If it ain't broke...

"It is no secret that Anoka County is the envy of many in the metro area. Oh, not by the statists or progressives - they hate it." 

We have a big election coming up this November. But we all know that. Not only will it be a Presidential year, all seats in the House of Representatives are up, some Senate seats, all seats in the Minnesota House and Senate, plus some local races. In this article, I am going to talk about one of those local races.

It is no secret that Anoka County is the envy of many in the metro area. Oh, not by the statists or progressives - they hate it. But the hard working taxpayers who live in Anoka County, absolutely love it! And Anoka County does not run itself - it is run by a very hard working, very smart Anoka County Board.

What happens when you are good, the not so good come gunning for you. This year, four of the five most conservative members of the Board are up for re-election. Rhonda Sivarajah (the Board Chair), Matt Look, Robyn West and the person who represents my area, Julie Braastad. They all have big targets on their backs by the other side. And in another couple years when Scott Schulte is up for re-election, he too, will have that huge target on his back.

A former commissioner, who was recently voted off the Board, was (and still is) a HUGE proponent of the one of the biggest boon doggles in state history - the Northern Lights Express. Just to jog your memory, that is the casino train. The train up to Duluth that will stop at two casinos along the way. Now some say this former commissioner has some land which will benefit from building such a train. I don't know it that is true or not. I do know this much - the stewards of our tax dollars who currently sit on the Anoka County Board could see through this canard from the get-go. And they want no part of the casino train.

Does Anoka County have taxes? You bet. Do they ever go up? Yes, they did last year. However relatively speaking, the taxes in Anoka County are very much in line with the services rendered. The opponents to two of the commissioners who are up for re-election have come out and said the taxes are too low here. We need to raise them. Huh? Do we really want to be more like Hennepin County? I don't think so.

One more thing about our Anoka County Board. They also know how to fight the unconstitutional power grab by the Metropolitan Council. Not only do they understand the Met Council, they are experienced at being in the ring with them. Our Board knows how to protect Anoka County from statists and progressives. There are some who are running for the seats which are up for re-election who would rather play footsie with the Met Council. Why? Again, some would like to see us living like subjects in Hennepin County rather than liberty loving citizens in Anoka County.

As a 40 year resident of Anoka County, I have looked closely at what I would like to see changed in how Anoka County operates. And the answer is - somewhere between not much and nothing. What I am trying to say is Anoka County is not broken. It was at one time in the not too distant past, and we fixed it. Now that it is no longer broken, why in the world would we want to change it?