The “Mess at the DHS” reinforces the need for stronger efforts to rout out political corruption and bureaucratic mismanagement within our state government. This will come only when our own local representatives demonstrate that they care about how our tax dollars are being spent.

If you are concerned about these developments and are looking for a way to do something about them, running for the state legislature is a meaningful action. If you live in Senate District 49, we want to hear from you.

Campaigns for the Minnesota Senate or House take passion, time, and personal energy. They also take funding, messaging, and support. We are ready to sit down and explore what it will take to run a strong race. We can help if we feel that we are a good fit

The time to decide is rapidly approaching if you want to run this year. Please reach out to us by CLICKING on this link and writing us of your interest. We will respond. We are looking forward to hearing from you

Please plan to attend your local caucus February 25, 2020 at 7 PM. Registration opens at 6:15 PM.

Residents in precincts within Senate District 49 will caucus in one of two locations:

Bloomington  Republicans will caucus with their precincts at Thomas Jefferson High School, 4001 W 102nd St, Bloomington. Note that SD50 Republicans will also caucus here.

Edina, Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka Republicans who reside within Senate District 49 will caucus at South View Middle School, 4725 Southview Lane, Edina.

Volunteers are still needed to serve as Greeters, both in the main lobby to help attendees find their correct meeting room, and also to coordinate precinct sign-ins within each room. All volunteers (Greeters, Caucus Conveners, Caucus Secretaries) must attend a training session
 

UPDATED TRAINING INFORMATION AS OF 2/5/2020 - revised location for Edina, training is 2 hours

Volunteers from Bloomington (both SD49 and SD50) will train at Jefferson High School Media Room, either Saturday February 8, 9-11 AM or Thursday February 13, 7 – 9 PM. Please contact Vince Riehm  to indicate interest and let him know which training you’ll attend.

Volunteers from Edina/Eden Prairie/Minnetonka will train at the South View Cafeteria (parking lot by Concord, Door 2), either Thursday February 6, 7 - 9 PM or Saturday February 15, 9 – 11 AM. At South View park in the lot between South View and Concord Elementary. Enter Door 2 to find the Cafeteria. Please contact Wayne Wenger  to indicate interest and let him know which training you’ll attend.

Why attend the Caucus?

Good government starts with you. The Caucus is an opportunity for area residents to show their support for Republican principles. There is too much at stake this year to be spectators. If conservatives and Republicans are going to return fiscal responsibility to the State Legislature, we must begin now.

The future of our Party and nation belongs to those who show up. And if you want to see a change in our Party or our candidates, precinct caucuses are your chance to stand up and be heard. Don’t miss your chance to make a difference.

In the first two years of the Walz administration, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has been rocked by one revelation after another about mismanagement and the misuse of state and federal funding.

Through it all, Gov Walz has remained silent about who has been responsible. Nor has he made changes to restore accountability. It may be that the incredible rot in DHS is left-over from the Mark Dayton administration, but there is no evidence that Walz is moving decisively to clean it up.

The DHS is an $18.5 billion state agency that makes up a third of the state’s budget, and employs 7,300 people. In a quick review of some of what has become public:

In 2018, KMSP-TV reports alleged that fraud in the Minnesota Child Care Assistance Program ran as high as $100 million annually. Partly citing unidentified sources, the reports said state and federal agents had tracked some of the money overseas, and that they believed some of the cash was likely being skimmed by terrorist groups.

• Investigators for the legislative auditor in early 2019 didn't find evidence to substantiate a connection between fraud money and support for a terrorist organization. While they couldn't establish a reliable estimate of how big, they stated that fraud in the child care program is a recognized problem.

In early July 2019, Deputy Commissioners Chuck Johnson and Claire Wilson announced they were stepping down. About a week later, DHS Commissioner Tony Lourey suddenly resigned after several months on the job. Soon after, Johnson and Wilson retracted their resignations. 

• At the time, Gov. Walz was quoted as saying, “… the Commissioner came to me, said he wasn’t the right person to do the job and I accepted his resignation. I know people want to keep seeing drama, I said I don’t do drama. I’m trying to be as transparent as I can.” Unfortunately, not transparent enough to explain what was going on at DHS that made Lourey resign.

Looking back over the last twelve months, we shared times of commitment and inspiration, frustration and exhilaration, introspection and re-dedication. We were joined by some great new people, were buoyed by a lot of volunteer effort, and we benefited from some important learning experiences. We have challenges ahead of us. And we have some strong candidates and potential candidates willing to rally us to meet those challenges.

