On our podcast earlier this week, we began spreading rumors about candidates for Northfield City Council this fall… people who either might be considering filing or who are being lobbied to run for council or mayor by others. Since then, I’ve heard a few more names.
- Betsey Buckheit
- Dana Graham
- Dave Hvistendahl
- Dave Maroney
- Dixon Bond
- Jane McWilliams
- Jessica Peterson
- Jim Pokorney
- Ken Malecha
- Kris Vohs
- Lee Lansing
- Noah Cashman
- Ray Cox
- Scott Davis
Expiring terms:
- Lee Lansing — Mayor
- Kris Vohs — At-Large
- Scott Davis — Second Ward
- Arnie Nelson — Third Ward
Who else would you like to see run for council/mayor? Attach a comment. In a week or so, I’ll create a straw poll.
According to this positions open/candidates needed page on the LWV site:
NORTHFIELD CITY COUNCIL
OPEN SEATS: 2nd Ward, 3rd Ward, one At Large
FILING PERIOD: July 1-15, 2008
(last date to withdraw, July 17)
FILING FEE: $5.00
WHERE TO FILE: Northfield City Hall
801 Washington Street
PRIMARY ELECTION: September 9
(If more than 2 file for one seat)
GENERAL ELECTION: November 4
LENGTH OF TERM: 4 YearsNORTHFIELD MAYOR
OPEN SEAT: Mayor
FILING PERIOD: July 1-15, 2008
(last date to withdraw, July 17)
FILING FEE: $5.00
WHERE TO FILE: Northfield City Hall
801 Washington Street
PRIMARY ELECTION: September 9
(If more than 2 file)
GENERAL ELECTION: November 4
LENGTH OF TERM: 4 Years
Alan Lindberg has filed for Ward 3. Anyone know anything about him?
Anne Maple has filed for School Board.
Jake Gillen has filed for his seat, District 1. Jerry Anderson has filed for Rice Cty District 5. Both of those seats involve Northfield Wards.
Milt Plaisance has filed for his seat, District 3. And Gary Wagenbach has file for District 4.
Eymard Boehmer of Wheatland Township, Montgomery area, may be a potential candidate for County Commissioner Jim Brown’s seat. I hear good things about Jeff Docken, but it’s always good to have two people running, so the public gets more chance to compare and contrast.
I would be on cloud nine if Gary Wagenbach filed for county commissioner, but that would be Jake Gillen’s district, Dist. 1. You may want to doublecheck, Griff.
Griff,
How about 2 separate tabs on the nav bar specifically for LOCAL Elections, and one for National Election discussions.
I am sure we are going to have LOTS to talk about, but it would be nice to keep those out of the normal stream of things, as there will be a ton of postings.
Also, it would be nice to give users another option for just these messages in e-mail form.
-Just a thought.
John, we talked about variations of this idea at our triumvirate meeting after yesterday’s podcast. We haven’t conclusively decided on a course of action, but it appears we’re thinking along the same lines you are. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jerold D. Friedman has filed for the 3rd Ward. Anyone know anything about him?
At-large Northfield City Councilor Noah Cashman resigned this morning, effective immediately.
http://northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=23131
http://www.northfieldnews.com/photos/cashmanresignationletter.pdf
Jerold Friedman has actually filed for the 2nd Ward seat (Secretary of State’s website lists a campaign address on Elianna Drive, which is a street of townhomes east of the soccer complex).
I’m sorry Noah Cashman is leaving the Council -- certainly his sister and her family should take priority and his assessment that he can’t do adequately do his new “day job” and devote sufficient attention to his constituents is a rational decision. His voice on council was a strong one and I was hoping to serve with Noah if I won the 2nd Ward seat in November.
Thanks Noah.
Thanks, Betsey… so the Nfld News got it wrong on the Friedman filing?
http://www.northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=23098
Ok Griff -- This might stimulate some action. I filed for the 4 year at large council position.
