
The influx of independent expenditures by the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors Fund (NARF) into municipal races has been news in Rochester, Minnesota's third-largest city. Check out this Catharine Richert story at Minnesota Public Radio, Development, money and tension dominate Rochester council races and an earlier Post Bulletin story by Andrew Setterholm, Outside group spends big on council candidates.
The NARF dropped "a combined $30,000 to help commercial realtor Scott Hoss unseat an incumbent, and to re-elect city council president Randy Staver," Richter reports.
With development anticipated to blossom as Rochester's DMC (Destination Medical Center) rams up, it's not hard to ascertain the national group's purpose in spending on candidates it believes will help members' business interests.
But what's the stake in North Mankato, population estimated 13,529 in 2015?
According to campaign finance records on file at the South Central Minnesota city's website, the same political fund had spent $4,758.83 in independent expenditures by October 13 for a single mailing supporting the candidacies of Tom Hagen for Mayor and Matthias Leyrer for City Council.
Word arrived yesterday that a second independent expenditure arrived in voters' mailboxes this week--so it's possible out-of-state group is spending close to $9400 in a local election in a city where 8186 people were registered to vote at the beginning of Election Day 2014.
We called Tom Hagen, a humanities professor at Minnesota State University-Mankato, about the independent expenditures. He said that he was surprised to see the mailing but assumed that the fund's nod came from his opposition to North Mankato council approval of a rental cap of 10-percent in September.
Hagen said the he disagreed with the 10 percent rental-per-block ordinance, a position spelled out on his website in the post, 10 Percent Rental Rule:
Recently the City of North Mankato established a new rental cap of 10%. I proposed an alternative to the city that was based on clear rules and strong enforcement, but the city chose to not even discuss it. . . .
The rental rules in North Mankato are definitely in need of change, all agree to that, but what really needs changing is the way in which North Mankato City Government involves citizens in the decision making process. Many of us, as concerned citizens, believe that non-compliant landlords and tenants should be made to answer for their actions, but that the city should not paint all tenants and landlords with the same broad brush. The involvement of concerned citizens in the process of government is helpful to the process. No one has all the answers , but by working together we can come to better solutions to challenging issues. . . .
Read the entire post on the blog. Hagen assumed his public opposition to the rule caught the PAC's eye; he stressed that although his objections to the new rule stemmed from a concern for property rights, he also was in agreement with the American Civic Liberty Union's assessment of the ordinance.
Trey Mewes at the Mankato Free Press reported in North Mankato passes controversial rental density cap:
Some took issue with the cap's 10 percent threshold, while others worried the cap would cause rents to rise and rental options to become scarce. And some were concerned with the way city officials conducted its public meetings on the cap issue.
Many of them spoke out at a public hearing in opposition to the cap.
"The problem lies in the zoning codes and the land use regulations," said Matthias Leyrer.
Leyrer, a City Council candidate who blogs on urban planning and architecture, believed the council's decision would negatively affect the local housing market.
He wasn't the only one. Local realtors representing the Realtors Association of Southern Minnesota Board of Directors publicly opposed the cap, as did a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
"We see that historically these initiatives, these ordinances, have been used to exclude minorities in cities or neighborhoods," said Julio Zelaya, a coordinator of ACLU's Greater Minnesota Racial Justice Project. . . .
Mayoral candidate Tom Hagen, who has had issues in the past with the city of North Mankato over its handling of noise complaints, took the city to task for the way city officials handled the rental density cap issue. While the public meetings were open to everyone, city officials only mailed meeting notices to property owners.
"You need to get the citizens of this community involved in this process, everyone who's here, and come up with a reasonable process that works for all of us," he said.
Bluestem Prairie didn't speak to Leyrer about the independent expenditures, but the young candidate addresses them on his website:
You may have been sent to my website by a mailer that was sent by the National Realtors Association. In small type on that mailer, you will see that it says the mailer was not mailed by direction of the candidates. I would like to restate this. This mailer was sent without my knowledge as per campaign finance laws.
While I am very grateful that a group that promotes home ownership and works with property owners of all types have endorsed me, I want to make two things very clear:
- I did not know about this mailer, nor did I ask or suggest that it be sent on my behalf in any way.
- This does not mean that my vote is for sale. Period.
If you hear anyone talking about me trading my vote to the realtors association to overturn a ordinance or anything of the sort, please have them reach out to me. I would be happy to talk.
Bluestem hopes that voters understand that both candidates had nothing to do with the mail piece--which fortunately isn't a nasty attack on the others running for the same offices.
That being said, we are nonetheless discouraged to see a national organization's spending reaching down this level. Both candidates speak to the need to engage local citizens in them local government processes; this is a fine goal.
Big national PAC dimes clanging? Not so much. Unfortunately, in the era of Citizens United (oh the irony) little can be done to make Hagen's and Leyrer's voices stand out to voters rather than mail from absentee interests.
The state realtors' PAC--a separate entity--is spending IE dollars in the 17B race (for Dave Baker, R-Willmar); SD39 ( for Karin Housley, R-Forest Lake); SD24 (for Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna); and SD10 (Carrie Ruud, R-Brezy Point). A friend has heard pro-Baker ads on Willmar-area radio.
Photo: The first NARF mailer to North Mankato voters.
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