On Monday evening, Big Lake Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum. Kevin Thompson, owner of Data Success, served as the moderator. Questions were taken from chamber members and citizens. The following article contains brief quotes from each of the candidates. The full video of the forum is available online at www.BigLake.VieBit.com.

Minnesota House of Representatives

The first round of candidates featured in the forum were those running for Minnesota Representative District 30A. Paul Novotny (Republican, incumbent) and Chad Hobot (Democrat) are competing for this position this year.

Both candidates were asked about how they felt Minnesota should deal with budgeting issues caused by COVID-19, and what their priorities would be within that budget.

“We should run the state like you would run your family budget,” Novotny said. “You would have to make some serious decisions and do some serious analyzing of what’s important and what’s not important to you. We were spending money on bonding on things we already have and to replace things that we don’t need.”

Hobot replied, “We can’t reduce spending solely by cutting expenses with the department of human services... we have to talk about ways of raising revenue. Access to mental health services is one thing we need to reinvent during the era of COVID. [Students] need face-to-face contact.”

Minnesota Senate

The next candidates were Mary Kiffmeyer (Republican, incumbent) and Diane Nguyen (Democrat). Both women are running to serve in the Minnesota Senate for District 30.

“Speaking to schools’ superintendents, they said the cheapest way was to go full distance-learning, but that also meant that internet connections would be hard. So they decided on the hybrid.” Nguyen said.” If the funds were released in such a way that the school were able to move the funds around, then there would be more funds for special needs, more funds for mental health… because in this pandemic, everyone is struggling and in chaos.”

“The biggest thing the state can do [to help education] is to get out of the way a bit more.” Kiffmeyer replied. “Right now the state micro-manages and creates different pots of money. They have to spend a lot of time and effort just to keep track of it all. What I hear time and time again from our superintendents is ‘untie our hands, trust us.’”

Big Lake City Council

Next up were the candidates running for Big Lake City Council. Ketti Green and Ken Halverson are running for two-year terms, and Sam Hanson, Alan Heideman, and Paul Seefeld are running for four-year terms. The moderator asked each about his or her top priorities while in office. The first priority of each candidate is listed here.

Seefeld: “Community involvement is huge for me. Everywhere I go, and at my church, I’m talking to people, telling them ‘Get involved!’ Because if you’re not involved, someone else is going to make the decisions for you.”

Halverson: “One of my biggest [priorities] is being fiscally responsible. I talked to the city staff today, and our budget proposal is at a 5.8% increase, $259,000. It can come down some more, so that number is not set. Everyone should have toed the line this year so we don’t have the problem we had in 2008.”

Hanson: “Transparency is one of the biggest issues that I see going on in the current council. There are a lot of decisions that are made, and we’re only told ‘this is the answer.’ I will be promising to let everybody know why we came to those decisions.”

Green: “Big Lake is one of the safest cities in Minnesota and I will support the first responders while making sure to maintain physical accountability with our police, fire, and building entities.”

Heideman: “Number one, obviously, is public safety. We are continually voted one of the safest cities in the state of Minnesota. What that looks like to me is making sure the fire and police departments have the resources that they need… to go out there and be safe.”

Big Lake Mayor

Next up were the two candidates running for Big Lake Mayor, Mike Wallen (incumbent) and Paul Knier.

“Over the past two years on the council I watched as the majority of the council was appointed to their positions as opposed to elected.” Knier stated. “I think that’s a slippery slope. After talking to the people of Big Lake for the last few months I found they feel very strongly that they want to have a say in who’d represent their interests.”

Wallen spoke to Big Lake’s quality of life. “Quality of life… is a little bit esoteric, and little more of one of those touchy-feely things, but it’s what brings people to your community, and that’s what keeps them here. It’s offering them different things to do that will fulfill them and give them that rounded-out life.”

Big Lake School Board

Next, the audience heard from the candidates for Big Lake School Board. Lori Kampa, Barbara Chaffee, Amber Sixberry, and Tony Scales attended in person, and Katelyn Bland, unable to make the event, submitted a statement.

Kampa: “[I will] promote the career pathways and apprenticeship programs that are going on now here at the high school; advocate for legislations that funds the mandated programs for the state of Minnesota, allowing local tax dollars to be used to fund the programs that are special to Big Lake; and to support and enhance the district’s policy of zero tolerance for bullying.”

Chaffee: “Kids need normal. COVID-19 and Covid-fatigue is on the rise in Big Lake. Too many of our children are suffering from the loss of normalcy due to the pandemic and have experienced depression, and thoughts of suicide… Achievement gaps will still occur among students, especially if the district must continue distance learning for a long period of time.”

Sixberry: “As a school board member for the past eight years, education is obviously my top priority. And when I say education, along with that comes the academics, of course, the arts, and the activities. I think it’s really important that we are fostering our students, whether they’re at the special ed level or an excel student.”

Scales: “One thing [that’s important] is the education of our students and offering different kinds of opportunities. It’s important to offer many opportunities for our kids to flourish.”

Bland: “I believe my experiences have left me with the ability to effectively communicate and problem solve at a high capacity… I want to assist Big Lake Schools through key matters affecting our staff and students, but also the parents.”

Big Lake Township

Finally, the moderator came to the race for Big Lake Township. Running for town board are Bruce Aubol, Dean Brenteson, Mark Hedstrom, Eric Rosa and Judy Wilts. Wilts was unable to attend, and submitted a statement.

Aubol: “My top priority is keeping our close to 80 miles of roads in good service. I believe our main duty to the township is to take care of the roads and transportation needs, so people can move about, get on with their lives, and we stay out of their way.”

Brenteson: “Because township roads are a major portion of the township budget, we need to continue to be diligent in monitoring our road conditions. The township has 80-plus miles of paved roads, and with the aging of these roads there’s always a need for asphalt patching, crack filling, seal coating and overlay projects.”

Hedstrom: “After I announced I was running for supervisor, I was asked ‘What is a supervisor?’ I’ve been told people didn’t even know we had representation, and we do need to fix that. We need a better, up-to-date, user-friendly webpage, we need to stay active on social media.”

Rosa: “I’d like to get more involvement between the township and the city, as we all share the same community, and I’d like to get involved with the other surrounding areas.”

Wilts: “My background in business analysis and market communications along with small business ownership and serving in local government and nonprofit committees provides a well-rounded point of view of life in our community.”

US Congress District 6

The candidates running for U.S. Congrssional district 6, Tom Emmer (Republican, incumbant) and Tawnja Zahradka (Democrat), were invited to attend, but were unable to make the event. Both submitted brief videos in lieu of their appearance.

Zahradka: “In the past few years, America has been forced to look itself in the mirror. We cannot fully overcome this time of crisis without recognizing and acknowledging the true nature of our country’s history. America was great for some, but it was not great for the poor, the handicapped, people of color, asylum seekers and unprotected workers laboring in unsafe conditions. It’s time we make equal opportunity more than just a slogan.”

Emmer: “Before the COVID pandemic, our country enjoyed historic growth and a new sense of confidence as our economy brought hope and prosperity to every corner of Minnesota. When the pandemic hit, both parties worked to pass the CARES Act in an effort to help businesses of all sides survive this unforeseen pandemic. There’s still much to be done, but we are on our way back, and the best is yet to come."