Harry's Gang: Get your city vote in on Nov. 5

There’s a primary election coming up in Cloquet’s Ward 3, and three very good candidates are running.

I had a chance to interview all three on “Harry’s Gang” on CAT-7. We talked, one-on-one, for an hour each; all three programs are airing repeatedly on CAT-7 until the election. Here’s a summary:

I started with Ray Schow, whom I met on “Harry’s Gang” when I first got to town 20 years ago. Ray has an intense interest in local politics and a deep understanding of how government works. He believes a city council’s job is to oversee how the city is run and to set policy. He wants to let the employees do their jobs. He says it’s not the council’s job to micromanage the employees.

I asked all three candidates about a major issue that had arisen recently: the city’s rejection of a donation from Enbridge to the National Night Out event. Ray seemed genuinely surprised that I considered it a major issue. When I pointed out the intense backlash from those who felt the city was foolish to drag politics into a seemingly benign corporate donation and those who felt accepting the donation somehow condoned human trafficking at pipeline construction sites, he acknowledged that people made a big deal out of the vote but that the issue itself wasn’t major: the city should have accepted the donation and been done with it.

Ray is also critical of the way former city administrators and department heads run the city and vowed that, if he were elected, the city administrator would be working for the city council, not the other way around. That seemed to be a central theme: he vowed that he would be accountable for city business, and not pass the buck to someone else.

Uriah Wilkenson was next. Uriah was very well-prepared for the interview. He discussed his knowledge of city government from his nine years on the planning commission, and feels the city council is the next logical step for him. He talked about economic development and housing as two of the major issues facing Cloquet, as well as the hiring of a new police chief and city administrator.

Uriah told me his vision for the city is reflected in the way he’s worked on the planning commission and should be no surprise to anyone. Uriah has always been deliberative and thoughtful in his decisions and stays away from hyperbole. His knowledge of Cloquet and the issues that face the city government was impressive.

Chris Swanson was appointed just last July and wants to keep the seat through the end of the term. He’s a government and history teacher at the high school and has been active in his union. It’s rumored that he would like to seek higher office, perhaps state legislature, but he was focused on serving Cloquet when I interviewed him.

He was proud of his responsiveness, his dedication and his willingness to serve. Whenever I tried to get him to tell me his agenda, he reverted back to his listening skills, involvement and effectiveness. I pressed him on the Enbridge donation issue: he pointed out that it happened at his first meeting as a councilor, and that he voted to accept the donation. He felt the two issues (trafficking and corporate donations) were too unrelated to tie them together in this way. He also acknowledged that councilors spend a lot of time responding to constituents, and seemed eager to do so, if elected.

All three acknowledged that the voter turnout would be likely be pretty low. It’s the only election on the ballot. Only residents in Ward 3 are voting. There’s been no radio or television coverage, except by CAT-7 cable access. Fewer than 300 people on average have voted in precinct primaries in Cloquet over the past few elections, and those all had other offices on the ballot. This may be a “friends and family” election.

The entire city should know that any of the three candidates will serve the city well if elected.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7. His opinions are his own. Contact him at [email protected].