The resignation of Noah Cashman is a great loss for the city. I hope for the best for his sister Sarah.
David D., just to clarify -- this is the position currently held by Kris Vohs, correct?
Thank you for letting us know!
Yes Tracy, that would be the seat. I thought that with the resignation of Noah Cashman people might be confused and think i was filing for the remainder of that term. Iwas trying to be out front of the curve by identifying the position sought by term length as that is how the offices will be differentiated on the election ballot.(Charter Sec. 5.5)
The Charter also outlines other information you or others may find interesting about the vacancy that exists because of the resignation.
From Sec 3.5
the council shall by resolution declare the vacancy to exist and shall forthwith appoint an eligible person to fill the vacancy.
If the vacancy occurs between January 1 and July 31, the appointee shall serve until the end of the current year.
A replacement shall be elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the year in which the appointment expires.
the elected replacement shall have a shortened term that fills the unexpired part of the term of the person requiring replacement.
And Sec. 5.3
The procedure of such election shall conform as nearly as possible to that prescribed for other municipal elections, except that a primary election shall not be held for any special election for filling a vacancy or vacancies in the council.
And Sec. 5.6
A candidate seeking to fill the unexpired term of a vacated office shall file an affidavit of candidacy with the city clerk not more than 70 days nor less than 56 days before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Which I believe works out to be from Tuesday August 26th to Tuesday September 9th.
I hope that helps clarify things for you. Now all we need is some one to clarify what kind of time frame forthwith might entail.
I am getting good feedback about Matt Drevlow, president of the board for Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, who has filed for the Dist. 3 seat currently held by Jake Gillen (see Tuesday Faribault Daily News). He lives in the country, has his business in town, a good combination.
The impression I have is that Faribault gets very little consideration from the County Board, possibly due to the fact that none of the 3 commissioners who represent parts of the city (Plaisance, Gillen and Bauer) live in town. A prime example would be allowing Metcon to relocate from Faribault industrial park to the ag zone north of there as a “contractor’s yard.” That allowed use in the county ordinance was meant for a small business with a couple of trucks, not relocation of a major industry. Malt O Meal has now built a huge warehouse at that location and I’m hearing of other businesses to follow. It is throwing a lot of truck traffic onto township roads, including ours.
I’ve been thinking about running for council in the upcoming elections -- I’m eligible for 2nd Ward, both At-Large, and Mayor. But I need some advice:
I’m pretty sure that if Lee Lansing had not run for Mayor in 2004 and succeeded, but had instead focused on his building & business venture, we would all now be buying our booze at the municipal liquor store in his building in the 600 block.
My dilemma is this: I intend to reapply for rezoning of my property (my home) at 1001 Division Street from residential to commercial as and when the new Comp Plan is done -- likely, this will not be until the end of 2008.
I understand that the prospects for rezoning being granted are good. But I imagine Lee Lansing has a similar confidence about his project, until he became Mayor Lansing and the sky fell in.
Needless to say, I am not considering public office in order to get 1001 rezoned. So what do you advise?
Norman,
My $0.02, and I am not a lawyer: I’d advise running for office. If elected, I’d recommend 1) stating your intentions regarding your home in advance (check), and recusing yourself from all official discussions (in meetings as well as outside communications) that touch on 1) the rezoning of your property in particular (duh), 2) any discussion of the rules by which downtown properties are considered for zoning changes, and 3) any discussion of changes to the actual zoning of the area containing your property.
That still leaves you with a very wide range of job activities you could perform without recusal. When it comes time for the council to vote on your request (does the Council vote on all zoning changes?), you could recuse yourself, and speak on the subject from the pulpit, as an ordinary citizen with a request.
Your question does lead to other interesting ones, though:
At what point does your financial stake in Chapati and the Contented Cow constitute a conflict of interest?
It would seem that you should be able to discuss things that affect all businesses equally, such as general tax levies, or -- say -- parking regulations.
