Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Nancy Silkey and Rice County Deputy Blaine Smith were our guests yesterday, discussing the MOD Squad project that I blogged about last week. On the…
Category: <span>Gov’t & Policy</span>
Dan Sugarman, a student in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College, has written a piece titled Dismal as a candidate, Denison wins some fans in office (PDF – full text below).
Dismal as a candidate, Denison wins some fans in office
By Dan Sugarman
On the morning of November 8, 2006, Jon Denison learned that he had become Northfield’s new city councilor for the 4th ward. In a close race that wasn’t decided until after he’d gone to sleep, Denison squeaked past his opponent, Victor Summa, by a mere 49 votes.
The strange thing was, Denison had never really campaigned. He hadn’t attended any public candidate forums, nor had he responded to questions from the Northfield News about his policies, initiatives or ideas. Shocked by Northfield’s selection of such an unknown quantity, resident activist Tracy Davis went to the Internet to voice her dissatisfaction. In a post on LocallyGrownNorthfield.org, a community blog that receives thousands of visits each day, Davis bewailed Denison’s election:
“Last night’s election results in the Fourth Ward, on the City’s west side, were shameful,” Davis wrote. “Jon Denison, a candidate who didn’t campaign, didn’t show up at public meetings, didn’t speak, write, or communicate positions on any issues, received a winning percentage over candidate Victor Summa, who has repeatedly demonstrated deep and sincere (albeit sometimes loud and annoying) concern for our community, and amply shown a willingness to work hard at making it better.”
There’s a Park and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) meeting tonight, with an Public Open House for Ames Park Master Plan scheduled (PDF). The meeting will be at 7:00 PM, in…
Dundas Mayor-elect Glenn Switzer has a blog titled Glenn! of Dundas. I’ve added his blog to our civic blogosphere directory, as he intends to use it during his term as…
Alas, no Friday Memo was published last week by City Hall/Joel Walinski. The last one was Nov. 21. NOTE! There’s Special City Council closed meeting tonight. No info about it…
Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader for alerting me to this Dec 2 Stillwater Gazette story: Things get ugly in Lake Elmo; shouting match prematurely ends Monday night’s city council meeting…
Kathy Cooper, Rice County Safe Communities, alerted me to the new DWI task force, called the MOD-Squad (“Modifying Driving Behavior”).
Griff, as you probably remember from last year, Rice County was number 11 of the top 15 deadliest counties for alcohol-related deaths and injuries. Unfortunately, we are on the list again… There will be a briefing in Northfield on Friday, December 5 at 2030 hrs.
I blogged last year at this time about Rice County’s dubious distinction of being among the deadliest counties in the state for DWI-related deaths and serious injuries. I guess it didn’t do any good because…
We’re now 8th deadliest. See the poster (PDF).
So I attended the Mod Squad briefing last night at the Northfield Law Enforcement Center. (Click thumbnails to enlarge photos.)
Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Nancy Silkey and Rice County Deputy Blaine Smith did the presentation. Sgt. Mark Murphy is the coordinator for the Northfield Police Department. I captured the audio:
Click play to listen. 20 minutes.
After the briefing, I watched Deputy Smith place a DWI Arrest Zone sign on N. Hwy 3 by the Dairy Queen.
We’re planning to have Silkey and Smith on next week’s Locally Grown radio show/podcast.
See the Rice County 11/22 press release High Visibility Enforcement Scheduled and the press release of arrests made on Thanksgiving eve titled Coming Soon . . . To A City Near You: Rice County MOD Squad Initial DWI Enforcement Effort Successful in Making the Rice County Roads Safer by Arresting 8 Impaired Drivers.
11:30am update: I’ve added the poster above, as the announcement was just made that Rice County went from 11th to 8th deadliest county in the state.
Here’s the email from Deputy Smith explaining the program:
Kathleen ‘Mac’ McBride, the City of Northfield’s Finance Director, presented a draft of the 2009 budget at a public hearing during Monday’s Council meeting. She emailed me her…