by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Nineteen candidates for various elective offices presented their views Thursday, Oct. 16 during a debate at the Carnegie Library in Thief River Falls. About 50 people attended the debate, which was hosted by the Thief River Falls Chamber of Commerce. The debate also aired on the radio and online.
Thief River Falls City Council candidates
Thief River Falls City Council candidates were among the candidates participating in the debate. Mayoral candidates include incumbent Jim Dagg and challengers Brian Holmer and Lonnie Lee Mott.
All three candidates were asked about the city’s handling of the police officers’ vote of no confidence in now-former Police Chief Kim Murphy. The full council wasn’t aware of the complaints regarding Murphy’s conduct until months after the vote had been filed with City Administrator Larry Kruse.
“The administrator has to realize who he’s working for,” said Holmer, who noted Kruse has been given leeway to do what he wants.
Mott said Kruse should have brought the matter to the council as soon as he learned about the vote. He added that the council needs to be transparent.
Dagg was serving as mayor during the vote. “Protocol was followed. Did it end properly? No,” Dagg said.
Dagg noted that issues arose about two years earlier in the police department and officers weren’t happy with the outcome. He added that an outside firm reviewed the situation.
Mayoral candidates were also asked about housing in the city. Dagg responded that the city has authorized an option to purchase approximately 68 acres of land for housing near First Street West. It has already purchased 7.1 acres of the Noper property and will have to decide by July 15 whether it wants to purchase the remainder of the property. Dagg said 10 parties are interested in partnering with the city and the city is fine-tuning the details.
Mott also referred to the importance of housing here. However, he said the city still needs to work on the downtown and existing buildings in the city.
Holmer pointed to the number of houses currently available in the city. He indicated realtors told him that assessment values in the city are $5,000 to $10,000 higher than other communities.
Holmer also referred to the needs that come with more housing. He indicated the fire department is currently short of space at the Fire Hall. Holmer further referred to the need for a ladder truck to fight any possible fires at apartment buildings, Digi-Key or Arctic Cat.
Curtis Howe and incumbent Glen Kajewski are running for the Ward 1 seat. Both referred to the need for more Committee of the Whole meetings. When serving as the Committee of the Whole, the full council meets with department leaders but is unable to vote.
Howe proposed monthly Committee of the Whole meetings since he said there seems to be a lack of communication between city committees.
Kajewski countered that the Committee of the Whole works in certain situations, but city leaders won’t be able to address all topics in such a forum due to the amount of time needed to discuss those topics. He noted that he spent three hours in one committee meeting and about two hours in another committee the week of the debate.
Howe replied that council members expect to attend meetings if they are elected. He indicated that no one likes meetings, but there is no better way to meet with department leaders.
Four candidates are running for the seat in Ward 3. They include Josh Hagen; Edwin Dale Hahn, who was appointed to the seat; Paul Mooney and Brandon Tougas. Mooney didn’t attend the debate.
The Ward 3 candidates were asked about the council’s decision to approve a plan for the future Rocksbury Apartments along Pennington Avenue and near Challenger Elementary School. The Planning Commission had recommended that the council reject the plan.
Regarding that matter and other potential housing projects, Tougas, Hahn and Hagen all referred to the need for better communication prior to the council decision. All noted that the final decision rested with the council. Hahn and Hagen noted informal discussions should be held with the public before those matters come before the Planning Commission.
The Ward 3 candidates were also asked whether the city should have automated garbage collection, which would allow curbside recycling. All three said the current system was working.
Hagen advocated having more recycling containers around the city if it were cheap.
Tougas said the city could possibly have a hybrid version of the current system.
Hahn said one Ward 3 neighborhood would like automated garbage collection. He added that those residents were willing to pay additional money for a pilot program to offset the cost of such a program.
Three candidates are vying for the Ward 5 council seat. The candidates are Kevin Brown, Jennifer Myers and Rachel Prudhomme, who was appointed to the seat. Prudhomme was the only Ward 5 candidate in attendance.
