One tool for understanding political party units is to examine their fundraising and spending. With the special election to fill the House District 3A seat left vacant by the untimely death of Representative David Dill turning into a free-for-all, we thought we'd look at the financial health of the local DFL senate district.
After a kind reader suggested that we look at the finances of the SD3 DFL, we concluded that money had certainly been no object, since the senate district committee had finished the tumultuous 2014 campaign season with over $9200 in the bank.
Even more curious: of the $84,750 given to DFL candidates from 2012 through 2014, only $9500--all in 2014--went to Minnesota state house campaign committees--and the late Rep. David Dill's campaign committee received $7500.00 of that figure. (By contrast, MN3B DFL incumbent Mary Murphy received only $500. Both candidates won by garnering over 60 percent of the vote).
The rest of the money sent to DFL House candidates went to people running in districts adjoining the Third: Joe Radinovich ($500), Jennifer Schultz ($250), Erik Simonson ($250) and John Ward (500).
The rest? Sent to to state senate Democrats around the state. although there no no state senators on the ballot.
In 2013, the SD3 DFL gave $14,800 to 11 senate candidates who weren't on the ballot; of this amount, $4500 went to Majority Leader Bakk's campaign. In 2012, when all state senate and house seats were up for election and Bakk was looking to flip the senate, the committee cut $40,750 in checks to DFL candidates around the state. All of this went to Senate candidates, including $5000 to Senator Bakk.
The committee also gave $5000 to the DFL Senate Caucus in 2012 and $10,000 in 2013. The state DFL received $2000 in 2012, nothing in 2013 and $1000 in 2014. (These totals are entered in a different section of the report and are in addition to the contributions to candidate campaign committees.
This pattern of giving is unusual for DFL senate districts that give money to candidates, in that senate and county units ordinarily give to candidates within their borders--or give to candidates in a variety of state-level candidates.
We'll have more analysis later in the week, but the giving patterns suggest that the contributions are tied to Bakk's leadership in the Minnesota Senate.
Here's the 2012 Senate District 3 year-end campaign finance report:
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While the small-i independent candidate in the Minnesota House District 3A special election Kelsey Johnson claims that she's worked on both parties' campaign her record of itemized contributions reveals that DFL candidates and caucuses have received the lion's share of her check writing.
Committees reported contributions from "Johnson, Kelsey," "Johnson Kelsey AL" and "Johnson, Kelsey Amalie Larson" to the CFPDB. Only contributions which add up to $100 or more each year need be disclosed. Bluestem searched for all contributions made between 2004-2014, all the years that are available in the database.
Of the $2,250 total, only $600 went to Republican committees, while Minnesotans United for All Families' successful and nonpartisan effort to defeat the amendment to restrict the freedom to marry to heterosexual couples received $300.
Johnson gave a total of $750 in five contributions to the DFL Senate Caucus, $350 in two contributions to Kurt Daudt's campaign (in 2013), $300 in four checks to Minnesotans United for All Families for its 2012 defeat of the Marriage Amendment, $250 in one contribution to the HRCC in 2014, $250 in one contribution to the Senate District 3 DFL, $200 in one contribution to Duluth DFL state senator Roger Reinert and $150 in two contributions to Kerrick DFL state senator Tony Lourey.
Any contributions under $100 need not be disclosed by committees, so it's possible that the lobbyist could have greased a few more palms under the wire.
On the national level, a search of the Federal Election Commission contribution database, which has a higher reporting threshold, yields the news that Johnson gave $500 to the federal committee of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party-- one contribution of $250 in 2013 and another $250 in 2014.
The other Johnson in the race, Kelsey, said her registration as an independent is in keeping with her political history. Kelsey Johnson declined to give specific names or years, but said she has worked on campaigns for both GOP and DFL candidates.
Here's the list we pulled from the database. For the sake of formatting, we've edited out Johnson's employers and clients.
Individual Johnson, Kelsey 08-31-2011 DFL Senate Caucus $250.00 Individual Johnson, Kelsey 01-20-2012 Minnesotans United for All Families $50.00 Individual Johnson, Kelsey 09-24-2012 Minnesotans United for All Families $100.00 Individual Johnson, Kelsey 09-25-2012 Minnesotans United for All Families $50.00 Individual Johnson, Kelsey 09-30-2012 Minnesotans United for All Families $100.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey 01-20-2012 DFL Senate Caucus $50.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey 12-11-2012 DFL Senate Caucus $100.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 01-23-2012 Lourey, Anthony SD11 $50.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 07-17-2012 Lourey, Anthony SD11 $100.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 08-08-2012 Reinert, Roger SD7 $200.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 06-03-2013 Daudt, Kurt HD31A $300.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 09-19-2013 Daudt, Kurt HD31A $ 50.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 02-24-2014 HRCC $250.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey A L 07-22-2014 3rd Senate District DFL $250.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey Amalie Larson 02-24-2014 DFL Senate Caucus $250.00 Lobbyist Johnson, Kelsey Amalie Larson 11-20-2014 DFL Senate Caucus $100.00
Readers can drawn their own conclusions as to when Johnson developed her self-touted independence and rejection of the parties to whom she contributes money.
Photo: According to a bio of Johnson once posted on Hill Capitol Strategies' website, lobbyist Kelsey Johnson (left) served as DFL State Senator Terri Bonoff's campaign manager. A press release from the Grocery Association noted "In 2012, [Johnson] effectively managed a state senate campaign that was not favored to win but ultimately did; other sources were not as certain of Bonoff's potential defeat. Photo via Minneapolis Junior League Facebook page.
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Update September 14: At the Pioneer Press Rachel Stassen-Berger reports Mack and Kelly apologize, step down from ethics committee. Kelly has apologized to all law enforcement and his constituents. Read the Pi Press article for details. [end update]
In the latest wrinkle in the melodrama over the nuisance necking citations issued to Minnesota state representatives Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, and Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley, their DFL colleague from Cottage Grove, Dan Schoen has asked them to apologize for claiming the Dakota County deputy who issued the ticket lied.
Schoen, a police officer and medical cannabis security consultant, makes a good point, but maybe the lawmakers need to start apologizing to their constituents, since both serve in legislative districts where voters are perfectly able to vote for Democrats.
The 2012 Presidential vote in Kelly and Mack's districts, both of which favored President Obama, and presence of Democrats (Matt Schmit and Greg Clausen) in the state senate suggest that the Republican Party doesn't have a lock on either state House seat.
A Democratic state representative with a long police career wants apologies from two Republican Minnesota lawmakers who accused a park ranger of lying after he claimed they were kissing in an Eagan park.
A park officer ticketed State Reps. Tim Kelly of Red Wing and Tara Mack of Apple Valley last month when he found them in a car at 4:30 p.m. His notes indicate Mack’s pants were pulled down and he said the two were “making out.”
The lawmakers originally said they were innocent and claimed the officer included false information in his reports. Last week, they maintained their innocence, but paid each paid a $260 fine under a nuisance law, saying it would be best for their families.
Rep. Dan Schoen of St. Paul Park wrote to House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, Friday, saying more is needed than just paying fines.
“Members of the Legislature making false claims against law enforcement officials is a serious issue…” Schoen wrote. “I find it very disappointing that Rep. Mack and Rep. Kelly would try to harm the credibility of this law enforcement official simply to rescue their own.”
If the deputy's report stands, then Mack and Kelly should apologize to the Dakota County Sheriff's Department, while making amends to their spouses, families and colleagues. . . .
Meanwhile, Kelly isn't apologizing, Davis reports:
On Friday, Kelly, 51, said he stands by statements that he disagrees with details of the report, although he would not give specifics.
“We simply have a disagreement,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t warrant an apology.”
He said the matter has been settled since he and Mack, 32, paid the fines.
“The reason we settled and paid the fine is because we wanted to move forward,” Kelly said. “I did that because that’s what would be best for my family.”
Schoen stopped short of filing an ethics charge, which still could happen. Kelly sits on the House Ethics Committee and Mack is an alternate member.
