Because of a snafu on the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's page, Legislative Candidates who have filed for Special Election in 2015 not all of the Economic Interest Statements filed by Minnesota House District 3A candidates were visible via the page until late this afternoon.
Nonetheless, a diligent researcher could find the documents--all filed by the deadline--on the page with all candidates in all races who are registered with the Board.
We find no big surprises in the Economic Interest Statements. Perhaps the closest thing to a surprise is Kelsey Johnson's ownership of "New Majority Strategies," a limited liability company that she registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office on March 2, 2015.
It's a surprise because the L.L.C. isn't mentioned on her website's About Kelsey page, nor is it on her Linked In page.
Ms. Johnson--whose EIS also states that she's a director of the Grocery Manufacturers' Association, one of the largest trade associations in the world--is running as an independent. Thus we can be forgiven for asking just for which "New Majority" her firm makes strategy. Is the majority something partisan?
As we've noted in past posts--How independent is Kelsey Johnson? History reveals ties with Bakk's leadership allies and Mostly DFL: MN3A independent candidate Kelsey Johnson contributed $2,250.00 to state races--it's not an idle question.
Faux outrage over real concerns: Bill Hansen on "Our North Dakota"
There are those who suggest that Johnson is corporatist Majority Leader Tom Bakk's "Plan B" in case Bill Hansen wins the DFL primary a week from today, despite the faux butthurt getting cranked up against the environmentally-minded candidate's observations about what copper-mining advocates call "our North Dakota."
One wonders what tone-deafness leads folks to believe that they can talk about the sunny part of a boomtown economy, but lambast anyone who also notes the well-documented downside. It's not a personal insult to construction workers when a candidate points out that aspect. It's also saddening to see Minnesota's unions humiliate themselves by shilling for a corporation whose biggest investor is Glencore. Glencore, a Swiss-based mining concern and commodities broker, upped its ante in PolyMet, the Duluth News Tribune reported at the end of July.
This metal mining and commodities broker is no friend to labor.
It's also not doing so well right now, as Reuters reports in Glencore mine closings may give copper market a 2003-style supply shock, Bloomberg's in Glencore Slumps to Record Low as Mining Losses Pick Up Speed and the Wall Street Journal in Global Mining Stocks Plunge on Fed, China Demand Fears. Reasonable people might think that Hansen is onto something when he talks about sustainable economies.
In some ways, the butthurt narrative is like déjà vu all over again, for those of us in the southern part of Minnesota heard representatives for largely the same unions extol the expansion of silica sand mining as the coming golden age for the Bluff Country. Instead, we read today in Bloomberg's that The Surprisingly Big Market for Sand Just Collapsed.
Hansen isn't the first to asked about sustainable economic development removed from these boom-and-bust cycles that have--after all--hobbled the Iron Range. Bob Dylan sang the North Country Blues at Newport 52 years ago. More recently, John Harrington asked Which kind of future for Minnesota's Iron Range is most likely to lead to sustainable employment?
It's not an idle question--especially if PolyMet mine water could flow northward, toward BWCA, as the Star Tribune and others reported earlier this month.
UPDATE: Via twitter, Hansen has responded to the bullshittery:
Bill responds to distorted attacks from copper-nickel supporters. pic.twitter.com/T3SyATnpsy
— Bill Hansen For 3A (@HansenFor3A) September 23, 2015
Photo: A Glencore mine in Zambia.
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A recent article by Bill Hanna in the Mesabi Daily News alleges that because District 3A DFL Candidate Bill Hansen is skeptical of copper mining, that he disparages all mining people. But at the root of all this, is the old DFL guard trying to muzzle the progressives from the same party. I have been making calls in support of Bill Hansen and what I am hearing, based on the location and the age, is fear and desperation and frankly, a lifetime lack of opportunity. It is not the fault of the third generation mining families that comments taken out of context and mining skepticism are inflaming some people in District 3A. It is the fault of the politicians who are bought and paid for by the multi-national mining companies and their powerful lobbies. My grandfather worked for the mining company and so did my uncle. My dad worked at Erie Mining for most of my childhood. He hurt himself badly on the job twice, worked midnight shifts and was laid off multiple times, all at the will of the company. When Bill Hansen talks about diversifying the economy, he is talking about making things better for all of the people in 3A. We are a district of hard-working people who deserve better than to be pawns in a political game, or shills for a multi-national company that only wants to make money and damn the environment, and damn the communities. They don't really care about the people. So the Mesabi Daily News is not telling the truth. What they should be doing is working for the people and enlightening their readers that sometimes the old ways die hard in order for a new, better way to grow and thrive. That's what I believe, and I know that's what Bill Hansen believes too. They are making people afraid and trying to divide the DFL party for political gain. And the people deserve better.
Posted by: Staci Drouillard | Sep 23, 2015 at 09:55 AM