At the end of the WTIP community radio election forum on Wednesday, October 8, incumbent Commissioner Bruce Martinson questioned whether his challenger Ginny Storlie had met campaign finance filing requirements. In addition to a few final questions asked of all the county board candidates, the News- Herald asked District 5 candidates an additional one about campaign finances.
The News-Herald also talked to County Auditor Braidy Powers who said Martinson was correct that Storlie had not yet submitted a campaign finance report on the day of the forum. Powers said that candidates must file a financial report within 14 days of the date that their campaign contributions or expenditures have reached $750.
Auditor Powers said candidates must file when either expenditures or contributions total $750.
Powers said Storlie did file a report the day after the forum, October 9. Powers said Storlie’s report showed that she had reached the $750 threshold for expenditures with the purchase of postage on October 8, bringing her total to $757.12.
Powers said donations to Storlie’s campaign had reached $1,053 before she filed on October 9.
Powers said Martinson was correct that under state statutes, any candidate who intentionally fails to file a report is guilty of a misdemeanor. However, he added, “I don’t think there was anything intentional.”
Commissioner Martinson filed a campaign finance disclosure report on July 29 reporting that he had spent $1,150 at that time. He did not report any campaign donations.
. The News-Herald asked the candidates: Would you like to give a comment on campaign spending—by yourself or by your opponent?
Bruce Martinson: Both myself and my opponent are spending money on similar items—ads, signage, letters. The only issue I brought up was the reporting of expenditures and the completion of the campaign finance disclosure form when $750 is spent.
The requirement is that the form be completed within 14 days and submitted to the auditor’s office. Ginny did submit the form one day after I brought up the issue at the WTIP forum.
As a commissioner, it’s important to pay attention to details.
My personal apology for any comments on the integrity of Ginny Storlie. Integrity and honesty are attributes of Ginny Storlie. Any oversight in not completing the campaign expense disclosure form is an honest mistake and should not distract from looking at the major issues facing the county right now.
Ginny Storlie: Political candidates hope they will receive sufficient contributions to run a campaign. When I filed, a packet of information was given to me that covered how to report contributions. Up to 10 days before a primary if one receives over $750 you need to file. The next filing period is 10 days before the General Election and after the General Election you have 30 days.
During the October 8 forum in which all the commissioner candidates were interviewed Bruce Martinson accused me of filing late and that could lead to a misdemeanor. Understanding that I did not have $750 there was no need to file. Since then I have received a few dollars more and have filed and I am in good standing with the state.
Next week I will submit another financial report.
My budget is very tight as to responsible spending.
Over the past few weeks Mr. Martinson has quizzed me and others about my contributions. This is very unprofessional and a sign of frustration in his campaigning.
My campaign has been run with dignity, honesty, accountability and in compliance with Minnesota contribution financial requirements.
. The county board recently approved purchase of three more Tasers for the Sheriff’s Office. Do you believe these devices should be used on citizens by local law enforcement?
Martinson: Yes, however proper training is required for all deputies on the proper use. Personally I’d rather be tased than shot.
Ginny Storlie: Tasers are being used today in situations where citizens are not being compliant. They can be used as a way for officers to control a situation. However, I think other means should always be used first. In general, I’m not in favor of them.
. Cook County has received significant financial benefit from being included in the state Taconite Tax District. There is a concern among some citizens that a perception of opposition to nonferrous mining (sulfide mining) by Cook County could lead to removal of Cook County from this district. Would you work to prevent that? How?
Martinson: Yes. There’s always been talk by some elected officials in St. Louis County about removing us from the Taconite District. One person strongly in favor of this is Tom Rukavina and he is likely to be elected to be a commissioner in St. Louis County. Both Senator Tom Bakk and Representative David Dill have stated that the Minnesota Power Taconite Harbor Energy Center is our door to keeping open our being in the taconite district.
I would work to maintain our relationship with legislators in Northeastern Minnesota.
In light of Taconite Harbor Energy Center being our door to being in the district, I’d work to support Minnesota Power’s “Energy Forward” plan, which is to keep units 1 and 2 open.
Storlie: To Cook County, I think the Taconite District is very important and it should be looked at from all angles. Depending on the outcome of the proposed mining situation, I’d have to make sure all of the environmental concerns were in place and then be confident of the present effects—and residual results in the future.
But I know how important the Taconite District is to Cook County. I definitely would work with the project in order to enhance and keep the taconite base as long as possible.
. The bid for the sidewalk constructed from 5th Avenue to Birchwood Apartments came in $36,952 higher than the engineer’s estimate and the County Highway Engineer recommended not completing the project because it would use half of the fund for road maintenance in the city of Grand Marais. The county voted to proceed with the sidewalk. What will you do if a similar situation occurs, for example, if a sidewalk is requested farther out on County Road 7 or along the Cramer Road or the Caribou Trail?
Martinson: When the vote came before the county board I was not there. I was representing the county at a meeting in St. Paul. If I was there, I would have strongly recommended that the project be re-bid. This would also have given a local contractor a shot at the work.
In the future, if bids come in over engineer estimates on similar projects, we should consider rebidding at that time.
Storlie: I’m always aware of the budget and dollars to be spent on certain projects. When bids for a project come in much higher, I’d oppose them. I think it’s important to look for another bid that would provide the same quality of project, but for a lower price.
Pedestrian walkways are very important and certainly need to be considered as part of any city street development.
. Recent culvert replacement work on County Road 7 has resulted in dips in the road and the YMCA project is plagued by inadequate drainage in the locker rooms – is there anything county commissioners can do to ensure that taxpayers don’t end up paying to correct situations like these?
Martinson: Looking back, we should have had different procedures in place. Dealing with the YMCA project and inadequate drainage, it comes down to oversight by the project manager. One lesson I learned is that when we’re reviewing RFPs [request for proposals] from consulting and architectural firms, we shouldn’t be looking at the resumes of the top individuals, but should give careful scrutiny to those on the bottom—those are the individuals most likely to be working on the project.
I’ve seen dips like that on other roads and on the Gitchi Gami bike trail project. Where there are dips in every case the contractor failed to compact the material properly. It is the responsibility of the engineering office to take additional steps to make sure proper compaction occurs.
Storlie: Oh, yes. First of all, in any project that is presented, the quality of the work needs to be looked into by the company that is doing the work. Steps should be taken to make sure they are aware of all the factors, for County Road 7, for example, that they are aware of the road bed and know what is needed before it comes to surfacing.
The company doing the roadwork and the company doing the YMCA need to take care of it themselves.
We need to have some kind of guarantee that the quality of the work is up to the dollar amount we put into it.
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