Furst Draft

Political endorsements in September

I didn't know Michael Brodkorb was back in the blog business, but here's a choice cut from his analysis of the top 10 Minnesota Senate races to watch:

I’ve spoken with operatives on both sides of the aisle and the biggest change in this list is that I’ve added Senate District 25, which pits Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem against Olmsted County Commissioner Judy Ohly.  Last week, the Rochester Post-Bulletin endorsed Ohly over Senjem – which is big momentum for Ohly. The Post-Bulletin is largest newspaper in the district (and one of the biggest in Minnesota) and their early endorsement of Ohly gives her an opportunity to boast about the newspaper’s endorsement in the weeks leading up to Election Day.  

It is common for legislative endorsements to come out a few weeks in advance of the election, but this endorsement came out 50 days from Election Day.  Ohly now has been generously afforded 50 days to talk about why the largest newspaper in the district endorsed her over Senjem.  After the endorsement of Ohly over Senjem, the Rochester Post-Bulletin followed up with a series of additional legislative endorsements, including endorsing Senator Carla Nelson over DFLer Ken Moen.

Brodkorb makes an interesting point that we've talked about in-house here: Because we make so many endorsements of area and local races, this year we moved up the publication dates, beginning soon after Labor Day. Most papers haven't even started their endorsement runs yet, and Brodkorb is probably correct that endorsements this early in the process do allow candidates to market them differently.

There's a lot of campaign time left, also, which might give our editorial writers some buyer's remorse, post-endorsement.

That said, it also gives readers more time to consider the issues we raise and match up our interviews and research with what they find about the candidates.

Of course, some readers have said we shouldn't be in the endorsement business at all.

What do you think?

 

Links to check out regarding bullying

At our excellent Dialogues program Thursday on bullying, Dover-Eyota Superintendent Bruce Klaehn referred to a column he wrote for the school newsletter, entitled, "Is There a Bully in Your Home?"

I asked Bruce to rework it a bit, just to differentiate from the school version, and we'll hopefully publish it within a few weeks. Until then, here it is, a good, thought-provoking commentary.

Also, there was a reference at the Dialogues meeting to David Walsh, a psychologist, parenting counselor and author. Here's a link to his homepage. I like the quote that leads it: "Whoever tells the stories defines the culture." That has a lot of resonance for us in the newspaper business: We depend on what you tell us to inform our reporting and make it as accurate and relevant as possible. We tell the stories, but they're your stories, ultimately, and it's input like you shared at the Dialogues meeting last week that makes all the difference.

SandPoint Times

In case you're not aware of it, here's an excellent website that's following the frac-sand issue in Southeast Minnesota.

 

One more panelist for Dialogues

Also joining us at 6:30 p.m. tonight will be Jeanne Svobodny, principal of Dover-Eyota Elementary...looking forward to a good discussion about nuts-and-bolts bullying prevention in our schools. Join us at the Rochester Public Library.

Note to self: Pick up cookies on the way to the library. Katherine of the library staff will have the coffee perking.

Two new panelists for Dialogues on Thursday

Two Rochester school district administrators, Jared Groehler and Jean Murphy, will be joining us at the Rochester Public Library Thursday for the Dialogues event on bullying. Murphy is the principal and Groehler is assistant principal at Ben Franklin Elementary in Rochester. Also at the head table with me: Bruce Klaehn, superintendent of Dover-Eyota Public Schools, and Dewey Schara, principal at Austin's Neveln Elementary.

Join us if you can -- 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the library auditorium. If you can't, add a question or comment here and I'll toss it in my briefcase to bring to the meeting.

 

Sales Tax Message No. 4

Here's the latest email from Jerry Williams regarding the local-option sales tax. Again, I don't post these to endorse approval of the tax -- I think these are interesting notes on the issue, and frankly if they're going out to a big email list of promoters, they should be widely available beyond that.

Friends, Colleagues and Fellow Citizens:
 
We had a vigorous debate with the opposition this past Thursday evening, and the next event is a public forum this Wednesday evening, September 19, in the auditorium at the Rochester Public Library at 7:00 p.m.  It will be different from the debate in that after a couple rounds of opening comments by both sides, the audience will be led by facilitators in further discussions on the merits of the renewal.  I would like nothing better than to see many of you in attendance and speaking to the importance of renewing the local ½ cent sales tax.
 
