Strong Showing for County Commission Write-Ins; County Questions Soundly Defeated

It’s a mixed bag of election results this morning–lots to be excited about, and some that have me feeling a little glum.

I’m sorry to hear that after so many years of excellent DFL representation for Big Stone County on the state level, our redistricting, which coupled us to a more northerly, and more conservative population base, has resulted in a loss for DFL State Senate candidate (and Big Stone County resident) John Schultz.

The 12A State House DFL candidate Jay McNamar defeated his challenger, Scott Dutcher, and in our old district, Rep. Andy Falk and Senator Gary Kubly’s successor, Lyle Koenen both prevailed.

Some exciting news on the county front: both write-in challengers for commission seats had strong support in their respective districts. Mark Block, in District 3, garnered 37% of the vote, and Mike Hartman in District 5 got 35% of the vote.

Considering both candidates had only a month to educate voters, and that many of their potential constituents had already received (and many returned) their ballots by the time the write-in candidacies were announced, the fact that both of them still managed to persuade over 1/3 of voters to write in their names is an incredible feat.

Of course, in Ortonville Township, where the results of commissioners’ jurisdictional overstep on the Strata Quarry CUP are most keenly felt, Hartman beat the incumbent Berning 28-21.

Write-in campaigns are notoriously difficult to win (though congratulations go to Sarina Otaibi in Granite Falls, who pulled off hers), and especially in a presidential election, where the electorate comes out in droves to vote for top-of-ticket candidates they’ve seen on TV while being more or less uninformed about local decisions.

It’s a sad truth that a lot of little ovals get filled in for what appear on the ballot to be uncontested races. Education of uninformed voters is made more difficult when district residents are reticent about putting up yard signs for fear of retribution should their candidate fail, a sentiment that has been expressed privately to me by more than one household.

But, the incredibly strong showing of the two write-in candidates indicates that an extremely high percentage of those paying attention in districts 3 and 5 made the effort to write-in for change.

Another bellwether of change in Big Stone County is the sound defeat of three questions on whether or not the positions of county auditor, recorder, and treasurer should be elected or appointed. While current commissioners encouraged the change to (their own) appointment for these positions, the public’s response was a resounding “no”–with nearly 80% of the electorate giving their thumbs down in order to keep the decision on these positions securely in the citizens’ hands.

It remains to be seen whether the big picture behind these election results will be reflected upon by the county commissioners as they serve their upcoming terms–or whether the simple fact of retaining seats will be seen as a mandate for more politics as usual.

Considering the strong turnout for write-ins and clear message that county auditor, treasurer, and recorder positions should remain a choice of the electorate, it would be wise for county government to carefully consider how it might strive to act more closely in accordance with the will of the people.

[Update: Some of the percentage calculations were way off in the initial post; corrections made to account for those errors.]

Annexation Rules Change for Proposed Quarry Site Hearing Details

Both meetings are on MONDAY, OCTOBER 15 (tomorrow, as of the date of this posting).

City of Ortonville Planning Commission public hearing (to consider a change of rules regarding how annexed land is zoned): 3pm, City Hall, 315 Madison Avenue, Ortonville, MN 56278

City of Ortonville City Council meeting (to consider recommendations of planning commission/adopt annexation rule change): 7pm, Public Library Media Center, 412 2nd Street NW, Ortonville, MN 56278

I don’t know why I was hearing there would be a special meeting of the city council at 5pm in city offices–first and third Mondays of the month at 7pm in the basement (sidehill entrance) of the library are the council’s regularly scheduled meetings, so it sounds like that is where and when the language will be considered/adopted. If I find out anything different, I will post ASAP.

These meetings are PUBLIC. And, the public is strongly urged (by me, and by all those who oppose annexation of the proposed quarry site in Ortonville Township) to attend.

If you care, do what you can to be there.

Annexation–Without the Mess!

In order to make Strata Corporation’s plan to blast and crush the outcrops along the headwaters of the Minnesota River as smooth and painless as possible, the Planning Commission of the City of Ortonville is holding a public hearing October 15th to give lip service to the idea of democracy.