According to these narratives--which political insiders shared with Bluestem--Mack had been groomed to replace Kline, to the point where some of her supporters were suggesting to the retired Marine that he get out of the young up-and-comer's way. Kline was not amused.
When after the Kelly and Mack story broke, the story goes, Kline could retire and flip off those who had been pressing for his departure and replacement with Mack. Bluestem has our doubts, since the timing of Kline's retirement most likely has more to do with House rules that would take away his committee chair than Mack's public exposure. Chronology isn't causality.
As for the alleged hostility between the two? We're not that close and thus not in a position to suss that out. Whatever the case, Mack and Kline are linked through staffers. Bethany Dorobiala, Mack's legislative assistant, is the younger sister of Brooke Dorobiala Schaeffer, Kline's district director.
There is another wrinkle in the case. Tea-Party favorite Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, who may run for Kline's U.S. House seat, serves in 21B, the other half of the senate district where Kelly serves. Freshman DFL senator Matt Schmit, who took the seat from John Sterling Howe, wouldn't be a lonely target in the Red Wing bluff area.
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Potatoes are more digestible when cooked and a little grease helps.
Yesterday, the well-connected company and the Minnesota DNR announced that they had reached a deal, with the company cutting back on deforestation, while the DNR agreed to not move forward with the Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW).
In a joint press conference call Thursday, DNR Assistant Commissioner Barb Naramore and R.D. Offutt CEO Keith McGovern outlined how the company voluntarily withdrew all but five of its applications for new irrigation wells in the Pineland Sands area spread across Becker, Cass, Hubbard, and Wadena counties.
Naramore said instead of an EAW specifically examining R.D. Offutt, the DNR plans to undertake a broader scientific study of how land conversions would affect the Pineland Sands area. . . .
The DNR will seek funding for the study from the Legislature in 2016, Naramore said. The study is in the conceptual phase, so the preliminary $1.5 million estimated price tag may change, she said.
Nothing in the agreement prevents the company from reintroducing the withdrawn applications, but if Offutt were to introduce more well applications on top of the agreed-upon five, "there's a very real chance that we might need to look at where we were in the study, whether we had the information that we needed to make a decision" on the applications, Naramore said.
"I think the company has a good appreciation for the kind of information we need," she said.
McGovern said Offutt doesn't plan to apply for more wells or buy more developable land in the area until the results of the studies are finished. . . .
In short, while R.D. Offutt is reducing the number of plots it will convert to irrigated cropland, while the Dayton administration will seek funding for an extended scientific study of "how land conversions would affect the Pineland Sands area."
Toxic Taters, a grass-roots group opposed to Offutt’s expansion in the Pineland Sands area, issued a statement saying it is wary of the company’s reduction of well permit requests “to avoid an environmental assessment.” Still, the group said it is “glad to see” the DNR’s study initiative at a time when there are many unanswered questions about land-use changes in the area.
The complete Toxic Taters statement, found here, argues:
Members of the Minnesota grassroots organization Toxic Taters expressed concern today on finding out that RD Offutt would be allowed to move forward with 5 well permits in the Pineland Sands Aquifer located in Becker, Cass, Hubbard, and Wadena counties. “We’re happy to see that the number of well permits has decreased significantly from the original 54 proposed. We’re concerned though that RDO is unwilling to do an environmental assessment and now won’t have to do one. If they aren’t damaging the environment, why not prove it with an environmental assessment?” said Toxic Taters coordinator Amy Mondloch.
To address concerns of increased crop production in the area DNR has proposed a special study of groundwater use and land use change in the Pineland Sands area.
Toxic Taters is concerned that RDO is requesting a smaller number of well permits in order to avoid an environmental assessment and will continue to add wells in upcoming years increasing their impact on the aquifer. “It’s hard to believe that RDO would just give up 39 wells without a fight. We’re glad to see that the DNR and other state agencies are being proactive with this proposed study, but there are a lot of questions to be answered yet. What role will RDO and other corporate farms have? How will area residents be involved?”
While RDO moves forward with their wells in the Pineland Sands Aquifer, Toxic Taters and allies including the international organization Pesticide Action Network will move forward with their work to get the potato grower to adopt more sustainable growing practices and cut pesticide use. Lex Horan of Pesticide Action Network had this to say "Communities are in harm’s way because of RDO's pesticide use. It's a longstanding problem that Minnesota lawmakers, state agencies, and RDO customers like McDonald's should all take very seriously. Since state decision makers have been reticent to act on RDO's pesticide problem, on October 6th Toxic Taters and Pesticide Action Network will return to McDonald's stores in a national day of action, calling on the fast food giant to cut pesticides in its potato supply chain. It's time for RDO to transition away from hazardous pesticides, not expand the footprint of those chemicals to impact even more rural communities across the state."
Here's the memorandum of understanding signed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the R.D. Offutt Corporation:
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Next week, the DNR is expected to announced a pheasant action plan that is also a result of the summit and will likely include more suggestions for increasing the permanent acreage of natural grasslands in the state.
A friend sent us details of Monday's meeting, to which our reader had been invited as a participant in the 2015 Governor's Pheasant Opener in Blue Earth County:
From: Roemhildt, Scott (DNR) [address redacted] Sent: Friday, September 11, 2015 9:13 AM To: Undisclosed recipients: Subject: Governor at Nicollet Conservation Club on Monday, September 14, 2015
On behalf of Tom Landwehr, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources I have been asked to invite you to the Governor’s news conference next Monday, at the Nicollet Conservation Club. As a local landowner who is participating in the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener, I encourage you to be part of this important event. Please RSVP to me if you are able to be there. Details on the event are below. Thanks. - Scott W. Roemhildt
Governor to present pheasant summit action plan in Mankato
WHAT: Gov. Mark Dayton and key administration officials will discuss an action plan designed to revitalize Minnesota’s pheasant hunting tradition and restore grassland habitat. Actions outlined in the plan grew out of citizen ideas offered during 2014’s Pheasant Summit in Marshall.
WHO: Gov. Mark Dayton
Tom Landwehr, commissioner, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources John Jaschke, executive director, Board of Soil and Water Resources
Matt Holland, director of grant development, Minnesota Pheasants Forever
WHEN: 2 p.m., Monday, Sept. 14
WHERE: Nicollet Conservation Club, 46045 471st Lane, Nicollet, MN 56074, 507-232-3366. Take U.S. Highway 14 west out of Nicollet for approximately ½ mile. Turn right (north) on to 471st Lane/Township Road 173 and travel approximately 0.8 miles. The club is located at the end of the road.
Kevin Lines, Pheasant Action Plan Coordinator . . .
Our reader notes that Highway 14 is under construction, so those attending should plan accordingly. We've occasionally bird watched on Swan Lake near the club; bring your binoculars if you're inclined to watch for waterfowl and migrating birds.
Photo: Swan Lake, via Nicollet County website. While pheasants won't be wading in the lake, conservation efforts surrounding the large but shallow prairie lake provide prime habitat for pheasants and other wildlife.
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In the post, Brown alludes to "a major divide between Fish and his allies and progressive activists in the district over whether to hold the convention."
DFL District 3A Chair Paul Fish abruptly canceled a party endorsing convention this week that had been set for Sept. 19 in Ely— and some top local party officials say they see Iron Range politicians, and the politics of copper-nickel mining in particular, behind the move. . . .
The endorsing convention was supposed to have included a morning forum for the candidates to talk to the assembled delegates before an afternoon endorsement decision. Marlys Wisch, the DFL’s Lake County Chair, said the day-long convention would have been a valuable way for the four DFL contenders to meet party activists, and potential volunteers, from other parts of the sprawling district.
Wisch said Fish never consulted with her about the decision to cancel the event, but she’s convinced he didn’t make the decision on his own. She said Iron Range politicians were almost certainly involved. “I hesitate saying any names at this point,” she said.
But St. Louis County DFL Chair Kirsten Larsen had no such hesitation, suggesting Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, was behind the decision. “The only person I am aware of that Mr. Fish met with regarding this issue is Senator Bakk,” stated Larsen in an email on Tuesday. “It is my belief the convention was canceled because it was perceived that it would result in a choice being made by more than one hundred representatives from precincts all over the district that a few powerful people don’t want,” Larsen added. . . .
