Shaping the Future: Insights on Political Engagement, Bipartisanship, and Urban Development with Mark Uglem

Explore  Minnesota's political canvas and urban development narratives with former state representative, Mayor Mark Uglem, as he shares his insightful journey from the corridors of policy-making to the streets that pulse with community life. Uncovering the realities of political engagement, Mark talks the pressing issue of polarization and its effect on bipartisan cooperation, offering a rare glimpse into the art of politics and the vital role of citizen involvement. As a guide through these intricate discussions, we dissect the potential consequences of Supreme Court decisions on federal agencies, reflecting on the broader implications for the balance of power in government.

The stakes are high as we juxtapose the presidencies of Biden and Trump, critiquing their contrasting approaches and impacts. This candid debate probes into the effectiveness of key political figures and the economic undercurrents that shape our nation, scrutinizing the claims of progress and pondering the leadership qualities that define successful governance. With Mark's nuanced perspective and our shared analysis, we navigate the complex terrains of policy outcomes, international diplomacy, and the potential overreach of the 'deep state', illuminating the intricate dance between freedom and regulation.

Zooming in on local spheres, Champlain stands as a testament to strategic urban planning and law enforcement, where we discuss the transformative power of community-driven initiatives. From grappling with the opioid epidemic to the challenges of police recruitment and retention, this episode looks into the multifaceted issues that local governments face. We wrap up with reflections on the importance of non-partisan solutions and a heartfelt invitation for listeners to engage with their local governments, inspiring a commitment to the greater good in the civic spaces we inhabit. Join us for this enlightening conversation with Mark Uglem, and Hutt
Cast and become part of the dialogue shaping our shared future.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Secretly recorded from deep inside the bowels of a decommissioned missile silo. We bring you the man, one single man, who wants to bring light to the darkness and dark to the lightness. Although he's not always right, he is always certain. So now, with security protocols in place, the protesters have been forced back behind the barricades and the blast doors are now sealed. Without further delay, let me introduce you to the host of the podcast, Mr Tim Hutner.

Speaker 2: 0:45

Thank you, sergeant and Arms. You can now take your post. The views and opinions expressed in this program are solely those of the individual and participants. These views and opinions expressed do not represent those of the host or the show. The opinions in this broadcast are not to replace your legal, medical or spiritual professionals. Welcome to the podcast. Today is February 11th 2024. In the studio Today we have Mark Oglen and Mark. Did I pronounce that properly? Yep, that's good enough, and what we do is we're going to today. We're going to have a special guest. He's done a lot of stuff for the state of Minnesota here in Champlain. He was. What district were you in?

Speaker 3: 1:26

Well, it was District 36A before we did the redistricting 36A and we're just going to have a conversation.

Speaker 2: 1:35

So for HutCast standby, we'll be right back. Buy-in-a-gun is no ordinary purchase. Whether you're a hunter, competitive shooter or self-defense is your priority. There are many kinds of guns and many kinds of training programs. You use your brain all the time. You will really need to use your gun Before you find yourself in a situation where you need to make a critical decision. Make sure your training is the best you can get. It could be the difference between life and death or freedom or detention. For the best quality training, check out PermitToCarryus. If you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or even Florida, give Gene German a call 612-388-2403. That's PermitToCarryus. We're called Gene German at 612-388-2403. Welcome back to HutCast. It's promised.

Speaker 2: 2:45

Mark Uglum is in the studio today and he's going to give us his insight of what he's done over his career. I'll tell you what. I met him first when we had a thing going in our hood, champlain, and it was a Maple Grove, I don't know. It was Brooklyn Center, brooklyn Park. They wanted to do a project hot dish. They wanted to put an Amazon right on the border of Champlain. There was no infrastructure in the ground. There was nothing big enough to handle that kind of input output. I watched Mark handle that council like it was a bunch of two-year-olds and he's the guy in charge. He was literally there just to present his opinion, and I'll tell you what. I'm glad I got him in the show today. Mark, welcome and thank you for coming to the show.

Speaker 3: 3:30

Well, thank you, tim, pleasure to be here.

Speaker 2: 3:32

I was in that that day and the wife looked at me and said we got to talk to this guy. I said yeah, absolutely, because he's the guy who knows what's going on. He just absolutely loved it. We share a party alignment. We dig that too. So we're good, strong two-year guys. So are you ready to start out with? What inspired you? How did you get into this? And you went to the University of Minnesota Duluth is what I've seen and how did that shape your perspective into this urban development and the policy of making this work?

