Taking Time To Look for Great Leaders In My Back Yard

 

UPDATE: Liberal in the Land of Conservative posted by Political Muse Saturday, April 26, 2008 "Given that Elwyn Tinklenberg is now the DFL endorsed candidate, he should..."

Fighting fire with fire? 6th CD Convention Video: Tinklenberg Endorsement Speech Sunday, April 27, 2008

Good Message from DFL Here DMB Saturday, April 26, 2008

12 Responses to If only the 6th had been so smart 2 years ago, Published by Matt MNPublius

Thanks to DMB for finding Students for Bachmann Michelle Bachmann votes against students Monday, April 7, 2008 "Letter to the Editor from the College of St. Benedicts / St. John's University Record"

The Dim Bulb Caucus in Congress And... by Peregrin Wood Irregular Times Sunday, April 27th, 2008 "The excuses Michelle Bachmann has given for her effort to promote the use of inefficient technology are:"

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AP story on CD 6 race Blue man in Red District Thursday, April 24, 2008 "Schumacher said Democrats want to focus on roads, jobs and housing - issues she said Bachmann has neglected."

Credit Anoka County Watchdog for Archiving the item - it looks like, give Tinklenberg Group $115,000 for communication, organization, and marketing. Eric Zaetsch from Developers are Crabgrass Thursday, April 10, 2008 "When you are developing "strong working relationships" with "govenrmental agencies and elected officials" to advance a project for which you are being paid over a hundred grand; what's the name for that?"

One of many reasons I do not trust Tinklenberg...

Loved Governor Ventura!

Didn’t pay attention to Tinklenberg when he was Transportation Commissioner.

Respected Tinklenbergs position as Mayor of Blaine Minnesota.

But loved the Mayor from Circle Pines more!

You see in the early 1990‘s, when the Mayor from Blaine and the Mayor from Circle Pines locked horns, they each had their individual and collective reason's.

The Mayor of Blaine wanted to expand the Blaine Relief Airports business with the bigger Target Greatland planes at the time.

The Mayor of Circle Pines wanted to preserve the area’s natural resources (the wetlands was a big concern) and the people's quality of life.

The Sports Center brought the biggest flood of people the area had ever seen, with the first event.

What ever happened between the time of the bigger planes that loudly changed their flight patterns to go over long time residential homes and the building of the Sports Center is void and mute.

Need I say more?

of course I do...

In the early 1990's Mayor Tinklenberg and the Mayor from Circle Pines were locking horns over the expansion of the relief airport. Tinklenberg wanted the Target Greatland plane's to land at the Blaine Relief Airport and the Mayor from Circle Pines wanted to preserve the natural habitat of the area.

The WETLANDS, it was all about preserving the wetlands so that the animals, the people and all natural resources could co-exist in what most of us believed was our little piece of heaven here on earth.

The wetlands were (still are) a big deal to a lot of us and the Circle Pines Mayor sited the need for sound preservation practices. Not falling victim to a gluttony of insta-development, pre-fab homes and a string of corporate commercial planes that would eventually disrupt the peace and quiet of the resident's, was key to that time and that place. 'Don't move so fast' is not saying don't grow. But the Mayor from Blaine had a glint in his eyes that beamed ‘growth is progress‘. It was too much, too fast for me. Tinklenberg unfortunately got his way.

As commercial retail development flew in to the area and more insta-projects popped up, we also saw the slow loss of manufacturing and other equally important businesses that employed lots of local people. One of the saddest company closings in early 2000, in the city of Anoka, was IMI Cornelius. That company had been phasing its way out of Minnesota beginning in the latter 1990's when they began hiring a temporary pool of workers.

Even while we were being plagued with manufacturing closings due to NAFTA, the job fairs in the mid-1990's were packed with local employers looking for real full time employees.

So I always wondered how Tinklenberg was able to convince other Mayors to go along with his big ideas. What did he do to try and keep business from leaving? How did he preserve what was already in Blaine township? That I never knew enough about and for the life of me can't recall even a little thing when it comes down to his saving local jobs. I would like to see his resume on that subject.

When I watched the Blaine Mayor and the Circle Pines Mayor go at it while attending the Chamber round table meetings, I was always on the side of the Circle Pines Mayor, secretly. I was a member of the Anoka County Chamber of Commerce through my employer, so I had to maintain a great amount of professional decorum as well as neutrality.

Then again, because I did not publicly choose sides, I did tend to learn much more about how politicians behave. It was a fascinating time mixed with personal reservation about the growth plans in the northern townships / suburbs. Sort of comical now, how the Commercially Driven Blaine Mayor and the Natural Preservationist Circle Pines Mayor butt heads like a couple of rams.

The Circle Pines Mayor was older, wiser and confident and the Blaine Mayor reminded me of the adolescent ram challenging the status quo, as if he was challenging his elders. And you bet he did, a lot. I noticed how much Tinklenbergs zeal for development started to show several years into his job.

My drive around the landscape became absent of all my favorite critters along the way to visit companies or clients. Usually right before sun up, I was always pleasantly surprised by a deer, fox or some other furry forager silently going about their early morning business. The excavating continued to push the critters out and those wonderful miracle moments sadly disappeared.

It was as if you felt separated from the hustle and bustle of civilization when enveloped by mother nature. It was great and it was the point of living in the area in the first place. Squirrels and birds always seem to adapt much quicker than people, to the new forest's of concrete and black top. Not the same thing, not the same at all.

Change for the better takes time. Something I'm always willing to take time to do, is look for great leaders.


Headed to CD6 by Joe Bodell Minnesota Campaign Report Sat Apr 26, 2008 "My expectation is that El Tinklenberg will collect the DFL endorsement in fairly short order, but hey, strange things happen at CD conventions."

CEAP PROVIDING $1,000.00 DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR CAR PURCHASES BY ELIGIBLE ANOKA COUNTY RESIDENTS

Paul backers stage (failed) delegate coup at GOP district conventions by Steve Perry Minnesota Monitor Mon April 7, 2008 "RNC officials contacted during the event said that party rules dictate that delegates to the national convention must endorse John McCain or see their votes tossed out."

"Perhaps Bachmann will continue to follow Walz's lead and actually have an open, unscripted meeting with her constituents..." Posted by Ollie Ox Bluestem Prairie: news about Tim Walz MN-1 February 16, 2008

Bachmann Solves Energy Crises While Watching Beverly Hillbillies. by fruitfly April 6, 2008 "Don’t read it while drinking anything you don’t want coming up and through your nose, hot coffee and Coca-Cola drinkers beware."

Anoka County Foreclosures Rate Highest in Metro—How Does this Affect Homeowners? Posted by Theresa Eckholm, Minnesota Realtor Monday, March 3, 2008

Uniquely Minnesota Artful Distractions—Homeowner Version: Grrrr....Black Bear in Columbus Posted by Teri Eckholm, Realtor Anoka County MN on ActiveRain 04/25/2008