The Cook County chair is also crying shenanigans, Helmberger reports:
The cancellation of the convention left Cook County DFL Chair Anton Moody particularly perplexed. “It’s been a bumpy past couple weeks,” he said. Moody had supported holding the Sept. 19 endorsing convention but was shocked when a delegate list circulated by Fish didn’t include a single delegate from Cook County, a stronghold for candidate Bill Hansen. . . .
Moody said Cook County DFLers did caucus last year, which he said qualified them to take part in an endorsement process. He said he and the local party secretary had spent several days getting all the paperwork into the state party to ensure that the county’s delegates would be seated at the planned convention. That effort, he said, would likely have made the difference, and thrown the party endorsement to Hansen.
“What this has to do with is Bill’s stance on copper-nickel mining,” said Moody.
“The easiest way to make sure he couldn’t get the endorsement was to keep Cook County delegates from being seated. But once it began to look like they were going to get seated, the only solution was to cancel the thing.”
We have heard similar reports: first an effort was made to exclude Cook County delegates; after their right to be at the endorsing convention was established, those making the allegations say, plans for an endorsing convention backfired.
Cook County DFL Chair Moody told the paper:
He said he sees Iron Range political tactics behind the intrigue surrounding the endorsing process. “The Iron Range delegation has the party by the neck. And they change the rules as they see fit,” he said. “It makes me fearful of what’s happening with the DFL.”
Judging by those calling the Timberjay article to our attention, Moody is not alone in his fears.
She isn’t sure if she would resign from her lobbying job if she wins, or with which party she would caucus. . . .Johnson said she’s the best choice because she will be free of the parties that she said are beholden to special interests and can use her lobbying experience to help pass legislation.
UPDATE September 11: A reader writes to let Bluestem know that Senator Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, was crowned King of the Range many years ago. Here's a screengrab from a TPT Almanac segment from May 2007:
Winter is coming. Indeed, it might already be there in Minnesota House District 3A
Photo: If only Sesame Street's creators had made a throne out of fishing rods and hunting rifles--then we've have a seat worthy of the district and the late Dave Dill, an avid outdoorsman. Call it the Iron (Range) Throne for which the large cast of candidates compete. We're a bit terrified, though, the notion of walleye dragons.
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Note: This post is part of our continuing coverage of the effort to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
[the] Prison Population Taskforce will meet on Friday, September 25 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 10 of the State Office Building, according to the Minnesota Senate calendar. The notice reads:
The meeting is for the Prison Population Taskforce, an informal discussion by a group of stakeholders including the Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the House of Representatives, and officials from state and local agencies, among others. Rep. Tony Cornish will serve as the co-chair of the meeting.
Transparency: Latz requires informal meeting to be taped
Bluestem has learned that the informal taskforce's meeting will be audiotaped at the request Senator Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, who created the task force this summer as part of his oversight for corrections as Chair of the Finance - Judiciary Budget Division and Judiciary Committees.
Since the task force is informal, rather than created through statute or executive order, there's no legal requirement for video, audio or minutes to be kept, but we're told that in the interests of transparency, Latz decided to have the audiotape created and archived.
This decision is commendable. Bluestem hopes that interested parties and media organizations such as The Uptake will also videotape the public meeting.
Who will be at the September 25 Prison Population Taskforce meeting?
In addition to the list of task force members in the chart below, some state lawmakers have sent notice to Latz that they will be at the September 25, 2015 meeting. They are:
Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center Sen. Dan Hall, R-Burnsville Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis Rep. Paul Rosenthal, DFL-Edina
With the exception of Eaton, all of the senators serve with Latz on the senate Finance - Judiciary Budget Division and Judiciary Committees, so the policy under discussion will be important in the coming bonding session. Eaton serves on the state and local government committee, which may also hear materials related to criminal justice matters, as since counties maintain jails, where some felony offenders are housed.
In the House, the chair is Rep. Tony Cornish who has been on top of this, he [Miller] said. "He has been willing and open to talk about this, and that would be an important piece, too," Miller said. Cornish spent 32 years as a law enforcement officer and is a rural legislator from Vernon Center southwest of Mankato.
A shortened version of the article for non-subscribers to the paper is online here at the Swift County Monitor's website; it does not include Miller's remarks.
Here are the task force members. John Harrington is listed as he is sitting in as the representative for the Chiefs of Police Association:
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
AGENCY/ORGANIZATION
Tom
Roy
DOC
Kathleen
Lonergan
DOC
Ron
Latz
MN Senate Judiciary Chair
Tony
Cornish
MN House Public Safety Chair
Warren
Limmer
MN Senate Judiciary GOP Lead
Debra
Hilstrom
MN House Public Safety DFL Lead
Janet
Marshall
Judicial Council
Luke
Kuhl
Governor's Office
Nate
Reitz
Sentencing Guidelines Commission
Raeone
Magnuson
Office of Justice Programs, DPS
Cathryn
Middlebrook
Appellate Public Defender's Office
Kevin
Kajer
Board of Public Defense
Bill
Ward
Bourd of Public Defense
Robert
Small
MN County Attorney Assoc.
Ryan
Erdmann
MN Assoc. of Community Correction Act Counties (CCA)
Amy
Chavez
MN Assoc. of Co. Probation Officers (CPO)
Rebekah
Moses
MN Coalition for Battered Women
Josh
Esmay
Council on Crime and Justice
Sarah
Walker
Second Chance Coalition
Kelly
Mitchell
Robina Institute, U of MN
Mark
Haase
Defense Lawyers Assoc.
Jim
Franklin
Sheriff's Association
John
Harrington
Chiefs of Police Assoc
(Harrington is a substitute for Tom Freeman)
Sarah Walker, representing the Second Chance Coalition, formerly lobbied for CCA as a consultant for Hill Capitol Strategies, a public affairs and lobbying firm that unsuccessfully bid on the Swift County lobbying effort, which Goff Public received. We reported on this wrinkle in the story in Orange is the new green, regulatory capture edition: Hill Capitol bid on county CCA lobbying.
For our earlier coverage of the plan to re-open the prison, check out the links below:
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After reading The color of money, or orange is the new green: Koenen & Miller push for reopening CCA prison, a reader active in a faith-based social justice organization shared a proposal submitted by Hill Capitol Strategies to Swift County for lobbying for the re-opening of Prairie Correctional Facility, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Swift County rejected the bid in favor of the proposal submitted by Goff Public, but the Hill Capitol Strategies document nonetheless provides an interesting window into the world of criminal justice politics.
We find a number of fascinating items scattered throughout the document. First, Andy Mannix's MinnPost article about Minnesota's inmate population binge, Minnesota crime is at a 50-year low. So why are we imprisoning more people than ever?, is cited again as the source for the information that the Department of Corrections plans to request bonding for the expansion of the Rush City Correctional Facility.
SEIU: The biggest purple impediment to private pens in Minnesota?
Next, the proposal identifies SEIU's opposition to using the facility as the "biggest impediment" to persuading the Dayton Administration to use the facility. While this will come as quite the shock to Dayton's allies in AFSCME--see our post Union's Director of Public Affairs & Public Policy says AFSCME opposes re-opening private prison--the opposition of SEIU Local 26 President and DNC member Javier Morillo-Alicea is well-documented.
While leading the service employees' comprehensive immigration reform effort in Washington DC in 2011, Morillo-Alicea and others challenged CCA's involvement in "immigrants for sale," the corporation's profiting from crackdowns on undocumented workers in the United States. The photo at the top of this post illustrates the Yale-educated army-brat-turned-labor-leader's speech at an action against CCA in the nation's capitol.
His opposition to private prisons remains from the 2010 education, but he is not alone. AFSCME, ISAIAH and other criminal justice reform groups question systems that profit from inmate numbers. If profit comes from locking people up, incarceration--rather than crime prevention, diversion and rehabilitation or addressing underlying inequities--is incentivized.