Speaker 3: 4:08

Well, pretty good question, tim. I guess everybody has their reasons for getting involved with the public sector and cities and state politics and things, but I was always interested in that when I went to college at UMD. I did graduate with a degree in political science and urban studies. I had some pretty good professors up there and became very good friends with them, even to this day, although they're retired, like I am. But it's something that I guess I've always felt, that so many people are so busy but you just can't come home after a day of work and close the door and forget about what's going on in your city or your state. And you can make a difference if you really try. So I've always felt that you should give a little bit of yourself for your city or your state or even your country.

Speaker 2: 5:12

Well, I agree with that wholeheartedly. I did try and run for mayor and I also tried and ran for District Award one in our city and got my butt kicked both times. But hey, that's what the people wanted at the time.

Speaker 3: 5:23

Well, there's a certain art to it, and when you lay yourself out and that's a good thing, Tim, but when you lay yourself out for public opinion, you have to be prepared either to win or lose, but you still, at least you played the game.

Speaker 2: 5:39

Yeah, you engaged Yep. A lot of people sit on their butt and they say, well, things ain't happening. They're not. You know, I don't like the way it's going and they just want to whine about it and never engage it.

Speaker 3: 5:49

No, that's absolutely correct. And again, you know, citizen input is very, very important. If you're a legislator or a council member or whatever, you have to listen to the people. Unfortunately, today it seems like too many people want to push their personal agenda and that, to me, is not good politics.

Speaker 2: 6:11

It's so polarized though oh yeah, I mean, there's so much personal agenda you don't even know where the agenda starts and the real stuff stops.

Speaker 3: 6:19

Yeah, it's. Unfortunately, bipartisanship is a rare, rare thing now, and I don't think I've ever seen a country more polarized than it is right now.

Speaker 2: 6:32

For sure. And when do you think that polarization came in? Was that an Obama thing? Was that a? At what point did you see the most of this happen?

Speaker 3: 6:43

Well, you know, I think it morphed over a period of time and if you look at the history of American politics, we've had polarizations like this before obviously the Civil War, and you can just go back to more modern times. The Roosevelt administration a lot of the things that he did with the WPA and the CCC and some of his programs to grow us out of the Depression were really revolutionary at that point in time, and he got slapped down with the Supreme Court numerous times.

Speaker 3: 7:25

And there was big polarization then too. You know, when a country goes through difficult times, you kind of fight to find your way, and we're doing that right now.

Speaker 2: 7:37

It's a pretty hairy way, isn't it?

Speaker 3: 7:40

Yeah, you could say that it's very unfortunate. It comes down to a number of factors, leadership being a very big one.

Speaker 2: 7:50

Now for some of you in other countries, wpa is the War Powers Act and that was at the Roosevelt. Was it In what 19th Works Progress Administration.

Speaker 3: 7:58

Ah, okay.

Speaker 2: 7:59

So I'm on a different subject.

Speaker 3: 8:01

Ccc was Civilian Conservation Corps. These were two of many programs that Roosevelt initiated to get people back to work, but the government paid for it and that was pretty rare. Social Security, another one that he brought in, Again the government paying and individuals. So it was quite revolutionary at that point in time. Wow.

Speaker 2: 8:28

Now you were 10 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Is that correct? No six.

Speaker 3: 8:34

Three terms, okay, minnesota House yep.

Speaker 2: 8:38

And what do you consider your most significant legislative accomplishment is? Well, it was, it was.

Speaker 3: 8:46

Yeah, it was Well. First of all, I think when you say you're a Minnesota representative, you're representing the people, and I represented the city of Champlain and part of Coon Rapids. I was very, very pleased to promote Champlain's legislative agenda for projects such as replacement of the Milpond Dam, actually, then afterwards redregging and repurposing the Milpond to what it is today, from a swamp.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Oh yeah.

Speaker 3: 9:23

Yeah, highway 169 improvements, things like that. But also on a bigger picture, one thing that's always bugged me is distracted driving, and I teamed up with one of my Democratic colleagues, representative Frank Hornstein, who's still in the legislature Great guy and together we were able to pass the hands-free driving bill, which is supposed to eliminate people that are texting or playing games or doing all kinds of crazy things on their phones. Unfortunately, with the real crush of police manpower problems, it's not enforced except in dire circumstances.

Speaker 2: 10:16

Right and with those guys his hands tied, 90% of the time We've had Liz Collins on here and her husband, bob Collins. Liz Collins, bob, bob Crawl yeah, what a great couple. They launched their book from the Huttcast Great coverage and he just listened to the side stories of what they had to go through during that.

