July 4th proved to be a beautiful day for a parade in Edina.  The traditional parade celebrated veterans, local politicians, and community organizations.  Two dozen energetic members and friends of Senate District 49 represented our local Republican Party in grand style.

Vince Riehm choreographed the bearers of the SD49 banner at the front of our procession.  Carol Kerr and John Ward lent a touch of elegance to our delegation with their vintage convertibles.  Carol’s iconic inflatable elephant rode perched on her car, while Guled, Liban, and Amar Hirsi held up posters from the passenger seats of John Ward’s red Mustang.

MN Attorney General candidate Harry Niska and Congressional candidate Frank Drake joined us in our mile walk.  Adding to the high energy of our delegation, Ben Baribault drove a go-cart that he designed, built, and decorated himself.  Alex Fink joined with his decked-out scooter. 

Thanks to Nancy Carlson, Carol Kerr, and friends for hosting us to Root Beer floats and Rice Krispy bars at the conclusion of the parade.

Watch a quick video with some photo highlights 

And see More photos below

The Executive Committee of Senate District 49 is driven by three primary goals – to identify, endorse, and support district Republican candidates; to inform Republicans of local activies and issues; and to organize and build the base of local Republican Party support.  

We work to achieve those goals through volunteer efforts (the district has no paid staff) and targeted spending planned over two years, aligned with the two-year election cycle.  Our projected budget for the 2017-2018 cycle is about $65,000.  Thirty percent (30%) of that is earmarked for funding of Republican-endorsed candidates running for the MN House and Senate in Senate District 49.

The following table breaks out expenses as a percentage of the two-year budget:

The Hyland Greens Golf Course occupies 63 acres in the heart of Bloomington (and House District 49B), at 10100 Normandale Boulevard.  Purchased by the city of Bloomington in 1974, it has been run by the city and is losing money.

The Star Tribune reported in February 2016 that a task force set up by the city recommended retaining the golf course and finding ways to fix its finances.  The task force urged that a golf management consultant be hired, but also allowed for the sale of roughly 10 acres that became available when the city relocated the driving range.

The Bloomington City Council will hold a public hearing during its meeting on Monday, June 26, to consider approving a Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop the former driving range for private residential development.  The RFP states, “the City will also consider selling additional Hyland Greens Golf Course land provided a golf course readily accessible and open to the public is retained…” 

The council meeting is open to the public and will convene at 7 pm in Bloomington Civic Plaza, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road.  

For more information about the Request for Proposal, the targeted development, and intent of the original task force, please continue reading.

School districts in Bloomington, Edina, Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka will be holding school board elections on November 7.  If you are interested in your local schools and the quality of the education they are providing, you should seriously consider running for the school board in your district.  The window of time to explore what it will take is getting short.  The period for school board candidates to file is as early as July 28 to August 11. 

The Senate District Candidate Search committee will be open to talk with candidates that seek our support.  If you are considering running, or if you are willing to volunteer and to help with these campaigns, please contact Randy Sutter (952-835-8917) or Mike Lehmann (612-839-0761).

Eden Prairie School District 272 will have three members up for election in 2017.  Affidavits of candidacy are available from the district’s Administrative Services Center at 8100 School Road, Eden Prairie.  The candidate filing period is open from July 28 to August 11.  Forfurther information about school board elections, contact Laurie Hemstock at [email protected] or call 952-975-7072.

Edina School District 273 school board will have four spots up for election.  Questions regarding affidavits of candidacy for the Edina School Board should be directed to Margo Bauck, 942-848-4004 or email [email protected].  Edina has not yet published the filing period, but in the past it was late July - August 11.

Minnetonka School Board will have three seats up for election in November.  The candidate filing deadline is August 15, 2017.  Please call 952-401-5000 if you have any questions.

Bloomington School Board will have four seats up for election this year.  The candidate filing period is August 1 to August 15, 2017.  If you have any questions pertaining to filing procedures or reporting, please contact Jennifer Hazel at 952-681-6402.

At a time when reports of auto thefts and home break-ins are increasing, it is very important to get to know your neighbors.  Neighbors knowing neighbors is one of the most effective ways to prevent crime.

National Night Out (NNO) is coming up on Tuesday, August 1. Each year, neighborhoods in our area organize block parties on that evening.  

Residents are asked to lock their doors, turn on their outside lights and spend an evening outside with neighbors.

Recently, some cities have started to refer to this event as “National Night to Unite”;  its new purpose is to celebrate/strengthen neighborhood and community partnerships.

Please note that registration of your National Night Out or National Night to Unite events with your city may have a deadline of as early as July 21.

Read on for information on what Bloomington, Edina, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie are doing

Since April, Edina has seen a significant increase in burglaries, thefts from vehicles and thefts of vehicles throughout the city, especially in the northeast quadrant.  The Edina Police Department reports that the majority of the crimes seem to be crimes of opportunity, meaning doors were left unlocked.

The Edina Crime Prevention Fund has increased its reward to $3,000 for information leading to the arrest and charging of the person or persons responsible for recent burglaries, thefts from vehicles and vehicle thefts in the northeast area of Edina.

In early March, a number of supporters of President Trump held a legal rally inside the State Capital.  They were met with a counter-demonstration that became disruptive and potentially dangerous.  Police arrested several of the more violent protesters.  Finally, almost three months later, the Ramsey County Attorney and the St. Paul City Attorney filed charges against eight of the anti-Trump protesters.