Walker: prison population task force member would have lobbied for opening PCF
According to the source who provided us with the document, Hill Capitol Strategies consultant Sarah Walker is a member the Prison Population Taskforce. It will meet on Friday, September 25 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 10 of the State Office Building, according to the Minnesota Senate calendar. The notice reads:
The meeting is for the Prison Population Taskforce, an informal discussion by a group of stakeholders including the Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the House of Representatives, and officials from state and local agencies, among others. Rep. Tony Cornish will serve as the co-chair of the meeting.
Koenen asserts that a bonding proposal from the Department of Corrections has been "put out and it is just sitting there." The conservative Clara City Democrat casts doubt on the willingness of capital investment committee chair Senator Leroy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, to adopt the proposal. Koenen also speaks of an effort to meet with the Department of Corrections about the CCA re-opening, as well as an informal working group of legislators from both chambers and parties to look at prison space.
Had the proposal been accepted, a lobbyist working for Swift County;s effort to open the prison would have been seated at the table; the firm she consults for represents the corporation itself. If that's not regulatory capture by an industry stakeholder, we're not sure what is.
Moreover, Walker earned her cred advocating for criminal justice reform. According to her website:
Sarah’s public policy work has received many accolades. She was the recipient of the 2010 Minnesota Council of Non-Profits Statewide Advocacy Award, 2010 Hennepin County Bar Association Advancing Justice Award, 2010 and 2011 winner of the Politics in Minnesota’s Leaders in Public Policy Award and 2012 Minnesota Associations for Children’s Mental Health’s Outstanding Service Award for her work in Juvenile Justice. . . .
It doesn't mesh with the CCA vibe.
A proposal for making this work
One of the more interesting rationales we've heard floating around for reopening the Appleton prison might actually rescue Walker's progressive cred: the notion that leasing PCF for the short term while inmate populations soar will give the state legislature and administration time to work out criminal justice reform without committing to new facilities.
When reforms bring down inmate numbers, after the coming spike, the state can terminate its lease for Prairie Correctional, rather than being overbuilt with prison beds. Dead prisons are hard to unload.
That's the supposedly progressive case for a state Department of Corrections lease of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton. Since the state would be doing the actual management of the prison, the jobs would be union.
At its core, there's as marvelous a premise as one can imagine when faced with the need for more prison beds, a temporary place for prisoners while we address why Minnesota's prison population climbs, though crime goes down.
But we propose that reformer Walker--no longer burdened with the responsibility for opening the facility--flip the order here.
Let's get the reforms signed into law first, then take out a short-term lease of the Appleton prison. Passing the reforms first will ensure that there's no temptation to forget why we didn't build our own prison to begin with. An economic development package to rescue Appleton from it's economic doldrums can be designed to relieve the pain of terminating the lease. Together, the efforts will remove the incentive to lease the prison forever.
Walker can led the way on just what those reforms should be. Can she rise to the challenge?
Photo: SEIU Local 26 president Javier Morillo-Alicea (center, microphone in hand) speaks at an action at the CCA offices in Washington DC in 2011. Photo via Facebook.
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NOTE: Our update about the informal meeting of the Prison Population Taskforce is lower in the post [end note]
A local newspaper has published an in-depth article in which state senator Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City, and state representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, outline the prospects for blocking a proposal to bond for an expansion of the state prison at Rush City and open a shuttered private prison in Appleton instead.
The Swift County Monitor has posted only an abbreviated version of County board updated on prison potential use on its website, but a kind friend has sent a pdf of the entire article, which we embed below.
After reading the article, the outlines of the efforts legislative strategy--for which Goff Public has secured a lobbying contract from Swift County--emerges.
Koenen asserts that a bonding proposal from the Department of Corrections has been "put out and it is just sitting there." The conservative Clara City Democrat casts doubt on the willingness of capital investment committee chair Senator Leroy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, to adopt the proposal. Koenen also speaks of an effort to meet with the Department of Corrections about the CCA re-opening, as well as an informal working group of legislators from both chambers and parties to look at prison space.
The working group should meet sometime near the end of September, Koenen told the board. Bluestem will keep an eye out.
UPDATE 9/9/2015, 9: A reader active in the faith community sent us word that the Prison Population Taskforce will meet on Friday, September 25 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 10 of the State Office Building, according to the Minnesota Senate calendar. The notice reads:
The meeting is for the Prison Population Taskforce, an informal discussion by a group of stakeholders including the Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the House of Representatives, and officials from state and local agencies, among others. Rep. Tony Cornish will serve as the co-chair of the meeting.
Agenda:
To be announced.
As Bluestem learned last fall from the meeting of the Senate Rural Task Force, informal task forces are just that, but serious business--like discussions of dumping the MPCA Citizens Board--can go on at them, without the meddling presence of video and audio archives or even minutes. We recommend that those interested in criminal justice reform be there with their videocameras.
We'll have more on the makeup of the task force as we get the list of members. Our source tells us that lobbyists are on the task force. It sound like more regulatory capture. [end update]
Miller posits that the Republican-controlled Minnesota House will have "little appetite" for bonding, and that "the one truth" is that Minnesota will need to house more inmates than there are currently beds for them. He noted that House legislative staff has been meeting with the Governor's office about re-opening the prison.
Read the embedded pdf below for the entire story. We anticipate that the lobbying effort will generate controversy. Not only because CCA is non-union, the single reason that the Monitor's coverage reports, but because the for-profit prison industry has been widely criticized in articles such as Truth-out's America's Top Prison Corporation: A Study in Predatory Capitalism and Cronyism.
For our earlier coverage of the plan to re-open the prison, check out the links below:
Photo: The now-shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN. The private prison is owned by Corrections Corporation of America. The for-profit corrections industry has been widely criticized as profiting from incarceration, in venues as varied as news media and the mostly current season of Orange is the New Black on Netflix.
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Pardon me and I hope this doesn't cause problems where it goes. It's Dachau effect because we felt like Dachau.
She paused after making the remark, which was met with dead silence in the committee room. Surprisingly given the emphasis Frank put on her remark, no one attending the meeting tweeted about her special moment of silence for her own Dachau feels.
Frank seems to have invented the phrase, "the Dachau effect," as we are unable to find it used anywhere in a google or Nexis search.
There are a couple of problems with comparing the experience of Jews and other prisoners at Dachau with the experience that Frank went through, and it's not some newfangled political correctness to point these problems out.
We need only to look at an ethics case study from the Society of Professional Journalists, Using the ‘Holocaust’ Metaphor, to find a succinct explanation of the problem:
The mass-murder of millions in a catastrophic historical event should not be utilized as a communication tool to gain support for one’s organization. The comparison, while arguably similar in quantifiable terms, is disgustingly insensitive and takes advantage of others suffering to make a point.
Frank and her family-run operation may have lost property and suffered economic losses, but the comparison of her own reaction with how people "felt" at Dachau is not hers to make.
It's not that Frank and her family need to reach for the Holocaust metaphor to convey their anguish. In several news accounts in June of the family's reaction to avian flu hitting their flocks, Frank's daughter has contrasted the flu hitting the barns with the death of her son. The Crookston Times reported in Everything that can go wrong: Avian influenza devastates area poultry producer:
When Becky Bruns’ son died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in April 2007, it was the worst week of her life.
Now she thinks it was the second worst.
“When Dominick died, it was horrible, but we only had to get through that week and we could begin trying to heal,” she said on her rural Danube farm Monday afternoon.
“But this...this just keeps going on and on. It doesn’t end. I’m fighting for everything in my life right now.”
That framing, drawing on the family's own experience, is moving and appropriate.
Moreover, poultry producers might not want to bring Holocaust metaphors to the table. That SPJ case study reviewed PETA's 2003 “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign that compares the slaughter of animals for human use to the murder of 6 million Jews in WWII.
The emotional appeal backfired, as the case study pointed out--and we strongly suspect that Frank might not want to borrow PETA-style emotional appeals in her rhetoric.
African-Americans "not from this area"?
In her testimony, Frank also pointed out that all the members of an inexperienced work crew that worked at her operation were African-Americans.
