Tag: Our Minnetrista

Mayor and council members face campaign finance violations

“Campaign Complaint Rocks Minnetrista” is the title of the story published yesterday on the Center of the American Experiment site. A summary background, written by one of the Administrative Law judges, gives some analysis on the complaints that name current Minnetrista Mayor Lisa Whalen, Council Members Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin, past Council Member Patricia Thoele and “Our Minnetrista” leaders David Kolb and Karen Danielson as Respondents.

Full disclosure, I am the Complainant in this case and have received numerous requests for more information. For media inquiries, official status on these complaints may be obtained from the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings.

 

“Our Minnetrista” upside down and backwards

It is city staff that takes direction from the city council, not vice versa. “Our Minnetrista” which is supporting both incumbent candidates Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin advocates that council members take their direction from the City upside down minnetristaAdministrator. In an email I received from an Our Minnetrista leader, David Kolb, back when I was a candidate, he said “you will be more successful as a candidate and Council Member if you take your guidance from the City Administrator….” And that’s exactly what “Our Minnetrista” elected candidates have done.

When the City Administrator wanted to spend $20,000 on a community survey, they said sure. When the City Administrator wanted to give his assistant a 19% pay increase, they said sure. When the City Administrator said not to competitively bid the city’s engineering contract, they agreed. When the City Administrator and Finance Director said we need a 6.01% preliminary tax levy increase, they said sure.

As long as candidates go along with “Our Minnetrista,” a group consisting of ex-city employees, elected officials, school board members, vendors, and others with a vested interest in keeping the current taxing authorities in place, they can be assured of financial backing for their campaigns. Our Minnetrista will raise contributions for them, provide literature, a website, video commercials and advocacy.

ballot 2018Remember that tomorrow when you vote. Remember also that you don’t have to vote for 2 candidates (ballot says vote for UP to 2) and you can cast a single vote for the only candidate that understands it is the city staff that takes direction from the city council, not vice versa. #ElroyBalgaardForCityCouncil

Minnetrista incumbents raise over $8K to hang onto their city council seats

Minnetrista incumbents have raised over $8K to hang onto their city council seats. Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin raised over $4,000 each and have spent all but a few hundred dollars of it to hold onto their seats on November 6. Here are the latest campaign finance reports for Pam Mortenson, John Tschumperlin and challenger Elroy Balgaard.  Previous reports for the candidates are posted on the city’s website.

When I ran for city council 2 years ago, I only spent a few hundred dollars on some signs and literature that I hand delivered myself. So why are things so ramped up this election? There is much at stake and lots of money to be made (or not) based on who wins. But more importantly the status quo could be threatened by an outsider that doesn’t rubber stamp the recommendations of city staff and the mayor.

In reviewing the campaign finance reports I was expecting “Our Minnetrista” to be our minnetrista disclaimerlisted as the incumbents’ political committee because their literature states that it was “Prepared and paid for by Our Minnetrista, PO Box 193, Mound, MN 55364. But there is no political committee named “Our Minnetrista” that has filed a campaign finance report this year, despite the fact their website is collecting donations for both incumbent candidates and they are paying for campaign literature.  “Our Minnetrista” certainly appears to meet the definition of a “political committee” as defined by state statute and, as such, would be required to file campaign finance reports. Someone may want to look into that.

Minnetrista incumbents raise over $8K to hang onto their city council seats

Minnetrista incumbents have raised over $8K to hang onto their city council seats. Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin raised over $4,000 each and have spent all but a few hundred dollars of it to hold onto their seats on November 6. Here are the latest campaign finance reports for Pam Mortenson, John Tschumperlin and challenger Elroy Balgaard.  Previous reports for the candidates are posted on the city’s website.

When I ran for city council 2 years ago, I only spent a few hundred dollars on some signs and literature that I hand delivered myself. So why are things so ramped up this election? There is much at stake and lots of money to be made (or not) based on who wins. But more importantly the status quo could be threatened by an outsider that doesn’t rubber stamp the recommendations of city staff and the mayor.

In reviewing the campaign finance reports I was looking for “Our Minnetrista” to be our minnetrista disclaimerlisted as the incumbents’ political committee because their literature states that it was “Prepared and paid for by Our Minnetrista, PO Box 193, Mound, MN 55364. But there is no political committee named “Our Minnetrista” that has filed a campaign finance report this year, despite the fact their website is collecting donations for both candidates and they are paying for campaign literature. Someone may want to look into that.

Controlling the conversation

puppetsAn observation watching the LWV’s Minnetrista candidates forum: Not a single question posed to candidates mentioned taxes, fees or debt growth. Something else noteworthy is there was NO information online ANYWHERE about the scheduling of the forum. It wasn’t on the LWV events calendar, City of Minnetrista events calendar and doing a search the morning of the event turned up nothing (I’m good at searching). Yet, the room was packed with “Our Minnetrista” people supporting the incumbents. Since when are public forums by invitation only?

