November 2008 elections concluded with the turnover of two of three Chisago county commissioners. Lora Walker replaced District 1 Commissioner Lynn Schultz and George McMahon replaced District 3 Commissioner Bob Gustafson. District 5 Commissioner Mike Robinson was re-elected to serve a third term. District 2 Commissioner Rick Greene and District 4 Commissioner Ben Montzka will be up for re-election in November 2010.
District 1, 3 and 5 county commissioners were sworn in immediately preceding their first board meeting on 1/6/09. With a new county board comes a change in dynamics and business relationships. Voters have great expectations of a county board faced with major cutbacks in Local Government Aid, dwindling tax revenues and a recession likened by some to the Great Depression.
Will the newly seated Chisago county board set aside personal biases and power struggles? Will they make a fresh start and focus on public service, overcoming challenges and achieving positive results?
Will the newly seated Chisago county board cooperate and collaborate in unity to ensure that all Chisago county residents are fairly represented and equally served?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Cooperation & Collaboration or Calamity?
Monday, January 26, 2009
New Horizons?
Fish Lake Township Supervisor Bob Carter suffered another defeat on 1/6/09 when the newly seated Chisago County board voted unanimously to re-appoint Craig Mold to another 3-year term effective 1/16/09 as the District 5 representative to the Chisago County planning commission. This is the second time that Carter has unsuccessfully applied for a county planning commission appointment.
Carter has previously applied for a county appointment to the East Central Regional Library (ECRL) board as well. He lost his bid for the at-large position when the prior Chisago County board voted on 12/26/07 to re-appoint Verna Hoppe for another 3-year term effective 1/1/08. Carter’s application for an ECRL board seat was preceded by his “strategic” letter to the editor published on 12/20/07 in the “The Chisago County Press” newspaper titled, “Robinson didn’t support library.”
After three failed attempts to transcend from township to county government, would it be prudent for Carter to explore new horizons?