Paul Anderson asks about the crews brought her farm; Frank replies:
The depopulation crew was a crew hired by the USDA. The original crew, I have no idea where they came from. Obviously not from our area [raises eyebrows]. They were all African-American. I have a name and that's it.
Her point in identifying the race of the workers puzzled a couple of Bluestem's sources who attended the meeting. African-Americans live in this area, even here in tiny Maynard just over the Renville-Chippewa county line, so we share that sentiment.
The remarks came just before her "Dachau effect" comment.
Here's the moment:
The excerpts above begin at the 15:35 time marker and end at the 16:37 marker in the full hearing (below). We omitted some material in between, but listeners can view the sequence below or watch the entire hearing via the embedded Minnesota House Youtube of the informational hearing:
Photo: Frank's daughter and Frank in better times inside one of the barns at the Pullet Connection. Frank now wants a safety net for smaller producers. Image via the 2011 Redwood Falls Gazette article, The Pullet Connection.
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The International Falls Journal and Minnesota Brown report that Senate District 3 DFL chair Paul Fish has announced that there will be no endorsing convention for the special election to fill the House seat made vacant by the death of David Dill.
Various DFL party units, at both the county and district levels, may choose to offer candidate endorsements ahead of the primary. Third District party chair Paul Fish said he expects to call an endorsing convention after filings close next Monday.
The residents of House District 3A lost a true champion with the passing of Rep. David Dill. The voters of 3A deserve the opportunity to select the DFL candidate who best represents their interests. Therefore, a DFL endorsing convention for the 3A seat will not be held. Participation in the September 29th primary is encouraged.
Brown notes that the decision breaks with recent party practice:
This goes against a recent precedent. In 2011, a special election was held in House District 5B after Tony Sertich left office to become IRRRB commissioner. In that contest, the DFL held an endorsing convention in Hibbing — again, in a situation where some people wanted one and some didn’t. Carly Melin was endorsed a week before the election and went on to win the race.
In the case of 3A, there appears to have been a major divide between Fish and his allies and progressive activists in the district over whether to hold the convention. I know I’ve heard from a few upset there will be no convention.. In any event, there is no time to change this decision. The race moves forward.
Hansen, whom Brown believes had the most to win from an endorsement, has issued a statement about Fish's decision:
Bill Hansen learned today that the DFL District 3A endorsing convention, scheduled for September 19 at VCC [Vermillion Community College] in Ely, has been canceled by Senate District 3 Chair Paul Fish. Bill Hansen learned the news from the International Falls newspaper. According to Bill Hansen, neither the St. Louis County DFL Chair Kristin Larsen nor the Cook County DFL Chair Anton Moody was consulted prior to Mr. Fish’s decision. Hansen was unable to reach Lake County DFL Chair Marlys Wisch.
Bill Hansen is outraged at this circumvention of the DFL party process. The endorsement process allows the DFL delegates in the District to choose the candidate who best represents the party’s values. Bill Hansen received the DFL endorsement in both 2003 and 2004. In this strongly DFL district, the primary election often determines who wins the seat in the general election. The endorsing convention helps the electorate understand who, among the candidates running as Democrats in the primary, truly represents DFL priorities.
In a phone interview, Hansen campaign chair Nancy Powers acknowledged that no formal call had been sent to delegates (and today was the last day that a call could have been issued), but noted that the candidates and county chairs had been told of the convention place and time via email. [She promised to send a copy of the email].
On twitter, Representative Melin expressed her support for Fish's decision in a dialogue with Brown:
@minnesotabrown Even tho I was endorsed in the special, all 5 DFLers were on the primary ballot. No time to abide or withdraw in a special.
Melin is most likely to favor a candidate more pro-mining than the progressive environmentalist Hansen, although her experience in a special election is (as she says) a factor in her position.
As we predicted, the HD3A special election may well resemble a North Shore-Iron Range-Northwoods Game of Thrones. Read Brown's analysis of the "numbers" in the race in his post Everybody to the primary in House 3A special.
Photo: If only Sesame Street's creators had made a throne out of fishing rods and hunting rifles--then we've have a seat worth of the district and the late Dave Dill, an avid outsdoorsman. Call it the Iron (Range) Throne. We're a bit terrified, though, the notion of walleye dragons.
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Rumor mill: There is a rumor floating around out there which I’ve heard a couple of times now that I am considering a run at Collin Peterson’s Congressional District 7 seat. I have no idea how it got started, so I would like to end it. I am not interested in running for Congress and have no intention of doing so. I am very interested in representing you in the Minnesota Senate and have every intention of running for reelection in 2016.
It's not hard to guess why people might speculate about Newman seeking a higher office. Not only is Peterson's 2014 opponent not raising any money for next year, Newman has twice run for positions beyond the state legislature. (As has happened for the past few cycles, the National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting Peterson, since the district voters favor Republican Presidential candidates).
The first during Newman's first rodeo at the state capital. Newman won a special election for the area's House seat, then retired after his first full term to run as an endorsed Republican judicial candidate challenging a Pawlenty appointee. The Star Tribune reported:
Also Tuesday, McLeod County District Judge Michael Savre held a commanding lead over former state legislator Scott Newman in a race that could prove a test of voter reaction to party endorsements of judicial candidates.
Savre, of Glencoe, is a former city attorney for Norwood Young America who was appointed by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2004. Nonetheless, Newman sought and received the Republican Party's backing for his campaign against Savre.
Later, Newman returned to the capitol as a state senator, then jumped into the race for Attorney General, one day before the Republican state endorsing convention. He lost the state race to incumbent attorney general Lori Swanson, narrowly losing in MN07 (45.90% to Swanson's 46.04%).
At least no one's floating his name as a candidate for John Kline's seat in MN02.
Photo: Scott Newman.
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Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City maybe in state representative Brian Johnson's district, but he's not solidly on board with the proposed expansion of the facility, ECM Post Review's Jon Tatting reports in Rep. Johnson talks issues with RC Council.
Expanding the prison would add to the local economy, although Johnson isn't holding out for the proposal's success next session, Tatting reports after Johnson met with the Rush City Council:
On the state correctional facility’s plan to expand by 500 beds in Rush City, Johnson said he is aware of the proposal, though he doesn’t know about the bonding or other options in securing the funds needed. After the meeting, he couldn’t say if the expansion would even be considered in the 2016 legislative session, which is a bonding year for lawmakers.
Still, those in Rush City are hopeful for the additional space, estimated at costing more than $1 million, as it would likely mean more good-paying jobs for an area where nearly half of the existing employees live within 20 miles of the state-run prison.
Optimistic the proposal will be prioritized by state lawmakers is James Benson, new warden of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City, who discussed the expansion plan at a recent Rush City Area Chamber of Commerce networking lunch. He said the 351 staff already working at the prison would likely increase by 154 with the addition.
Johnson is only thinking of others, it seems:
Yet other facilities and areas of the state have needs, as well.
“We’re trying to find the best bang for the buck,” Johnson said Monday night.
Could he have reopening Correction Corporation of America's private prison in Appleton on his mind? How thoughtful of him.
Our earlier coverage of the proposed re-opening of CCA's Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton:
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A good teacher always checks to make sure students get credit for their own work.
Former Morris area school teacher Judy Bluth writes the editors of the Morris Sun Tribune in Fund education right from the start. In the epistle, she sends state representative Jeff Backer, R-Browns Valley, to the corner for taking credit for education funding he had opposed, while Governor Dayton and his DFL colleagues worked to get into the budget:
. . .It’s disingenuous and frustrating to see so many Republican legislators bragging about the investments that were made in education last session, including our own Rep. Jeff Backer.
Rep. Backer is taking responsibility for an increase in school funding for which he deserves no credit, and didn’t initially support. The Republican K-12 education bill he voted for didn’t keep up with the rate of inflation, and would have caused teacher layoffs, program cuts, and over-crowded classrooms this year.
Last spring, Superintendents from around the region gathered in Morris to tell DFL Leaders that the Republican education proposal was inadequate and harmful for our schools. It took Governor Dayton vetoing the bill and forcing legislators into a special session to get Republicans to increase funding for our students. To be clear on their priorities- Republicans found a way to work over a billion dollars in property tax cuts for skyscrapers in Minneapolis into their budget, but they could only be moved to give schools a 0.6% increase, when Superintendents said they needed 3%.
