After the June floods, hard-hit Cloquet rallied to clean up and to start rebuilding, but it didn't do so alone; it joined forces with other communities and with agencies, federal authorities, elected officials and more.
The commitment to cooperation was nothing new for Cloquet Mayor Bruce Ahlgren. It's a commitment he's eager to take with him to St. Paul as representative of state House District 11A. DFLers can support Ahlgren in the Aug. 14 primary election and send him on to the Nov. 6 general election to face Republican Jim Putnam of Scanlon and the winner of the Independence Party primary between Pat Oman of Barnum and Cory Pylkka of Carlton.
"We have to do it together," Ahlgren said in an interview last week with the News Tribune editorial board.
That's something he knows more than a bit about.
He's a member of the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission and Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, both with
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region-wide focuses. He's a longtime leader with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, which takes on city issues shared statewide. And, as mayor of 13 years, he helped combine the Cloquet, Perch Lake, Fond du Lac Reservation and Scanlon fire departments, improving public safety and saving each of the communities money by eliminating the duplication of work and duties. He holds out hope Esko, Carlton and Wrenshall also will join.
And he sees mergers of other public bodies -- again, in the name of improving services and saving money -- elsewhere across the state.
"I'm open to change, especially if it's good change," he said. "We have to spend wisely."
That can apply to Minnesota's many smaller, more-rural school districts. He supports maintaining an abundance of close-to-home elementary schools with larger, more-regional and cheaper-to-run upper-level schools that could offer more programs.
"The (idea) is to make schools big enough so you have a good curriculum and extracurricular activities," said Ahlgren, who served 12 years on the Cloquet School Board, including five years as chairman. "Extracurricular activity is something students need. You have to keep students busy. Then they're better students."
Minnesota's schools also need the state money lawmakers took away in recent years to balance the state budget, Ahlgren said. Returning that money and restoring school funding would be a priority.
So would saving Local Government Aid, a great idea that has become polluted by politics. The idea was that all communities would send revenue collected via a state sales tax to the state so it could be redistributed to help all communities. Minnesotans from smaller, poorer places could expect the same education and public safety then as Minnesotans from wealthier cities and suburbs.
"It's only 2 percent of the state budget," Ahlgren said of Local Government Aid. "So it's not a lot of money to the state. But to the cities, it's huge."
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A onetime teacher and a court administrator of 30 years, in addition to being a longtime public servant, Ahlgren is a consensus-builder who has the contacts and knowledge to be effective in a larger political arena.
"I wouldn't go down as a rookie. I know the government. I know people on both sides of the aisle. I understand you have to work with everyone," he said. "I come with good perspective."
Ahlgren's DFL opponent on Aug. 14 is Mike Sundin of Esko, a business marketing development consultant for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. His job involves tracking construction spending and making sure it benefits union members.
"I've been involved in DFL politics since my high school days, and I've tried to stay attuned to what's going on in the state," Sundin told the editorial board. "My focus when I get to St. Paul will not be the partisan bickering. ... I'm not really into playing that game. I'd rather focus on solution-based legislation. It can be done. ... Sometimes it takes a little compromise. Sometimes it takes digging in the heels."
After the June floods, hard-hit Cloquet rallied to clean up and to start rebuilding, but it didn't do so alone; it joined forces with other communities and with agencies, federal authorities, elected officials and more.
The commitment to cooperation was nothing new for Cloquet Mayor Bruce Ahlgren. It's a commitment he's eager to take with him to St. Paul as representative of state House District 11A. DFLers can support Ahlgren in the Aug. 14 primary election and send him on to the Nov. 6 general election to face Republican Jim Putnam of Scanlon and the winner of the Independence Party primary between Pat Oman of Barnum and Cory Pylkka of Carlton.
"We have to do it together," Ahlgren said in an interview last week with the News Tribune editorial board.
That's something he knows more than a bit about.
ADVERTISEMENT
He's a member of the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission and Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, both with
*egion-wide focuses. He's a longtime leader with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, which takes on city issues shared statewide. And, as mayor of 13 years, he helped combine the Cloquet, Perch Lake, Fond du Lac Reservation and Scanlon fire departments, improving public safety and saving each of the communities money by eliminating the duplication of work and duties. He holds out hope Esko, Carlton and Wrenshall also will join.
And he sees mergers of other public bodies -- again, in the name of improving services and saving money -- elsewhere across the state.
"I'm open to change, especially if it's good change," he said. "We have to spend wisely."
That can apply to Minnesota's many smaller, more-rural school districts. He supports maintaining an abundance of close-to-home elementary schools with larger, more-regional and cheaper-to-run upper-level schools that could offer more programs.
"The (idea) is to make schools big enough so you have a good curriculum and extracurricular activities," said Ahlgren, who served 12 years on the Cloquet School Board, including five years as chairman. "Extracurricular activity is something students need. You have to keep students busy. Then they're better students."
Minnesota's schools also need the state money lawmakers took away in recent years to balance the state budget, Ahlgren said. Returning that money and restoring school funding would be a priority.
So would saving Local Government Aid, a great idea that has become polluted by politics. The idea was that all communities would send revenue collected via a state sales tax to the state so it could be redistributed to help all communities. Minnesotans from smaller, poorer places could expect the same education and public safety then as Minnesotans from wealthier cities and suburbs.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It's only 2 percent of the state budget," Ahlgren said of Local Government Aid. "So it's not a lot of money to the state. But to the cities, it's huge."
A onetime teacher and a court administrator of 30 years, in addition to being a longtime public servant, Ahlgren is a consensus-builder who has the contacts and knowledge to be effective in a larger political arena.
"I wouldn't go down as a rookie. I know the government. I know people on both sides of the aisle. I understand you have to work with everyone," he said. "I come with good perspective."
Ahlgren's DFL opponent on Aug. 14 is Mike Sundin of Esko, a business marketing development consultant for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. His job involves tracking construction spending and making sure it benefits union members.
"I've been involved in DFL politics since my high school days, and I've tried to stay attuned to what's going on in the state," Sundin told the editorial board. "My focus when I get to St. Paul will not be the partisan bickering. ... I'm not really into playing that game. I'd rather focus on solution-based legislation. It can be done. ... Sometimes it takes a little compromise. Sometimes it takes digging in the heels."
