Readers' views: Kron proves his worth at board meetings

Kron proves his worth at board meetings

Many of us don't know who our county commissioners are. For the past year I have regularly observed at St. Louis County Board meetings. It has definitely been an eye-opening experience. Everyone should watch their elected officials at work sometimes to get to know who is working for them and what the elected officials are doing.

I have come to admire Commissioner Bill Kron, who is running for re-election this year. Kron is clearly a man of integrity, always the voice of reason, and he works diligently and full-time for residents of St. Louis County. He has worked hard as a peacemaker during the difficult past year. District 3 is fortunate to have Kron as its representative and it is important to keep someone with his experience, knowledge, insight and commitment in office.

Every voter in District 3 should show Kron their appreciation and support by voting for him in Tuesday's primary and again in the general election, Nov. 4.

Coral McDonnell

Duluth

Stenersen sways Progressive Action

Seven candidates are running for Minnesota Legislative seat 7B to replace the Northland's longtime friend, Rep. Mike Jaros. It's a crowded field of contenders in an unusually brief three-month race.

Despite the number of candidates, however, and the uncommon nature of the race, in the organization's recent 7B endorsing session Progressive Action members had no difficulty picking the candidate to endorse in Tuesday's primary: Marsh Stenersen.

It was in great part Stenersen's unequivocally stated position in opposition to the red plan that won him the endorsement. Members saw it as a model of the kind of clear and bold approach to contentious issues they'd like to see in the 7B state representative. Stenersen said he opposed the red plan because Duluth's residents were not allowed to vote on it and because it is "too extensive and too expensive." He described his concern as well that the lack of a citizen vote on the red plan could jeopardize the passage of future operating levy referendums, resulting in teacher cuts, increased class sizes and program cuts for Duluth's children.

Stenersen also presented his views on such issues as the importance of universal health care, protecting Minnesota's lakes, his support for the proposed passenger rail service between Duluth and the Twin Cities, his ideas for increasing the Duluth job market and the factors that seem to inhibit women from running for elected office.

Progressive Action was proud to give its endorsement to Stenersen, and we urge the voters of 7B to cast their ballots for Stenersen on Tuesday. We believe doing so will help secure a clear and courageous voice for the future of the district and of Minnesota.

Barb Olsen

Duluth

The writer is president of Progressive Action of Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin, a grass-roots political organization.

Paper buried

Obama's speech

While I admired the valor and courage depicted of David Wheat and Sen. John McCain in the Aug. 29 front-page article, "McCain invites Duluthian and former Hanoi Hilton POW to convention," I was disappointed to see Sen. Barack Obama's historic acceptance of the Democratic nomination stuck inside on Page 3 the same day.

With the increasing prevalence of political events, readers want to see the most recent and relevant occurrences first. Obama explicitly laid out his objectives for a presidential term, making the speech the most important to date for American voters.

I understand newspapers make strong efforts toward nonpartisanship, so I would expect to see Sen. McCain's speech with the Republican National Convention also on Page 3.

Katie Rogotzke

Duluth