Not only that, but Rep. Backer voted against the DFL plan which would have provided needed funds for special education, continued the tuition freeze and invested in optional all day pre-school statewide.
Republicans like Jeff Backer could do a lot to help rural communities if they would just fully fund education from the start, instead of waiting until special session (paid for by taxpayers) to do the right thing. It’s not rocket science.
Should freshman state rep Backer get a social promotion from voters in 2016, despite not learning this lesson?
Photo: These cute kittens were sent to the corner for naughty behavior. We are working to establish their party affiliation.
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While there's a new poultry disease Minnesota Testing Laboratory coming to Willmar, home of Hormel's Jennie-O division, that isn't enough for Rod Engleson, a resident of the West Central Minnesota regional center in Kandiyohi County.
I thought when someone was elected to represent the Kandiyohi County area in the Legislature that their No. 1 priority would be Kandiyohi County.
On May 18, Dave Baker voted in favor of legislation – House File 1437, the omnibus jobs and energy bill – to provide an earmarked $2 million broadband grant to the city of Annandale. Quality Internet connections are necessary for local businesses to survive and thrive.
In this legislation Mr. Baker also voted to give $35,000 to the city of Delano for their Fourth of July parade.
I am sure any of the cities in Kandiyohi County would love to have an extra $35,000 to help fund such activities and/or a $2 million grant to upgrade their broadband coverage.
Why did Dave Baker choose two other cities, Delano and Annandale, over his constituents for these benefits? Ask him why.
Bluestem's got no problem with turkey bacon (pictured at the top of this post), but agree with Engleson that other sorts of bacon--like rural broadband--need to be served for this area.
Photo: Frying turkey bacon.
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In news reports about the nuisance citations that state representatives Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, and Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley received in a Dakota County park in August, the lawmakers have stated that they intend to file complaints against the civilan park ranger who wrote the tickets.
Not so, according to late Friday afternoon tweets from Minnesota news media:
Reps. Tim Kelly & Tara Mack have decided not to file complaints against officer who accused them of “making out” in park. Will pay fines.
Instead, both Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, and Rep. Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley, will pay the $260 in fines each owes for the “nuisance” ticket each was issued.
“While I disagree with some of the details of the park ranger’s notes, I have decided not to file a formal complaint and instead pay the citation,” Mack said in a statement released late Friday afternoon. . . .
On Friday, the lawmakers appeared to have softened their dispute with the ranger’s report. Mack’s statements said she disagreed with “some of the details of the park ranger’s notes” and Kelly said he “does not agree with what was written in the report.” On Tuesday, both accused the report of being “illegally obtained” and said it was completely false. . . .
Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie stood by his ranger, a part-time civilian employee with no discipline on his record. No video footage of the incident exists, which meant a dispute could come down to the ranger’s word against Mack’s and Kelly’s.
The two lawmakers are both married to other people. In their statements, each lawmaker said concern for their family was behind their decision to not file complaints.
“I understand being in the public eye but this has an impact on my family which I’m not willing to accept,” Kelly said.
Mack said she’s “moving on to focus my time and attention on my marriage, my family and those in my community.”
Earlier Friday afternoon, Bluestem learned that no formal complaints have been filed with either the Dakota County Attorney's office or with the Sheriff's Office, according to chief deputy county attorney Phil Prokopowitz. In a phone interview, Prokopowitz told Bluestem that concerns had been shared directly with the sheriff's office, and that a legal representative of the lawmakers had indirectly indicated the intent to file complaints about the deputy who serves as a park ranger.
Obviously not something they're willing to follow through on.
However, the decision to pay the fines and not file complaints will serve to support speculation and rumors that Kelly and Mack are indeed romantically involved.
While both are being paraded as "family value" hypocrites on websites and social media, Bluestem suspects that the accusations and insinuations will be more sticky for Mack, who has ridden that elephant in campaigns, than for Kelly, who in 2011 voted against putting the marriage amendment on the 2012 ballot and who tried for the civil unions "middle ground" during the marriage equality debate in 2013.
Other fall-out for the two? Both are out of consideration for running for the Minnesota's Second Congressional District seat left vacant by the retirement of John Kline. Again, this is more likely to be more of a blow to Mack. We had heard chatter prior to this episode and Kline's announcement that Mack, a former intern and Republican house staffer who was first elected in her mid-20s, was being groomed for Kline's seat.
Given the random nature of the incidence that lead to the citation, we don't believe the House-of-Cards-esque speculation we're hearing about the timing of the Kelly-Mack Naughty Adventure and Kline's retirement. Perhaps Kline resented the blossoming rose of Mack's ambition and chose to announce his retirement when the surprising nipping of that bud suddenly snipped.
We're not close enough to the Second to tell.
But since this is real life, and not a scripted Netflix melodrama, it was simply a poor parking decision, not a plot or "rotten politics," that triggered discovery of the alleged public exposure for Kelly and Mack. Let's hope they do better by their families now on.
Photos: Tim Kelly and Tara Mack.
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A spokeswoman for the House Republican Caucus said neither [Tim] Kelly nor [Tara] Mack were available for interviews.
However, Representative Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, did speak to Anne Jacobson at the Red Wing Republican Eagle, a paper in the Forum Communications chain, for the article Lawmakers will fight citations for 'making out' in park.
The citation note, available on Minnesota’s centralized computer system housed only at justice centers, reads “was making out with female in case. When I approached the car the female’s pants were unzipped and pulled down.”
“It just seems very convenient it’s released now,” Kelly said, who summed it up to rotten politics. . . .
“I should have seen this coming,” Kelly said. In his first election when it was clear he was leading the polls, a charge of illegal campaigning was filed. That was dismissed. In the 2012 campaign, an attack ad, which also proved to be false, appeared in District 21A newspapers days before Election Day.
Is Kelly accusing the Dakota County's Sheriff's department (or at least a deputy) of being involved in manufacturing a scandal in August 2015 in advance of the November 2016 election?
If so, these are extremely serious allegations not only against his political opponents (whomever they might be) but a sheriff's department as well.
Kelly also fleshed out the details of his version of the encounter with law enforcement for the Republican Eagle as well:
Kelly, who brought his original citation to the Republican Eagle, said that ticket has nothing to do with proper attire, exposure or anything similar to the allegation. The citation is 107.3.D.1 — it is unlawful to “commit any act that constitutes a nuisance” in a county park.
Mack is chair of the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee. Kelly is a committee member. They met around 4:30 p.m. that Friday at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan, he said, so he could pick up paperwork on an Owatonna health plan before heading home. There were a half dozen other cars in the lot which Kelly estimated could hold a hundred or more vehicles.
“He rapped on my window and when I roll it down he says, ‘You’re double-parked,’” Kelly said.
Kelly said he got out the car to look and snapped a photo with his cellphone because he couldn’t believe the officer was making an issue out of the driver’s side tire touching the line.
Kelly said that was his mistake. “I have law enforcement officers in the family. I know better than to challenge them.”
Images: Visual commentary about "document exchanges" by @jamrockstar via @javimorillo on twitter (top); Kelly and Mack (bottom).
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The incongruity of the mental imagine of state representatives Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley, and Tim Kelly, R, Red Wing, making out in a car at 4:30 p.m. in a public park (or even meeting there to swap a document) invited such mirth.
But Facebook friend and Gustavus Adolphus College computer science and math professor Max Hailperin commented in a discussion of the article:
Indeed. It is all well and good that the sheriff has such faith in his deputy, but in the face of such a serious allegation against that deputy, he ought to treat it with corresponding seriousness. He ought to request the county attorney name an investigator unconnected to the Sheriff's Department to conduct a through, transparent investigation into the allegations against the deputy. That investigation would presumably not be limited to the statements by the three parties, but would also examine any evidence that might tend to corroborate either version of the events, such as communication between the deputy and dispatch, Mr. Kelly's photos, and any textual communication between Mr. Kelly and Ms. Mack from before or after the incident.