Striking differences in Minnetrista council candidates

I picked up literature from all three candidates and noticed something profoundly different about them. The flyers from the “Our Minnetrista” supported incumbents Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin have all the political platitudes expected on a flyer but don’t give any insight into how they make decisions about matters that come before the council. Who doesn’t support our police and fire services, road maintenance, and promise to listen to residents?

Balgaard flyer small
Flyer prepared and paid for by Elroy Balgaard for City Council, PO Box 103, Minnetrista, MN 55359

I was struck by the difference in Elroy Balgaard’s flyer that actually declared his core, fundamental principles and values: His support of private property rights, determination to stop wasteful spending and debt growth that drive up taxes, and putting an end to the conflict of interests of special vendor relationships at city hall.

As a city council member I know how difficult it can be to stand on principle. I’m not very popular with the tax & spend “Our Minnetrista” crowd, staff or mayor. I suspect Mr. Balgaard won’t be either but he’s the only candidate running that isn’t afraid to say what he thinks and he proved that at the candidate forum last Thursday.

incumbent flyers

 

 

Why would “Our Minnetrista” delete their WordPress site?

It seems our friends at the “Our Minnetrista” organization have deleted their WordPress site after Minnetrista Governance Blog quoted statements from it here calling into question their support for “independent and ethical leadership”.  Now is that something an organization with nothing to hide would do? I suspected they might. Glad we screen captured it all. #ElroyBalgaardForCityCouncil

our minnetrista deleted WP site
Our Minnetrista organization has deleted their WordPress site

May 23, 2018

Regarding the private message some of you (perhaps all of you?) received from the person behind the “Our Minnetrista” organization, I WILL PUBLICLY ADDRESS EACH LIE IN HIS MESSAGE:

1. “I supported her candidacy”. Prior to the election my neighbors reported they had found flyers from this organization campaigning against me. I did meet with the Our Minnetrista representatives when I filed to run but as soon as they discovered I wasn’t going to be a rubber stamp for the Mayor or staff they launched an effort to derail my campaign.

2. He claims the road budget was “slashed during the preceding four years.” The point here is that it wasn’t “slashed” 128% and that was the increase being considered. Yes, the road budget needed an increase but 128%, in my opinion, was extreme.

3. He claims “Council Member Bruce refused to answer my questions.” He never asked me a question but rather spoke at a public hearing where he had three uninterrupted minutes to speak. He never addressed a question to me. I, however, did ask the Mayor for an opportunity to respond to his allegations of being misled and stated that all the statements I had made in an op/ed column in the Laker were accurate and I stood behind them.

4. He claims to have been misled to think the 4.35% increase in the city’s tax levy (which just means the city’s budget) translated to a 4.35% increase in his property tax bill. That is just ignorance, but understandable given the complicated nature of property tax calculations in Minnesota. Many Minnetrista residents saw increases of more than 5% in the city portion of their property tax bill for 2018. Those figures are publicly available and easy to prove.

5. Lastly, in the MG blog post that seems to have ignited this smear campaign I was not questioning whether or not it was the “right decision” to pull snow plows off the city roads during a snow storm. I was questioning the decision to make a public announcement on the city’s website that they were being pulled because of blizzard conditions. That announcement, in my opinion, was unnecessary in the first place and, secondly, didn’t state the real reason for pulling the plows which had more to do with staffing levels than anything else. If I make a mistake I will apologize for it but I don’t apologize for what others do.

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May 18, 2018

A CAMPAIGN TO DISCREDIT THIS BLOG IS UNDERWAY by supporters of the Mayor, specifically the individual behind the “Our Minnetrista” campaign that supported the Mayor’s candidacy. Blog followers have reported to me they’ve received personal messages alleging misinformation on the blog and casting doubt on my integrity. The person sending these messages is too cowardly to identify a single fact they can prove is untrue but rather chooses to go behind my back and make allegations. These tactics are precisely why I started this blog, to have a public forum out in the open where people can judge for themselves what the truth is. I encourage any of my readers to contact me directly if they have questions about anything on the blog. This person is too cowardly to do that knowing his underhanded deceit will be called out. It is sad that a council member can’t express viewpoints that don’t coincide with the Mayor’s without being personally attacked.

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Can I vote for just one council candidate?

“What if I only want to vote for one?” That’s a great question! There are two seats on the ballot for Minnetrista city council and three candidates running. The ballot says “Vote for Up to Two” but what if you only want to vote for one? Will it disqualify your ballot 2018ballot? I asked the MN Secretary of State’s office and they confirmed choosing only one candidate WILL NOT INVALIDATE YOUR BALLOT. It says vote for “UP” to two so it’s fine to choose fewer or even skip voting for an office altogether. The best thing to do, however, is find out who the candidates are and what they stand for, even all those judges you’ve probably never heard of. #ElroyBalgaardForCityCouncil