But might it be a conflict of interest if you voted on the fee rate for sidewalk dining? If so, is it a conflict of interest to avocate for sidewalk dining in general? I think not.
My own limited (and not recent) reading of the Charter doesn’t give me a clear sense of exactly where that line lies -- except that it comes somewhere before directing public business to your own door.
This isn’t a new problem, so there must be good guidelines out there which could be of help. And maybe an elaboration of the Charter’s “conflict of interest” section is in order to keep you (or any other hypothetical office holder) out of peril of unintentional misdeed.
Norman, I’d advise against running since you don’t have a track record of serving in some other public or civic leadership capacity. Better to get the location rezoned with the new council, maybe try to get appointed to some board or commission to start learning the ropes from the other side, and then consider running in 2010.
Griff,
I am going to have to disagree with your post #119 on advising Norm not to run.
I do not know Norm other than seeing him in his businesses. However I would highly recommend that he or anyone else who is interested run for election to the council.
I get tired of people who say that because you have not been involved in public service before you can not run for city council. To say that because Norm, or anyone else, has not spent time on the planning commission, etc. they do not posses the abilities to be an effective council member, is a ludicrous position to take. Any citizen who has concerns about the way the city has run the last few years has the right to file and run.
Now if you are saying there is a potential conflict of interest based on his home and the rezoning I think that is more of a personal matter. I think Patrick does a nice job of laying out a good way form Norm to go about that process. As long as he, Norm, is up front about his application and removes himself from any conflicting votes I do not see a problem.
I am hoping for a new council to be seated that is ready to put the past few years behind them and work towards putting the city back on track. I think this will be a very important election for the future of the city.
I encourage every interested person to file and run.
Thanks for chiming in, Bruce.
Norman either inadvertently or deliberately brings up a very interesting point. The City charter defines a conflict of interest very clearly; I don’t see anything wrong with Norman running for council as long as he clearly declares his interest in any particular action regarding a property he owns.
However, as the recent liquor store fracas has demonstrated, there’s a difference between declaring an interest, and lobbying behind the scenes on behalf of that interest. In addition, there are those in this community who are not content with state law and city ordinance, and think that if an elected official benefits in any way from a decision made by the City, it’s unethical. Not being so simplistic or literally-minded, I disagree. But that’s the sort of issue Norman would be facing.
My two bits’ worth: Norman, I’d be happy to have you represent me on the council, but I think you might actually do more good for Northfield as an independent business owner doing what you do so well now.
Actually, Griff, Norman does have a big fat track record of holding public office in England, and in a much more complicated district system than the council here in goodold (fast becoming bigbad) Northfield. So he is no stranger to political process.
Based on your recommendation, Mary Rossing should be feeling that you don’t think she should run either…is that so?
I think it might be of some slight advantage to have been on a Board/Commission, but not necessarily; The most important thing is that the person running should be really engaged in the process. There’s always a first time to get engaged; the willingness to work hard for the community is ALL… the most important factor by far.
Go for it, Norm!
Norman, for someone who wants to offer the city a clean slate, why would you bring along a pocketful of chalk instead of an eraser?
Please resolve your zoning issue and then run two years from now. Spare the city another round of confusion and complications, just when the council should be sitting down and solving problems together.
I don’t feel that businesspeople should be barred from voting on tax issues, it’s just that your rezoning is such a very personal and specific issue that it should not become an election issue — or an issue after the election.
Declaring that you want the rezoning makes it a question for other candidates. Will you work to defeat candidates who are qualified in other areas but who have declared they will vote against your financial interests? Will you be able to work with them if they are elected and vote against you?
You and they shouldn’t have to be in that uncomfortable position.
I agree with Anne Bretts (Post #123,and Griff W., it’s just a sticky wicket, luv.
Anne, would you also bar anyone who rents or owns a rental in Northfield from running, on the theory that they will have to help revise a rental code that will affect their property? What about the owner of a historic building who intends to have work done that will be affected by the building code?
