted at True North
2 comments:
I was also at the bonfire and overheard a party old timer say to the woman he was talking to that Tony may be in the Republican Party but he hasn't been a Republican for the last 20 years. I had several interesting conversations with people and learned that Tony fought like hell to head off a special party meeting to endorse a commissioner candidate from District 1. If an incumbant is doing his job it seems to me that he would have have the advantage here. After meeting Jim and talking to some others I understand why Benentt would want to avoid an endorsement meeting like the plague.
It looks like the Repubs have some good candidates and I hope they get elected because the current bunch in office are not cutting it as far as I'm concerned.
A very nice accounting of the event, and I didn't even see Mark taking notes!
I've heard the exact same comment on more than one occasion regarding Tony Bennett that Anonymous recounts (and although I didn't hear it last night I can make a very educated guess on who the party elder was). Tony has been around for a long time but, just as athletes need to retire when they no longer can perform at an acceptable level, long time politicians need to get out when the game overtakes them and Mark's "diminishing returns" characterization is a classy and dignified way of putting it. Jim is the right candidate at the right time for the job.
All of the candidates profiled in this post would be a vast improvement over the incumbents they are running against.
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