Minnesota Lawyer
New Brighton City Council member Gina Bauman, a Republican challenger for Sen. Satveer Chaudhary’s SD50 seat, is running as an opponent of local government aid: “I think that all entities of local government need to stand alone.” (Staff photo: Charley Shaw)
Local governments across Minnesota have taken a budgetary pounding from the Legislature in the past two years. So is it a coincidence that a striking number of this year’s crop of legislative candidates come from the ranks of mayors’ offices and city councils around the state?
There are 24 challengers who have been mayors or served on city councils, according to a recent tally calculated by the League of Minnesota Cities. Among the challengers, 14 are Republicans and 10 are DFLers.
Added to the 33 legislative incumbents who have been elected city officials, these challengers bring the likely number of former mayors and councilors on this November’s ballot to 57.
And that number could grow before the June 1 filing deadline. Rep. Roger Reinert, DFL-Duluth, announced on Wednesday that he is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon, DFL-Duluth; as a consequence, some Duluth City Council members might choose to run for the House. Also, Delano Mayor Joe McDonald was recently endorsed for the House seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, who is running for governor.
The Minnesota Senate currently has 10 members who served previously in elected city office, which amounts to 15 percent of the body. In the House, 26 members, or 19 percent, have been elected city officials, according to the League.
In the 2008 general election, when only the House was up for election, there were 34 candidates with a background in local government, including 22 incumbents and 12 challengers.
In 2006, when all 201 legislative seats were on the ballot, there were 62 candidates who had served as elected city officials (36 incumbents and 26 challengers), according to the League. That year, 33 candidates were Republicans, 28 were DFLers and there was one Independence Party candidate.
The 2010 field
Mick McGuire, who has served as mayor of his hometown of Montgomery for 10 years, is running as a DFLer for the open House District 25A seat being vacated by Rep. Laura Brod, R-New Prague. His city has had to react to cuts to local government aid (LGA) by the state by raising property taxes and reducing services.
“To me,” said McGuire, “it makes some sense that we collect a fair tax statewide and we come up with a distribution formula to spread those monies around and make sure cities have funding.” LGA is state money for property tax relief that is distributed to cities with comparatively small property tax bases. LGA has been repeatedly cut in recent years. It also suffers from complex inequalities in the distribution formula, McGuire said.
“I’ve come to realize that the relationship between the state as it is now and the cities is very important. The LGA program has worked extremely well,, but at the same time it’s had its problems,” McGuire said.
Not all of the legislative candidates with city government experience are keen on LGA, however.
Gina Bauman, a Republican, is a coffee shop owner and New Brighton City Council member who is challenging Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, DFL-Fridley.
“When I see local government use other entities of government to survive, I don’t like that. I think that all entities of government need to stand alone,” Bauman said.
She questions the assumption that LGA is needed to keep cities operating.
“Your services will not be cut. You always have your core services, your police, your fire — your streets will be maintained.”
Five-term Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann is running as a Republican for the House District 4A seat currently held by Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji. He sees problems with the way LGA is set up, but he notes that the program has been an important part of city finances since it was established in the early 1970s.
“I personally still believe local government aid is important,” Lehmann said. “But the formula is broken and we need to look at it from that perspective.”
Candidates who have held local office bring expertise to the Legislature in matters other than government finances.
In the Bemidji area, the city and surrounding townships have managed growth by creating a joint-planning area that encompasses parts of the city and surrounding township. The joint-planning board has been an experiment in local governments working together to provide services. “It’s one of those things where you hang together or hang separately,” Lehmann said.
Montgomery has overhauled its water infrastructure during McGuire’s time as mayor. That involved building new wells and a new water tower as well as reworking the water transfer system.
“Given the opportunity, I would like to be involved with some of our water and water conservation issues, because I think they’re very important,” McGuire said.
While city budgets have had a tough couple of years, the legislative candidates frequently say they’re less concerned about remedying the past than addressing the shortfall that is estimated for 2012-2013 at $5.8 billion.
McGuire noted that Montgomery officials have made tough decisions during his time as mayor. He’s frustrated that state lawmakers during the 2010 legislative session didn’t make a serious effort to reduce the size of the state’s next deficit.
“One reason [for running] was a frustration at the Capitol. We have a tough deal coming up. We have a mess. If you think of it as a train wreck, we’re heading for a big one,” McGuire said.
