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Health & Fitness

Who To Vote For in Tuesday Aug. 14 Primary?

reminder to vote in primary; comment on two issues before Roseville City Council; comment on data practices act used to recover citizen e-mails

There is a primary election Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012.

The ballot contains choices for Ramsey County Commissioner District 2, Roseville City Council members, MN Supreme Court  Justices, U.S. Senator, U.S. District Representative, Ramsey County Soil & Water Conservation Board (link: http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/cd/elections.htm), MN Senator, MN House Representative.

Winners from the Aug. 14 primary will become the candidates on the Nov. 6, 2012 ballot. Not all positions have primary challengers.

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As I try to determine whom I should support, I observe the lawn signs on my neighbors’ yards. I see that many are distributed by political party affiliation and/or support  or opposition to the MN ballot amendments. I examine the web sites of those candidates who have them available.

I look at the flyers that arrive at my home. I read the news coverage in the local papers and Internet. I look at political party and third party endorsements (unions, environmental groups, Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice, etc.).  None of this is sufficiently informative,although flyers paid for by a third party catch my attention. Unfortunately,there have not been any public forums in which candidates can answer substantive questions. 

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So, I look at the performance records of those candidates who have been in public office or gave public testimony to government or serve on a public commission. I consider the major issues that the governing body might
address. I have no interest in the length of time anyone has lived here, the
composition of his/her family, the schools she/he attended, the honorifics and
claims that are  attributed to the candidate, etc. 

Two of the issues that Roseville City Council will address this
year are:

1) Roseville Public Works, Environment and Transportation Commission recommendation that the city begin the state-regulated (MN Statute 115A.94) process to consider adoption of organized trash collection in Roseville. City Council members who have accepted support from the Garbage Haulers association must function as independent and unbiased participants in the state-mandated process.  Is this credible?

2) Moving forward with the construction of the new fire station and the parks infrastructure. The method originally adopted by the council to issue bonds
for these projects bypassed a citizen vote. Can this bypass of citizen input be expected as the new or preferred method for council actions? 

In the competition for the Fourth Congressional District, one problematic  candidate is Diana Longrie, former Mayor of Maplewood. Kevin Berglund, Diana Longrie’s husband, filed a legal data practices act request for the e-mail addresses of citizens living within the Fourth Congressional District.

Roseville has complied with this request. Presumably, these email lists will be used to further Diana’s campaign for Congress, should she win the primary. Regardless of the intended use, while this request is legal, it is a deliberate violation of privacy of citizens who provided e-mail addresses for municipal notifications. I am unhappy with a potential congresswoman who is content to violate my privacy for her own gain.

So, whether or not you agree with me, I urge you to vote on Tuesday, Aug. 14. If you are uncertain of your polling place, use the tool provided by the Secretary of State: http://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/.

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