Bluestem posted about Dennis Egan's elevation as Mayor of Fracsandville last night in Red Wing Mayor Egan leads Minnesota Industrial Sand Council; citizens wonder who he'll serve and this morning in Egan named Mayor of Fracsandville, Red Wing council prez wants to block game, Strib reports.
The afternoon daily Rochester Post Bulletin covers the Red Wing area. Online now: Brett Boese's Red Wing mayor to represent silica sand industry:
Four months after signing a local ordinance that essentially bans silica sand mining in his district, Red Wing Mayor Dennis Egan now finds himself representing — and advocating for — the controversial industry.
The peculiar situation has riled some.
Fracsandville's lobbyist and mayor tells Boese:
Egan, who took office in 2011 and was re-elected in 2012, signed a contract Friday that installs him as executive director of the newly formed Minnesota Industrial Sand Council.
But of course frac sand issues in Red Wing and Goodhue County so totally had nothing to do with the hire:
"The folks had gotten my name because that's what I do," said Egan, who has worked the last 10 years as a Capitol lobbyist. "It wasn't tied to anything other than 'Dennis, you've done this for 10 years and you have a good reputation.' My approach is you need to work in collaboration to move projects forward." . .
. . . "It's another project in which you find passions on both sides of the aisle," Egan said of his new role. "I don't want to come across as downplaying that for southeast Minnesota. It's a big issue; I recognize that."
Probably not a bad philosophy:
. . .Though council president Lisa Bayley declined comment and others didn't return calls, council member Peggy Rehder expressed frustration that she wasn't directly informed of Egan's plans; the news was first posted online Friday evening by "Politics in Minnesota."
. . ."I'm puzzled," Rehder said. "I think we need more information and we need a legal opinion from the city attorney.
"You're absolutely right that people are concerned." . . .
The local paper in Red Wing, Forum Communications' Republican-Eagle, is a weekly and hasn't picked up on this development yet. Bluestem suspects that we'll be hearing more about this.
Screenshot: Fracsandville Mayor Egan's Facebook page. He lists St. Paul as his place of residence.
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He's moved to Red Wing now. And today's his birthday!
Posted by: Carol A. Overland | Feb 07, 2013 at 09:14 PM
Sorry I'm a little late.
Happy Birthday to a perfect fool! I hope someone gave you a clue.
Posted by: Jeff Abbas | Feb 12, 2013 at 04:53 AM