Kelly said he had had simply met Mack to receive some documents when an officer approached their vehicle about a parking violation.
“When we met, a park ranger approached my vehicle and told me I was double-parked. I disputed his characterization and got out of the car to take a picture. He became visibly agitated and returned to his own car,” Kelly said in a statement to the Pioneer Press. “Approximately ten minutes later, he returned to my vehicle with a parking ticket citing a nuisance. When I asked what that meant, he responded ‘whatever I want it to mean.’”
Mack released a similar statement: “Last week, I received a citation for a nuisance. Subsequently, I have been told the officer wrote in his notes — information that I’ve requested, but has not yet been made public to me — statements that are completely false and inappropriate (and apparently were obtained illegally). I will be filing a complaint with the sheriff’s office regarding the officer’s egregious and false statements.”
Kelly said he met with Mack on his way through town to pick up some documents regarding an Owatonna-based health plan. . . .
Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said there was nothing unusual about the report and his deputy was not out of line.
“We’re going to agree to disagree,” he said of the lawmakers’ accusations. “The facts will come out as to what the deputy saw.”
Leslie said the deputy was simply enforcing the county ordinance in a well-trafficked park.
“We have families and children running around, so we just want to have some decorum there,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
Concerning the details in Mack and Kelly’s statements about the officer’s actions: “This is what park rangers do. They patrol,” Leslie said. “I have no reasons to doubt the ranger and the facts he’s reporting. I stand behind him 100 percent.”
Stassen-Berger reports that Mack intends to file a complaint, but notes that the documents related to the citations are public records, legally obtained.
Why #LegislatorLivesMatter
While the titillating elements of the story are stroking the imaginations of Minnesotans--or making us reach for the mind bleach--Bluestem thinks that the more important story here is about public trust for law enforcement.
Although Mack and Kelly might have been taking their white privilege (along with their spouses' trust) for granted, if their claims are true--and can be documented--then perhaps all members of the Minnesota legislature might pause before dismissing other claims of police misbehavior, including those episodes prompted by racial prejudice and systemic inequity.
Already, that connection's been made by the twitterati, with riffs on the #BlackLiveMatter hashtag:
Similar points are being made by some readers in the comment section of the Stassen-Berger article:
raflw: So law enforcement can lie about arrest situations, eh Republicans? Might make you wonder what they say sometimes, when they arrest people of color. A bit more critical eye towards statements by law enforcement in questionable situations of ordinary citizens could/should be supported by the #gop. We shall see if this goes beyond the purely personal for these two lawmakers.
Heywood Jablowme [BSP note: how original]: Already been said, but bears repeating. Assuming the two representatives are telling the truth, that means the officer lied. Now substitute two 20-something minorities in the car when the cop decides to walk up on them. Would anyone believe them that the cop just made something up? Would the two people who were ticketed in this story believe two minorities that made the same claim?
If the deputy's report stands, then Mack and Kelly should apologize to the Dakota County Sheriff's Department, while making amends to their spouses, families and colleagues. This doesn't rise to level of seriousness of former Duluth DFLer Kerry Gauthier caught with a 17-year-old in a wayside rest, but the behavior certainly doesn't live up to virtues Mack and Kelly seem to profess.
Whichever way the truth takes the tale--law enforcement or spousal misbehavior--the episode leaves Minnesota a little less nice. Perhaps we might consider ways to improve the cultures of both law making and enforcing in the state.
Meanwhile, enjoy the humor.
Images: Kelly and Mack.
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You wouldn't guess it from reading a post on the Minnesota 7th Congressional District Republican Party page, but President Obama has condemned attacks on police officers, after he made a condolence call to the widow of a deputy sheriff murdered in Texas.
President Obama on Monday condemned last week’s cold-blooded murder of a Texas sheriff’s deputy, calling the killing “an affront to civilized society.”
Mr. Obama called Kathleen Goforth, the widow of Harris Count Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth, while on Air Force One en route to Alaska. Deputy Goforth was shot 15 times while pumping gas Friday night, and investigators believe he was targeted simply because he was a law enforcement officer.
“On behalf of the American people, I offered Mrs. Goforth my condolences, and told her that Michelle and I would keep her and her family in our prayers. I also promised that I would continue to highlight the uncommon bravery that police officers show in our communities every single day,” the president said in a statement.
“They put their lives on the line for our safety. Targeting police officers is completely unacceptable — an affront to civilized society. As I said in my State of the Union Address, we’ve got to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the door at the end of his shift. That comfort has been taken from Mrs. Goforth. So we must offer her our comfort — and continue to stand up for the safety of police officers wherever they serve,” Mr. Obama said.
We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York. But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. And surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift. (Applause.) And surely we can agree that it’s a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves all of us. (Applause.)
What the CD07 Republican Party secretary wrote
Apparently those messages didn't make it to Fergus Falls, home to Dave Adams, secretary of the MN07 Republican Party. The Minnesota 7th Congressional District Republican Party pinned this post to the top of its timeline:
What Lives Matter?? Just hours after individuals claiming to be associated with the “Black Lives Matters” Movement went on a triad [sic] on Internet Radio, openly calling for the murder and death of white police officers, a Married Texas Deputy Sheriff is executed while pumping gas into his car. For President Obama, his close friends Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, and Louis Farrakhan, this killing, this wanton execution of a white law enforcement officer is a telling moment for all American Conservatives and Independents. For some Democrats, it is also disgusting. However, we note strongly the “silence” from the socialist and ultra-left side of the Democratic Party. Their silence is deafening, a hard reflection of their disregard for normal culture and American norms. They refuse to pay heed to what they have inspired. Sadly, it seems as if Democrats want to close their eyes to the blood on the street from those who serve the community, only to scream murder when that blood comes from a black criminal. Obama sends his D.O.J. and personal Attorney General to hunt down local Law Enforcement. Al and Jessie take the usual Television Race Baiting Tour, arm-twisting companies for donations while lending their fictitious anger towards the woes of police brutality. Farrakhan exhorts his Black-Muslim minions to stalk, hunt down, and kill all whites. When White Officers are killed, they say nothing, they do nothing, and they see nothing. Yet, since Ferguson, MO, it is their voices that have uniquely inspired the creation and the conflicts brought on by the “Black Lives Matter Movement” that is now openly calling on the death of whites. This time however, the silence coming from all Democrats is earsplitting . . . – Dave Adams Secretary of Minnesota CD7 Republicans
Yeah, you read that right:
. . . When White Officers are killed, they say nothing, they do nothing, and they see nothing. Yet, since Ferguson, MO, it is their voices that have uniquely inspired the creation and the conflicts brought on by the “Black Lives Matter Movement” that is now openly calling on the death of whites. . . .
As far that "silence from all Democrats" goes, Adams may simply be hearing impaired or not looking for anything other than that sweet spot of outrage he wants the entire world to adopt, and in newer posts, the congressional party unit's Facebook page itself is now extending the bashing of Democrats and Black Lives Matter as if the two are one monolith. Perhaps we can revive Will Rogers to help out with the first misconception about Democrats. As for thinking that all Black Lives Matter participants think alike? Enough said.
What Governor Dayton said
First, the "silent" Democrats. We've already reviewed what the President said about the murder. Closer to home in Minnesota, Governor Dayton has objected to a short chant at the end of the Black Fair protest.
Gov. Mark Dayton thinks a chant of "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon," during a Black Lives Matter St. Paul march to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds "was a terrible thing to say," his press secretary said Tuesday.
His comment came in response to Rep. Tony Cornish calling on Dayton on Tuesday to not meet with the group unless they apologize for the chant that law enforcement groups have called threatening. . . .
When asked by CNN if the chant by protesters in St. Paul Saturday incites violence, Turner said that the Black Lives Matter movement does not condone violent acts.
“We do not want to see black people being killed,” Turner told the Star Tribune. “We don’t want to see cops being killed.”
What the videographer said
Norfleet's article describes the context of the clip:
The man who shot the video, who wanted to be identified only as Niko, said the chant occurred near the end of the demonstration as protesters walked away from the fairgrounds. He said it lasted about 30 seconds, and he added that when the chanting ended, a police officer laughed and made a joke about bacon.