The answer is not to bar anyone with a potential conflict from running for or holding office. The recusal system, though not used properly recently, will work if people use common sense to avoid getting into hot water. And of course, the best solution is simply to do a thorough update of the charter, including reasons for and full description of recusal from discussion/voting.
Felicity, you make excellent points, and ordinarily I would agree with you. I think Norm could vote on broad rental codes and other policy issues that involve him as a part of a larger group. Given the particular players involved in this situation, however, along with the potential for controversy over the proposal and the raw feelings on the council right now, I just think it would be wise to allow Norm to lobby to his full capability as a private citizen and resolve his zoning problem, then wait until the next election to join the council. To have one of the mayor’s closest supporters involved in a contentious issue with some of the same councilors who have survived the last year seems to be an odd way of creating a clean slate.
Norman, many in these blogs discuss transparency as being important in our government processes. You have been very transparent on at least these two things:
1. You’d like to run for council
2. You’d like a zoning change for your building
From my perspective, you have done what is needed to be in the clear regarding your candidacy…so, go for it! There is no experience requirement and voters are left to judge whether they want to give you the power to make decisions as their representative.
If (or when) you are elected, then I would suggest that you establish a very high standard of disclosure and transparency for items that will benefit you disproportionally and recuse yourself from discussion and voting on such items….just as you said you would do.
Felicity- Your comment,”…The answer is not to bar anyone with a potential conflict from running for or holding office. The recusal system, though not used properly recently, will work if people use common sense to avoid getting into hot water…” really hits two nails on the head. Unless a person is from another planet, which actually disqualifies him anyway, there is no possible way to avoid every possibility of a conflicy of interest. The local government does, after all, affect every citizen living in Northfield. There has been so much media attention on the national level to this type of thing that I think your second comment hits the other nail- common sense. This quality, unfortunately, is becoming a scarce commodity recently. I think it was Samuel Clements who said that the only problem with common sense is that it is not very common anymore. Great observations on your part.
David- Great example of Felicity’s common sense approach. I think the level of hysteria in this town could be lowered considerably if the elected officials just follow the directives. There is validity to avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, and this is done through transparency IMNSHO.
Just so everyone understands … if they had read all the background memos from the infamous Everett report, and all the council packets, AND been at the meetings or watched them on TV, they would know that the Mayor has checked with the city attorney (both verbally and in writing) constantly on his need to recuse himself, gone beyond all legal requirements to recuse himself from meetings, and regardless of how you feel about the Mayor, not recusing himself is not something of which he can be legitimately accused.
Former City Councilor Dana Graham filed for the Council at-large seat today.
If the mayor has done everything correctly, why was there an alegation of unethical behavior against him out of all the investigations? Maybe I missed something here, but I thought that was the result.
Kiffi, I could not agree more with your post #129. However, the question still remains in my mind if the mayor did not ‘accidentally’ throw in an extra tulip bulb in someone’s brown paper bag. (I am being facetious.)
Bright: I rely upon the fact that regardless of what the speculation is about what the Mayor may , or may not have done, there is no proof to be found in the Everett reports,only accusation, and there is nothing in the closed meeting tapes, and it was this City Council who for Two solid years identified the Mayor’s son’s property as their preferred site for the liquor store …and that is something most of them would prefer to forget.
This has all been personal, and directed around issues of power, and has been nothing but sheer hell for our community, and all the people involved.
And now, fearing to “lose face”, this council is likely to vote severance and legal fees for the administrator who has sought and gained another job, in a community he thinks more highly of, leaving the wreckage of personal politics, and “shopping for answers” behind him, to say nothing of the morass of a criminal investigation ongoing in Goodhue County.
Don McGee has filed for the city council 3rd Ward seat.
Today’s Nfld News has an updated story on Noah Cashman’s resignation:
Cashman resigns from council (print version)
Anyone know what the deadlines are for filing Noah Cashman’s seat? If more than two file, will there be a primary? When would that be held?