At the debate, I felt we were effectively able to get across several of our key points, including:
·         This is not a new tax but a renewal of our current one.
·         Renewing it supports a vision and legacy of our community going forward into the future.
·         Past projects have been very well done and contributed to our quality of life for many years.
·         It minimizes increases in property taxes with up to 50% of the revenue coming from visitors.
 
The partnership between the Rochester Senior Center and City Parks and Recreation Department is an excellent one and is included as one of the projects to be funded.  This is, in total, a $20 million item: $8 million to remodel the Recreation Center, built in 1974, and $12 million to build a Senior/Community Center addition onto it.  This will increase the space for our seniors from a very crowded 16,000 sq. foot area in the ‘Castle’ downtown to an approximately 60,000 sq. foot area that more appropriately reflects the lifestyle of seniors now and into the future.
 
Based on recent census data, between the 2010 and 2030 censuses, the population of citizens in our area over the age of 60 will increase by 94%!  What are we doing to prepare for that?  This is a powerful way to do something about it as well as provide the learning and wellness opportunities so prevalent with today’s and tomorrow’s seniors.  What a great venue this can be that not only provides greater parking, a community gathering place but also improved opportunities for our youth and seniors.  It’s a legacy that says a lot about our willingness to support those who have given so much over the years and those to whom we expect so much in the future.
 
Throughout the state and our area, communities support their seniors with contributions from city budgets.  For example, Albert Lea spends $5.27 per capita; Austin spends $3.24; Farmington $12.74; Northfield $3.50; Owatonna $6.46; Winona $16.31 and Rochester $.70.  That’s right, 70 cents.  That figure comes from the $75,000 in the 2011 City budget to support seniors.  They raise all the other revenue for operating the senior center.  We can do better than that, and supporting this project as one on the list for renewal says we care.
 
At the debate, I was asked, what question was most often asked as I have gone out and spoken to many, many groups?  The answer: “Why would anyone oppose this?”  In other words, it makes such good sense (cents!) considering the success of past projects and the well-thought-out future projects that support a powerful vision for our community’s future.  These projects were all approved and supported by a citizen committee prior to going to the City Council and the Legislature.  They are locally grown and will be locally administered, with all the revenue staying here.  What a strong message that sends.
 
For more information, check out our website: www.commoncentsrochestermn.com .  Spread the word, feel free to forward this email to others, and ask them to support this effort by voting ‘yes.’
 
Thank you for your support, and if you would like a lawn sign or presentation to a group, please let me know.  We’re only 50 or so days from the election, and although we’re feeling a lot of momentum on our side, we are not going to relax.  Remember: It’s Common Cents! Please Vote Yes!
 
Jerry

More progress in the war against uncivil comments

Take a look at MinnPost's more aggressive approach to online comments. I think there are relevant ideas in here that we can take advantage of as well.

As you may know, we preview and approve reader comments before they're posted at PostBulletin.com. Some commenters were bent out of shape and claimed we were censoring comments when we made that change about a year ago. We don't "censor" comments we disagree with, but we won't approve comments that are libelous, defamatory, vulgar, racist or discriminatory in other ways, or include personal attacks.

Without question, this has cleaned up the comments on our stories and in our blogs. Prior to the change, we'd have to clean up the mess after the fact; now, we head problems off before they appear online. Though you won't find a goldmine of enlightened discourse in our reader comments on stories, the comments have more value than they used to.

Previewing comments is time-consuming and a hassle for editors, but it simply has to be done.

As the MinnPost editor says in his column, "Since our beginning in November 2007, we've been credited with developing and maintaining one of the most civil environments in the nation for online commenters at a news site. We intend to preserve that reputation, and we encourage more readers to take part in our online discussions -- respectfully."

Among the points I think we can duplicate at PostBulletin.com:

"We do not allow ad hominem attacks and gratuitous insults aimed at commenters."

"We do not allow the use of nicknames for people or groups that are meant to denigrate or deride." (I would quibble with MinnPost that "Democrat" or "Tea Party" fits that definition, but there are plenty of ugly epithets that are used that are truly disqualifying.)

And, "user comments may be included or excluded at our discretion."

That last point's an obvious but important one. We waste a fair amount of time in the newsroom talking about whether we should or shouldn't delete a comment. It's not that complicated. Past a certain point, it's a judgment call by the editor approving the comments, and I'm confident that those judgments are being made reasonably.

Look for changes along these lines at our website before long.

 

Marriage amendment remains tossup

You might be interested to know that Public Policy Polling says that voter approval of the constitutional amendment regarding same-sex marriage remains up for grabs.