Prudhomme was asked about a $10,000 line item for a law enforcement study. During a council meeting, she was told that the item wasn’t in the city’s 2014 budget. However, it was later found in the budget. Prudhomme was upset with how the situation was handled. She said she feels that Kruse doesn’t deal with issues in the public eye and wants them covered up. Prudhomme added that she would like more Committee of the Whole meetings in order for the council to be more aware of what is occurring in the city.
William Hess and Steven Narverud are the candidates for the position of council member at large. Narverud attended the debate. He said the council needs more positive, open communication. Narverud noted council members need to have respect for everyone involved in the process and also realize that other people’s ideas may work.
Pennington County
sheriff
Incumbent Ray Kuznia and Craig Mattson are vying for the position of Pennington County sheriff. They were asked about what measures should be taken to properly secure evidence in the Law Enforcement Center evidence vault.
Kuznia said he made another room available for the police department to use as an evidence vault. He added that the sheriff’s office has had no problems with evidence. Kuznia further noted that he has budgeted for two cameras and key fobs for the evidence vault.
Mattson said the police investigator recently went to training for evidence vaults. He noted that she found the current storage to be inadequate. Mattson said the same evidence vault has been used since the building was constructed.
Mattson and Kuznia were asked about the possibility of merging the sheriff’s office and police department. Both said they weren’t interested in merging the departments at this time.
Mattson further referred to the need for an advisory committee consisting of members of the Pennington County Board and Thief River Falls City Council as well as citizens. He said the group could focus on teamwork, space and staffing issues at the LEC. Mattson noted secrets can’t be kept from the citizens. He also referred to the need for community policing in St. Hilaire and Goodridge.
Kuznia countered that the departments already share a lot of things, including the cost for dispatch, the records clerk and utilities. Referring to the recent homicide case, he said the departments work together as a team.
Thief River Falls
School Board
Six candidates are running for four seats on the Thief River Falls School Board. Candidates include incumbent Kevin Ballard, incumbent Shannon Boen, Bobby Fladeland, incumbent Jon Lindgren, Beth Sheehan and incumbent Mike Spears. Wayne Nomeland is running for another seat with two years remaining in its term.
Ballard, Lindgren and Spears attended the debate. They were asked about a projected decrease in class sizes starting with the sophomore class at Lincoln High School.
Lindgren said the number of students influences the per-pupil aid the school district receives. “We have to be fiscally responsible. We have to keep watching the budgets,” he said.
Spears’ daughter, Shawna, is among the 200 students in the sophomore class. He said the freshmen class has 150 students. Spears noted the school board is working with the city to increase housing here.
Ballard indicated there are ways to counter declining enrollment. He noted the school district is losing more students than gaining through open enrollment. Ballard said the district is working on a firm plan to change that outcome and the start of 1:1 technology may assist in that change.
State legislative candidates also participated in the debate. Incumbent Dan Fabian and Bruce Patterson are vying for the District 1A seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives. They spoke about school funding.
Patterson said the state needs to provide more funding for colleges and school districts. He indicated that tuition fees should be rolled back. Patterson noted that it will take one of his daughters 20 to 25 years to pay back $80,000 for her postsecondary education. That is despite the fact that she lived at home for the first four years of her postsecondary education. At the same time, he noted that his daughter has a good job at the Mayo Clinic.
Fabian said he didn’t support a tuition freeze rather he supported more money being made available for grants. He said not all students need a tuition freeze.
Fabian added that a tuition freeze led to more problems at NCTC and other colleges. He said operating costs continued to climb, staff contracts had already been negotiated, and enrollment declined. Fabian indicated that NCTC has a $1 million deficit.
Eric Bergeson and incumbent Deb Kiel are running for the District 1B seat in the Minnesota House. They were asked about the environmental permitting process for businesses.
Kiel noted she supported a bill that reduced the amount of time that should elapse in the permitting process. She added that the state of North Dakota has already approved the installation of the Sandpiper pipeline, but the pipeline is still waiting for the state of Minnesota to approve the part of the proposed pipeline here. On top of that, she noted it would take 18 months after its approval for it to be ready.
The permitting process was initiated to protect people and the environment, Bergeson said. He referred to one company requesting to run a pipeline two feet under a ditch.