It seems like we could have a scenario in which the candidates who lose in the Sept. primary for the 2nd, 3rd, and Vohs at-large seat could run in a primary for Cashman’s at-large seat… but only if the filing dates accommodated for it.
When more than a dozen former mayors and councilors review a situation and publicly ask the mayor to resign, there is more involved than personal attacks and power plays by an individual staff member.
Ann I tend to agree with your post (#1370 as well as Kiffi’s post (#133). That is the crux of the problem with the mayoral situation right now.
Mayor Lansing very well may have done everything to make sure that he recused himself of the discussions on the liquor store site. However he still sent letters and was party to a lawsuit. While the action taken by the Mayor may have been within the bounds of ethics they had a perception of stepping over the line to the average citizen.
I believe that is the reason for the former members request that the mayor resign.
Unfortunately for the mayor this was not the only situation that was happening on the council and in the city administration at the time. Between the flap over the chief of police’ heroin comments, the issues with the city administrator, and the liquor store situation a number of citizens have and are questioning the direction of city government.
Griff -- My post #115 gives charter information about a special election primary (none) and filing period which if I added correctly would be Tuesday August 26th to Tuesday September 9th.
Thx, David D. Since it appears there will be a primary on Sept. 9 (more than 2 candidates for misc Council openings), your tabulation for the at-large filing period (Cashman’s seat) would mean that those who LOSE in the primary would not be able to file for it, correct?
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
Referring back to comment #137
Concerning the meeting of former mayors and council persons, one of them told me later that she really regretted being a party to asking Lee to resign when she was not fully informed.
Today’s the deadline for filing. Big unknowns for city council/mayor:
Lee Lansing
Jon Denison
Margit Johnson
Victor Summa
Norman Butler
Big unknown for school board:
Diane Cirksena
Any others?
Any predictions?
Eduardo Wolle has filed for mayor, according to this story on the Nfld News website:
Former politician files for mayor
http://northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=45394
It never occurred to me that being a school board member and/or a planning commissioner means you’re a politician. I’ll have to bring this up with Ross and Tracy, my PC politician co-hosts, on tomorrow’s podcast.
I would consider a school board member a politician as it is an electable position (for which I’ve run once before) that requires a certain degree of campaigning to win and accountability to the public for performance.
A board or commission member is a different animal (so to speak) in that they have no direct accountability to the public for performance although they definitely interact with the public in a similar manner to an elected person. The big difference, in my opinion, is that the elected body is more directly responsible and accountable for the commission’s or board’s performance.
A council member can be fired by the public either through an election or a recall. A board or commission member can only be fired by the council through being removed or not reappointed.
The Secretary of State’s website includes Eduardo Wolle, plus these school board candidates:
Ellen Iverson
Kevin Budig
Diane Cirksena
Peter MIllin has also filed for school board.
I found this website full of statistics about various towns. The link below is for Northfield and the surrounding area (55057 zip code):
http://www.bestplaces.net/zip-code/Northfield-Minnesota-55057.aspx
I’m sure that the student population distorts some of the statistics, but it is interesting to see things like how much our schools spend per pupil versus the national average, etc. ($5,638 in Northfield vs. $6,058 nationally).
16% of residents in our area have a graduate degree, but if you remove the college students from the calculation, I would guess that this figure jumps to about 22%. The national average is about 7%.
2/3 of Northfielders are “religious” versus 50% nationally.
Does this mean that we are well-educated, but have faith that our underspending on schools will work out in the long run?
Fun with statistics!
Griff, I’m in the race now.
“Ribbed, For Your Civic Pleasure.”
Great slogan, Brendon… and a delight to have you in the race.
I have decided not to go for it this time. I will think about Noah’s vacated seat and two years down the road (same seat). Many thanks for all the intelligent and well-meaning comments.