Perhaps that's why other news reports and participants like journalist blogger Mary missed it in first hand accounts like Black Lives Matter goes to the Minnesota State Fair. It doesn't seem to have been at the center of the messaging.
Whatever the case, nothing is getting through the filter to Mr. Adams in Fergus Falls other than outrage. So it goes.
Represented in Congress by conservative Democrat Collin Peterson, the Seventh Congressional District is a target for the NRCC. In the second quarter of 2015, Peterson's last opponent raised $0, for a total of $2355.00, so perhaps the national Republicans need to find another candidate. We'll let readers know if this district heats up beyond the phantoms on the district Republicans' Facebook page.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Bluestem has noticed a distinct resemblance to the positions outlined by DFL endorsement seeker, Ely City Council member Heidi Omerza.
Other information online suggests that Johnson's political genealogy is less connected to the progressive wing of the DFL, than to the moderate DFL senators who form the backbone of Tom Bakk's leadership in the Minnesota Senate. Moreover, with the exception of one gun-control group, her client list isn't particularly associated with the progressive left in the North Star state.
A DFL political genealogy
Zoominfo.com has preserved a January 2014 profile of Johnson that had been posted at Capitol Hill Strategies, a lobbying and public affair firm, prior to her moving on to serve as director of state affairs for the Grocery Manufacturing Association (GMA). A press release issued by the GMA in February scrubbed out the specifics, while keeping the outline.
Kelsey A.L. Johnson – Government Affairs Consultant
Kelsey Johnson is a native Minnesotan. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy[AH1] from St. Catherine University in 2004. While at St. Catherine University Ms. Johnson was the recipient of the Thomas More Leadership Award, President of the Student Senate and captain of the swim team. Since graduating from St. Catherine University Ms. Johnson honed her skills in customer service, negotiations, and solutions-based selling through her work in the private sector. In her last career before entering the political arena she was an Account Executive, selling audio, web and video conferencing solutions. During her sales career she negotiated contracts with Fortune 500 companies and worked with all levels of leadership within various corporations to come to mutually exclusive agreements.
Ms. Johnson began her political career by interning with Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch. After leaving the Attorney General’s Office, she interned for Minnesota State Senator LeRoy Stumpf, Chair of the Senate Education Policy and Finance Committee. Ms. Johnson subsequently took a position in the Minnesota House DFL Caucus where she worked for numerous Representatives and the Chief Sergeant -At-Arms.
Following Ms. Johnson’s departure from the Minnesota House she began lobbying and continues to do so today. During the 2012 election-cycle she served as the campaign manager for the successful re-election of State Senator Terri Bonoff, who has been appointed the Chair of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee. Ms. Johnson recently completed her Master’s of Arts in Organizational Leadership with a concentration on ethics and leadership at St. Catherine University. Her final project focused on transparency in campaign finance. In conjunction with her master’s degree, Ms. Johnson obtained a certificate in Strategic Management. Ms. Johnson is a diligent worker who maintains strong working relationships.
Ms. Johnson understands the importance of a balanced life and enjoys any opportunity to play hard. She is an avid water sports enthusiast as a member of both USA Waterski and USA Swimming. Ms. Johnson is active in her community as a current member and former board member to the League of Women Voters Minneapolis, active member of the Junior League of Minneapolis, and current member of the Citizen’s League where she assisted in the development of a platform for current water policy concerns.
These political connections don't exactly scream "Sheila Wellstone" from the mountain tops. Moreover, she's running as an independent for an empty House seat in one half of Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk's home district. Following the DFL primary, would any Democratic state lawmaker buck the nominee?
Nor do her clients while she lobbied holler, "Independent," unless one only defines independence as free of the partisan.
Lobbying for GMA--and beyond
While Johnson bills her "advocacy" for the group as a matter of "feeding the world," progressive citizens might pause to reflect about what chemicals the GMA is comfortable being in children's products. Since joining the GMA, Johnson has testified against former state representative Ryan Winkler's Toxic Free Kids Act (March 2014 hearing) and Senator Ann Rest's SF1099 this past session (Winkler was chief author of the House companion bill). Johnson followed the bill through the committee process, testifying against it three times (here, here and here).
Prior to joining GMA (for whom she registered as a lobbyist in other states such as Florida), Johnson's clients for her lobbying services included the judicial reform group Coalition for Impartial Justice, prison profiteers Corrections Corporation of America (there's a bid to re-open or lease its Appleton prison afoot), Michael Bloomberg co-chaired gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, pro-tip credit Minnesota Restaurant Association and the National Popular Vote.
Bluestem suspects having the "gun safety" group on her resume might have clashed a bit with the NRA membership, but there's no timeline. As gun right supporters, Bluestem would like to know if she was for or against gun rights before she was against them--or if she just happened to support both her client and the NRA at the same time. That would be breathtakingly independent.
Independent?
Whatever that case may be, Johnson's business relationships with powerful special interests make her claim to be "independent" of partisan affiliation to be rather beside the point. Sources tell us that polling in state house districts reveals that voters are tired of moneyed interests having more power than ordinary citizens.
It's not an argument for electing one of the most powerful trade group's lobbyists to the Minnesota House.
Given that zeitgeist, it's not surprising that on her website, Johnson uses language to obscure her day job. She wasn't a lobbyist for a group of food industry corporations; instead an "advocate" for "our area and small businesses":
Most recently, Kelsey has been working as an advocate at the State Capitol, working to pass legislation that helps our area and small businesses.
As Director of State Affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, she has learned what it takes to successfully advocate for policies that protect and support our most important initiative: Feeding the World.
Really? Sourcewatch describes the trade association in a much different light:
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), previously the Grocery Manufacturers of America, based in Washington, D.C., is the world's largest trade association for corporations making food, beverage, and consumer products. Representing such companies as Campbell Soup Company, Kraft Foods, and Pepsi, it channels political contributions, lobbies and engages in public relations on behalf of its member corporations.[1][2] In 2007, the Food Products Association (FPA), which focuses on science, nutrition labeling, and food safety, merged with GMA.[3]
GMA's primary wing -- its 501(c)(6) trade association -- took in nearly $41.4 million in total revenue in 2013 (its most recently available filing), spent over $41.4 million in total expenses, and had over $31 million in net assets available as of the end of that year.[4] Its 501(c)(3), "GMA Science and Education Foundation," had $588,626 in total revenue, $337,891 in total expenses, and $1,477,901 in net assets for the same time period.[5]
GMA's PAC made $222,245 in political contributions at the federal level in 2014 -- 63 percent to Republicans and 37 percent to Democrats -- according to the Center for Responsive Politics.[6] The top recipient of GMA political contributions from 1989 through the second quarter of 2014 was Democratic Senator Ron Kind of Wisconsin, according to the Sunlight Foundation.[7] GMA made $11,073,608 in political contributions at the state level in 2014, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.[8] It has spent $41,052,904 in lobbying at the federal level 1989 through the second quarter of 2014, according to the Sunlight Foundation.[7] It spent $4,620,347 lobbying at the federal level[9] and had eight lobbyists active in three states in 2014.[10]
Earlier in this post, we visited her testimony for her client. Perhaps she can spell out how that testimony helped the area and small businesses. Or was she moonlighting?
Perhaps we should simply be grateful that she's not running in the seat Ryan Winkler vacated.
All snark aside, we think that the bid reflects the Minnesota Nice culture of insider politics. We're sure she's a nice person--multiple sources tell us she dated Mr. Nice Guy Kurt Daudt which must have been a nice time--but policy-making should be built more than just being one of the guys.*
*A generic, tradition non-gender specific Minnesota language term for "people." You guys know what we mean.
Photo: According to a GMA press release, Senator Terri Bonoff (right) wasn't expected to win, but lobbyist Kelsey Johnson (left) saved the day as her campaign manager. Other sources were not as certain of Bonoff's potential defeat. Photo via Minneapolis Junior League Facebook page.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors. While progressive in outlook, she does not caucus with any political party.
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