Women, Democrats and people under age 45 oppose the amendment; men, Republicans, independents and seniors support it. Republicans support it 80 percent to 17 percent.

The voter ID amendment looks in better shape for passage, according to the poll.

Here's the news release:

Minnesota Miscellany

-PPP's newest poll on the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Minnesota finds it virtually tied, with 48% of voters supporting the ban to 47% who oppose it. In January we found 48/44 support for the ban, while in June we found 49/43 opposition. It looks like a toss up.

Women (52/41), Democrats (78/16), and voters under 45 (50/45) all oppose the ban. Men (55/41), Republicans (80/17), independents (51/42), and seniors (53/40) all support it in greater numbers though.

While Minnesotans are split down the middle on gay marriage they're strongly supportive of providing gay couples with some form of legal rights. 72% support either marriage or civil unions to only 25% opposed to any sort of legal recognition. Even Republicans by a 51/47 margin at least support civil unions.

-Minnesota's voter ID amendment looks to be headed for more comfortable passage, although the numbers have tightened up a little bit since our June poll. It leads by 17 points, 56-39, compared to a 24 point lead at 58-34 the last time we polled it. That movement is because Democrats have hardened in their opposition to it, going from being against it just 54/36 to now 72/20. But it retains overwhelming support from Republicans (88/9) and independents (62/33).

-Things are looking generally good for Democrats in state level politics. Mark Dayton continues to have solid approval numbers with 48% of voters giving him good marks to 37% who disapprove. That's pretty identical to his 49/36 spread the last time we polled the state. Dayton would lead a generic Republican opponent for reelection by a 51/38 spread. It's impossible to say what the political landscape will look like in 2014 but if Dayton was up this year he'd have an easier time of it than he did in 2010.
Democrats lead the generic state legislative ballot by a 47/44 margin. That's a good deal tighter than June when they had a 48/36 advantage and it's hard to say what that will translate to in terms of the number of seats they pick up this fall.

-Al Franken would be in good shape if he had to run for reelection this year as well. He has a 49/42 approval rating and would lead a generic Republican opponent 48-42. We also tested three of the state's well known Republicans in head to head match ups with Franken. None of them are popular- Norm Coleman has a 35/39 favorability rating, Tim Pawlenty's is 40/48, and Michele Bachmann's is the worst of the bunch at 29/59. Franken would lead Coleman and Pawlenty by identical 50-43 margins in hypothetical head to head match ups, and he'd have a 52-40 advantage over Bachmann.

-And finally we polled Twins fans on whether they think Ron Gardenhire should be fired and despite another bad season only 9% think he should be let go to 57% who would oppose his being fired and 34% who say they don't have an opinion one way or the other.

'It is the Legislature's job to pass a bonding bill'

These are interesting times we live in, when a DFL House member is disappointed with the governor of her own party for not providing money for a project that's dear to the hearts of Rochester's GOP-leaning business leadership and which received at best lukewarm support from the city's GOP legislative leadership, including the Senate majority leader. All very complicated and very revealing.

Here's the release from Rep. Tina Liebling...more reaction to come from area lawmakers:

 
(ST. PAUL) — Today, Governor Dayton announced the projects that will receive a portion of the $47.5 million in DEED bonding funding. The GOP-led legislature delegated these funding decisions to the executive branch in the 2012 bonding bill. The Mayo Civic Center expansion and renovation project was not selected to receive funding.
 
State Representative Tina Liebling (DFL – Rochester) released the following statement:
 
“I’m disappointed that the Mayo Civic Center project was not selected, but I’m even more disappointed in how this process was done. Governor Dayton should never have been put in a position to pick winners and losers from such a large pool of worthwhile projects with such a small amount of bonding dollars. It is the legislature’s job to pass a bonding bill that lists specific projects, rather than delegate that a portion of that task to the governor. Until now, that was the way it had been done since statehood.
 
“Most disappointing of all is that fact that Senator Senjem, chair of the Senate Capital Investment Committee and Majority Leader, and Senator Carla Nelson, who is a member of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, did not secure this important funding for Rochester.  Reps. Mike Benson and Duane Quam also gave tepid or no support to the project, which sealed its fate.
 
I have championed this project for several years and will continue to work with members of both parties to get the funding needed.”

Today in Answer Man: How much information do local political campaigns have to report about who's in charge of their campaign organizations?