The idea here is to change the zoning rules following annexation of that proposed quarry site, so that the City won’t have to go through yet another messy public participation process to change the zoning on the piece of land they’re planning to steal (legally, of course!) from Ortonville Township in order to allow Strata to make a bunch of money and destroy local residents’ quality of life.

If you think this looks like a poor excuse for government “by the people and for the people,” I’d like to personally invite you to attend the hearing on Monday, October 15th at three o’ clock in the afternoon (I’m sure they didn’t mean to pick such an inconvenient time!) to let the commission know what you think.

After this meeting, rumor has it that there will be a special meeting of the Ortonville City Council at 5pm to consider…er, most likely just pass the duly recommended change in language.

And, you can come to that meeting, too! Both should be excellent and educational examples of your local government at work.

Be there, or quit complainin’ about the government. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

 

 

Annexation of Proposed Quarry Site on Ortonville City Council Agenda

Packets have gone out to the Ortonville City Council this evening for Monday’s 7pm meeting in the Ortonville Public Library Media Center. On the agenda, under New Business: “Hedge Annexation.”

Rumors of Ortonville City’s possible annexation of the proposed Strata aggregate quarry site in Ortonville Township have been leaking out for a few weeks now, and those rumors were further fueled by a post-meeting-adjournment question to the council from Ortonville EDA Community Development Coordinator Vicki Oakes about whether the city would rezone the proposed quarry site when (not if) it was annexed.

Since passing an interim ordinance late last winter, the Ortonville Township Board of Supervisors has moved to create their own planning and zoning committee and to develop their own land use plan in order to preserve and protect the quality of life of their approximately 100 residents. I have been a witness to several of township’s board and planning committee meetings, and I can tell you that these people are incredibly dedicated public servants who have embarked on a very steep learning curve in order to do right by their residents.

The State of Minnesota provides for townships and other municipalities to exercise this right of local control through passage of an interim ordinance precisely because larger governing bodies do not always respect the will of the people in smaller ones. Clearly, this was the case when the Big Stone County Board of Commissioners moved to approve the Strata Corp. conditional use permit for an aggregate quarry in Ortonville Township despite the objection of the majority of its residents and despite the county’s lack of jurisdiction once the interim ordinance was passed.

Signs protesting the approval of Strata Corp’s CUP at a public hearing late last winter.

And, despite the legal right of the township to take control of its own land use planning, Ms. Oakes, formerly Big Stone County Planning Commission chair, has publicly ridiculed the township’s process, spread false rumors about its intentions and effects, and has continued to push the quarry project and the interests of one non-resident landowner (who happens to be one of the wealthiest citizens of Big Stone County) over the rights of the many residents of the township.

It is frankly amazing how much information Ms. Oakes can convey considering her presence at only one of these township meetings–one at which no planning committee business took place. Is spreading rumor and innuendo and ridiculing the process of local governments an appropriate role of a paid employee of the City of Ortonville?

Now, in defiance of the township’s role and right to preserve and protect the health, safety, property values, and quality of life of its residents, Ms. Oakes, landowner Gayle Hedge, and Strata Corporation are pushing the City of Ortonville to annex township land and push forward the quarry project against the will of the majority of the families who actually live there.

Is this the kind of place we want to live? Where a bigger government bullies the smaller one, and residents have no say about the community they want to live in?

Unfortunately, townships have few legal rights when it comes to annexation by a neighboring city. The process that Ortonville Township has embarked upon to protect and serve their people could be for naught unless the people of both Ortonville City and Ortonville Township stand up and make their voices heard.

Plan to attend Monday night’s meeting, and contact Ortonville City Council members to tell them to preserve the rights of Ortonville Township residents by rejecting annexation of the Hedge property.

Ortonville City Council:

Mayor David Dinnel 839-6226
Mel Reinke 839-3084
Mike Dorry 839-3048
Angela Doren 763-202-3487
Ron Thomas 839-3039
Robert Meyer 839-2364
Steve Berkner 839-3914