The November election results were clearly a disappointment in Bloomington and Edina. We were pleased to recommend some particularly strong candidates for the Edina school board and the Bloomington municipal races. They mounted positive campaigns that articulated their positions and provided clear choices for the voters in their communities. The efforts put forth by these candidates resulted in a notably higher voter turnout for a non-presidential, non-school referendum year.
We congratulate the conservative candidates in the Eden Prairie school board race that won their seats. We will be following the impact that they have on the performance of their school over the course of the next few years.

We would particularly like to recognize the work done by campaign volunteers in getting out lawn signs and leveraging social media. They provide high candidate name recognition. Lessons were learned, and efforts to address those lessons will be the focus of the coming year.

Our senate district put on a number of educational, social, and fundraising events this year.

• In January, Max Rymer gave a frank assessment of what is and isn’t working for the Republican Party, and for the DFL.
• Brad Aho spoke in February of the impact of local and regional governments on the affordability of housing.
• March featured Lisa and Klaus Schneegans, talking about the digital campaign arms race and what their Right Tech Pac is doing to level the playing field.
• In April, Jason Flores, State Director for the Minnesota Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, pointed out how Governor Walz’ spending demands were impeding efforts to reach a budget compromise.

Republicans came in from Plymouth and Brooklyn Park to join the regulars in the southwest metropolitan area for a special Pints & Politics-turned-Holiday Party on December 9.

The Club Room at Poor Richards Commonhouse was festively decked out for the occasion. Upwards of 90 people came to enjoy this special year-end event.

Several notables attended, including US Senate candidate Rob Barnett, Congressional Candidate Kendall Qualls, and MN Senate candidate Jeff Jiang. They were joined by MN GOP Secretary Barb Sutter, Republican National Committeeman Rick Rice, and Congressional District 3 Chairwoman Patti Meier.

Live instrumental entertainment by Mark Vandermyde (of Fuzzy Math) on keyboards and Keith Friede on bass guitar provided a special touch of class to the evening.

If we missed seeing you at this merry gathering, we hope that your holidays are wonderful. We wish you a happy new year and look forward to having you join us at a future Pints & Politics!

(More photos below)

Many of those attending the Fall Conversation told us how much more hope they have for our 2020 success after hearing from the impressive Republican candidates for US Congress – Lacy Johnson (pictured at left) seeking endorsement for CD5 and Kendall Qualls (pictured at right), seeking endorsement for CD3. These candidates believe that Republicans should stand strong in support of the American values of freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility. They made a number of other points in an impressive discussion that lasted over an hour, guided by moderator Max Rymer. We highlighted a few of those in our recent article on our website. 

Watch the 70 minute video (lightly edited to remove pauses and keep it reasonable length) and you’ll quickly be able to get a sense of these two great candidates yourself. And from the photos below it’s clear how enjoyable an evening is when sharing views and opinions with fellow area Republicans. Plan now to attend the November “Conversation” next Fall.

A bit of colorful trivia: How did Republicans get assigned red on political maps? This article “When Republicans Were Blue and Democrats Were Red” from Smithsonian Magazine traces some of the history. 

And did anyone else think politics when they saw the Dec. 9 announcement of Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2020, Classic Blue? 

The December 2 Bloomington City Council meeting did not approve the resolution to proceed with design of a new Community Center at the Valley View Park location.

Mike Hanks of Sun Current News reported the considerations and votes details in his article, “No Community Center Solution in Sight for Bloomington”.

One of our long-serving Precinct Chairs, Don Patton, was recently written up in Edina Magazine  for his contributions to making the history of World War II come alive.

Don Patton helped found the World War II Round Table in 1987. “For 33 years, the WWII History Round Table has preserved the factual history of World War II through historians, veterans and travel opportunities for its members.” The roundtable meets on the second Tuesday of each month (September-May) at the Minnesota Historical Society.

As reported by Eric Roper in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, no one testified at a November meeting where the Bloomington City Council voted to approve tax increases associated with development of a waterpark near Mall of America.

The next (and final) Council vote on the project's unusual financing is scheduled for December 17.

"The deal hinges on the city’s option to hike sales taxes at the Mall of America to pay debt on the $260 million facility, if visitors who pay to raft down 10-foot-wide slides and lounge in cabanas don’t generate enough revenue. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, November 12, to authorize imposing the taxes — 11 years after the Legislature granted them that power — under specific circumstances that will be agreed to next month.

A series of votes scheduled for Dec. 17 will finalize an unusual financing plan with little precedent in Minnesota."

The full article outlines what makes this such an unusual plan.  We've also provided our views in previous newsletters and articles on our website.  (June 2019 - August 2019 )

Call or write your council member before December 17. Here is the link to their contact information.