Will these individuals, who cannot tolerate a different view, legally be held accountable in a court of law? Will all Americans living in the Twin City area be allowed to voice their opinion on any and all matters without suffering violence?  Where do the leaders of Minneapolis and St Paul stand on those that would disrupt and potentially endanger those of us willing to rally in support of our President?

The legal proceedings against the protesters are slowly moving forward. There are upcoming future court dates that will decide the fate of all eight protesters. We all hope for justice.

Read on for more details about the rally and the charges against the protesters.

And CLICK HERE to read Alpha News reporting about the much swifter filing of charges for June 10 violence.

Image Credit: Preya Samsundar/Alpha News MN

Candidates running for office in the cities of Bloomington and Minnetonka have filed and an August 8 primary will be held in Bloomington.  (Edina and Eden Prairie will not hold mayor or city council elections this year.)  SD49 volunteers will be needed to help with campaigns. 

Bloomington voters will elect four city council members this year:  Districts 2, 3, 4, and At-Large.  Minnetonka voters will  elect a mayor and two At-Large city council members.

Bloomington candidates:

• At-Large     Kim Vlaisavlevich (appointed), Nathan Coulter, Michael Arulfo, and Susan “Hofmeister” Woodruff
• District 2 (southwest Bloomington)  Eldon Spencer (appointed), Cheryl Lewis, Shawn Nelson, and Lenny Klevan Schmitz
• District 3 (northwest Bloomington)  Jack Baloga (incumbent) and Larry Frost
• District 4 (northeast Bloomington)   Patrick Martin and Jon Oleson (incumbent)

Minnetonka candidates:

• Mayor         Brad Wiersum and Ashwin Patel
• Council Member At Large Seat A              Deb Calvert and Brian Kirk
• Council Member At Large Seat B              Patty Acomb (incumbent) and Derrick Banks

A Primary Election will be held on August 8 for the At-Large and District 2 seats, as three or more candidates filed for those offices.  Two candidates for each seat will go forward to the general election in November.

Our Spring Conversation panel stressed that Republicans need to celebrate what we were able to accomplish this session.  These notable achievements in the areas of tax relief, transportation, health care and education are highlighted below.

Tax Relief:  The 2017 Tax Relief bill delivers $650 million in tax relief to Minnesota families over the next two years, and $790 million in 2020-2021. This will be the largest tax relief package in nearly two decades!

Highlights:

• Nearly 284,000 senior citizentax returns (single and married filing jointly) will receive tax reductions; 72,000 of those will no longer pay state income tax on their social security benefits.
• A family of four making $50,000 a year will receive an additional $1,200 toward their child care expenses.
• 65,000 students will receive an average of a $414 reduction in their taxes through a new tax credit for student loan payments.
• Every Minnesota business owner will see relief from an “extra” business tax.  Hometown businesses will now be able to exempt the first $100,000 of property value, a huge boost to our smallest mom-and-pop shops in all corners of the state
• 240,000 farmers will receive property tax relief to reduce their disproportionate share of school district debt service.

Transportation:  To increase safety and reduce traffic congestion, roads and bridges work was funded without the governor's gas tax hike. This will be largest investment in road and bridge infrastructure in state history without a gas tax increase.

Highlights:

• A more than $300 million influx of funding for roads over two years, with an additional $16 million for small cities' road projects
• 97 bridges will be repaired or replaced statewide as a result of $25 million in funds for a new local bridge account.
• Republicans stopped state dollars from funding ongoing operating costs for the Southwest Light Rail boondoggle.

The days are getting longer, and summer is really coming!  Senate District 49 takes a break from monthly dinner programs until late September.  Instead we have a number of warm weather activities planned, and we hope that you will join us.  Consider the following events for your summer enjoyment:

• Pitchers & Politics – save the 3^rd Thursday of each month (June 15, July 20, August 17) for our special Republican happy hour get-together.  Hosted by Senate Districts 44, 48, and 49, Pitchers & Politics is held in the back room of the Gold Nugget, 14401 Excelsior Blvd, Minnetonka.  Running from 4:30 pm to 7 pm (come when you can, leave when you must), it is meant to be a casual opportunity for Republicans to mix and talk, of politics or of anything that strikes your fancy.  We’ll invite some interesting people to join us, but we promise – no speeches.  Just good beer, food, and conversation.

• Edina’s July 4th parade is a colorful, patriotic local tradition.  SD49 has been a part of that tradition for as long as we can remember.  Join fellow Republicans in showing our colors and our enthusiasm.  This is an easy walk of about a mile in length.  All it takes is 3 hours, from 9:00 am -- 12:00 pm.  We start near the Edina Community Center, go north to city hall, and end about a block west of the 50th and France intersection in Edina.  We plan to have a banner, signs, and our elephant mascot riding on the back of a red convertible.  Look for more details and a chance to sign up as we get closer to July 4^th.

• Annual SD49/SD50 Picnic is set for Sunday, August 13 at the Shelter 3 in East Bush Lake Park.  Plan on good food in a family-friendly environment.  The picnic area boasts a playground, a volleyball court, and lots of room for games.  We have a picnic pavilion, so we can handle some variation in the weather.  Expect some local and state Republican candidates to stop by.  We’ll be doing the cooking, so volunteer opportunities will also be available.   Look for more details as we get into July.