The October 26, 2016 Clara City News profiles Minnesota House District 17A and Senate District 17 candidates;on its front page this week. The articles are well-written and informative, as are the profiles of the House District 17B candidates.
The last sentence of the profile of Representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, however, made Bluestem pause: "He currently works in non profit strategic planning and development."
That differs from the occupation listed on his official page on the Minnesota House of Representatives, where he's a "business owner."
That listing, in its turn, varies from the information in his legally required information in his Economic Interest Statement (EIS), online at the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. In his EIS, Miller lists his occupation as "clerk" for hardware store. Sadly, the store in Willmar closed at the end of July, a casualty of changing consumer attitudes toward retail in the age of big box stores, the owner told the West Central Tribune.
Miller also appears to drive a sugar beet truck for David Daughtery's farm in Renville and Kandiyohi Counties. In an October 14, 2016 Minnesota House 17A radio debate on a Willmar radio station this year, Miller gave a shout out to the Daughtery beet truck crew (3:23 minute mark on the audio archive).
The screenshot above is taken from Miller's personal Facebook page last October; US DOT records show that Daughtery has a fleet of four trucks to haul crops. Under Minnesota law, farm truck drivers don't need commercial drivers' licenses so long as the vehicle has special plates and remains within 150 miles of the farm, the Forum News Service reported last fall in Amid sugar beet truck accidents, some question Minnesota, North Dakota regulations for ag drivers.
The freshman lawmaker's prowess as a driver isn't an issue here as far as we're concerned. Rather, it's the likely fact that Miller is paid to drive a beet truck, and has been paid to drive a beet truck in the past. If we read the handbook for reporting sources of income correctly, if a public official was paid " more than $50 in a month" (page 7), then that income must be listed on any EIS filed after the first statement:
If your employer is one of the types of entities listed in Column A , you would list your employer in the sources of compensation section and check the employee box for this line. On your first Statement of Economic Interest, you look at only the month before you became a public or local official to determine if you met the $50 income threshold. On later Statements of Economic Interest, you report the income if you reached the $50 threshold in any month since the date of your last statement.
The EIS is intended to let the public know about conflicts of interest that might arise for public officials.
As we reported this July in Beet coop PAC pours sugar on Renville Co RPM; Renville Co RPM sweetens Tim Miller committee, Representative Miller enjoys strong relationship with the sugar beet industry, if on would measure that in terms of political action committee (PAC) sugar sprinkled on Miller and the Renville County RPM.
Is he driving that beet truck as a volunteer? Neither do we believe that the farm is a non-profit that the Prinsburg Republican is advising. A little more transparency on the EIS might be in order, all things considered.
Photo: From Miller's Facebook page, posted on October 2, 2015.
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