Crow Wing County Fair Week

My week at the Crow Wing County Fair is about half over and I hope fair-goers are enjoying themselves as much as I am. My experience so far has been to reinforce my decision to run for office and to get to talk about issues with District 12A voters. Other candidates have stopped by to hang out in the booth and they've expressed their envy that Crow Wing County has such an incredible event. Now and then someone comes to debate the lower taxes, less government message but usually its to nibble around the edges. One voter last night said I was wrong to oppose the gas tax increase but there were other options at the time. And perhaps now we understand better why the opposition was so insistent on the increase; light rail. By latest estimates, 20% of the money collected from the increase will head to the Metro to build expensive, less efficient electric trains to replace established, relatively cheap and effective bus lines. And no one said during the veto override, we're doing this for light rail! Roads and bridges was the mantra and some of us are still believing the money would go for roads and bridges alone. Stop by the booth in Building #1 and voice your thoughts. I look forward to seeing you.

$1.1B for Light Rail?

My source in St. Paul told me that roughly 20% of the Gas Tax Increase would be spent on light rail projects in the Metro. Yesterday, I heard the figure $1.1-Billion of the total Gas Tax Increase of $6.6-Billion! I don't remember our local elected officials saying anything about money for light rail. I heard roads and I heard bridges and I heard money for the county road department. Perhaps they forgot, somewhere between the meeting in St. Paul where they learned about the formula and the next time someone asked them about the Gas Tax Increase. The County Fair is around the corner. Make sure you ask incumbents where the money goes!

Unfunded Mandates Keep On Keepin' On

The Brainerd School Board meet earlier this week and talked about a new state mandate requiring those driving school cars and vans carrying students to have the same training, qualifications and certification as those driving a school bus. The state mandate came with no money to pay for classes, training or increased certification cost. And the mandates keep rollin' in.

21-cents on the dollar

Crow Wing County Commissioner Rosemary Franzen reported at yesterday's (7-22-08) board meeting that 21-cents of every dollar collected from the gas tax increase collected in Crow Wing County has been returned to be spent in Crow Wing County leaving 79-cents on the dollar to be spent elsewhere. Projections developed by Minnesota House researchers estimates that at least 20% of the gas tax increase will be spent on light rail projects in the Metro. Looks like we've been fooled again.

An afternoon at Big Lou's

Thanks and gratitude to Gary and all the folks at Big Lou's in downtown Brainerd. We talked for more than two hours and maybe even solved a few of the world's problems. Very interesting. Later, someone asked me if I'd gotten that panicky feeling that I was in over my head and wanted to run for the nearest exit yet. I said no, that I couldn't imagine that happening, that I enjoy talking to people and learning about their lives, especially their ideas for making Minnesota an even better place to live. Public education seemed to be the most popular topic at Big Lou's on 7th and Front Street, not how much more to spend but how to fix it. Some interesting ideas from recent public education consumers with first-hand knowledge. Thanks for the input, Gang. See you next time.

www.davidallanpundt.com

The campaign web site is up and running. I may be a little biased but I think it looks great. Check it out for yourself. Way back in the planning stages, in fact way back in my radio newscaster days, I wondered how it would feel to express myself openly. Radio newscasters have to be objective, you know. At least, I believe they should be. Let me say for the record (now, where have I heard that old chestnut before?) it feels just fine. I've held conservative views for decades but too often kept them to myself. And the career that connected for me is anything but conservative. Its nice to be out in the open. Feels fine.

A Day At The Capitol

I spent Tuesday at the State Capitol in St. Paul with most of the other Republicans running for seats in the state legislature. Standing on the steps during the press conference, looking out over downtown St. Paul, at the State Office Building, the Cathedral, the Capitol grounds was a bit surreal. I've always been determined to run for state office, to stand for conservative principles and do what I can to lower taxes and limit government. But something about being there, at that time impressed upon me how important this was. This is larger than myself, greater than anything I've attempted before. I chatted with a friend this morning in Pequot Lakes, mostly about highways through town or around town, and we talked about running for office and serving, something he's done. And we both agreed that we would be part of a wiser electorate if everyone in the country would run for office and learn from the inside. Perhaps there's potential legislation in that idea.

Parade Number One.

Thursday, July 3rd was my first parade as a candidate for public office. I've been in parades before, for KLKS, on various floats, as an actor, and as an announcer in the booth talking about parades. But something about Nisswa was different. Probably I was the one who was different. I started walking the parade route early, handing out stickers and talking to people. Nothing about the conversation was all that deep and certainly not all that political and I guess I was surprised at how many people knew something about my life, the new political part, the old radio days, or Mom. And it became much like a large outdoor party chatting with friends about stuff, some inconsequential, some vitally important. I wondered how I would adapt to being the center of attention in my small portion of the parade and my biggest regret was that I couldn't stop and talk to everyone. My feet didn't hurt, my legs weren't sore, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.