Speaker 3: 10:37

Oh yeah, I mean I know Bob Crawl and when they were up here in Champlain I attended that event. I think I really think that Liz Collins did a wonderful job in that book, real good investigative reporting back by the facts.

Speaker 2: 11:00

Right and the left want to tear it down for it. It's all hearsay and hyperbole, really.

Speaker 3: 11:05

But listen, if you don't have a strong police force that enforces the laws and I'm not saying that cops don't make mistakes, because they do they're human. But you can see it all over the country today. Unless you support your local police, you are going to have problems, and you know what Bad guys deserve to go to jail Every time without collecting, go, yes, how do you feel about those guys?

Speaker 2: 11:32

and what was it? Chicago or those immigrants shot at those cops getting started beating people up and as they're coming out of the county courthouse, they're flipping everybody off on the way out.

Speaker 3: 11:42

Well, tim, I was in New York just a couple weeks ago, staying in Times Square and three blocks away from where that happened, and I can honestly tell you New York is out of control, it's just out of control and obviously Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, is a very poor excuse for a district attorney. Can you believe you beat up some cops and you are released bail-free? And then, of course, what are you going to do? I mean, it's really simple. You're going to flee and to my knowledge, they still have not found those guys. I think one guy so far is in custody, but all over the country and this is obviously going to be a big election issue. But if you travel, if you travel much, you will see it, and we like to do a lot of long-distance motorcycle touring in the summer. Nice, yeah, I mean, we've been all over North America on bikes and on motorcycles. But you see it, we were out in Montana this last summer and the last place I would expect to see a huge homeless camp, but we did.

Speaker 2: 13:07

Really.

Speaker 3: 13:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:09

Wow, we are V. Okay. So we just got a new bus this year and we're going to burn some fuel like it's, you know, going out of style, and we see it. We see, you know, we see pieces and parts, but we're looking for it.

Speaker 3: 13:23

Well, you know, I wish some of our politicians particularly the guy in the driver's seat in Washington DC would get real and go. Instead of flying around in Air Force One, would get on the ground and go see what's really going on. Obviously, the border, but the homeless crisis, the fentanyl crisis, the law enforcement crisis and everything else these are all things that are fixable, but you got to know it. You got to know what's going on, rather than head off to your beach house in Delaware every weekend.

Speaker 2: 13:59

Yeah, but do you think he's capable of knowing it?

Speaker 3: 14:01

No, obviously what we've seen, particularly this last week.

Speaker 2: 14:05

Right yeah it's really they're making excuses for him. Now they're setting a Google standard. Well, he didn't know what he was doing. Well, if you don't know what you're doing on government documents, it's really too bad.

Speaker 3: 14:17

I mean, the guy's 81 years old and some people can be 81 and be very viable. But there's a lot of people that are 81 years old, that you know they're getting ready for the nursing home or whatever, and Biden has one step away from that.

Speaker 2: 14:33

Right and the left refuses to. The socialist left refuses to pay attention to this.

Speaker 3: 14:38

Well, I hold much hope that the American electorate, the American people, will see through that and make the proper choices this election cycle. It's critical. Oh big time, absolutely critical for this country. Yet you know, you and I have been around a long time and you look at elections and this is one of the most critical elections I can think of, probably in modern history.

Speaker 2: 15:10

If you get a chance, listen to a couple of shows back where I engage the main secretary of state and the Colorado secretary of state. Now you know where I'm going with this right Yep, and I wrote him a letter and I says look, I have every intention of filing a suit against you and the company or your company, your state of whatever for interfering with a federal election by saying that you're going to keep Trump off the ballot, which, in my mind, that's what they're doing. Now, I'm not a big Trumper, but you know, we hired the right guy, did the right job at the right time and it's time to move on for us.

Speaker 3: 15:43

Well, you know, tim, I tell people and I'm not a big Trumper either, but I like the results, yes, and you can say what you want about Trump. He's a very abrasive personality, and particularly with the soccer moms that may be listening out there and everything else, I mean he's a guy that you can really hate, but easily, yes, but he delivers results. Yeah, he produces, and there's a reason. He's a billionaire, he's a, he's a very, very good businessman. And you know, before I got into politics, I think, I told you I spent 35 years in private business and you can bring those business practices to politics. And Trump did that. Yes, he did. He understood that. And all you have to do is ask yourself are you better off today under Biden or were you better off under Trump?

Speaker 3: 16:40

and I think the answer to that is quite clear.

Speaker 2: 16:45

Right? Did you read the Art of the Deal? Did you ever get through to his book on that?

Speaker 3: 16:51

No, I never did.

Speaker 2: 16:52

Okay, you can hear that Narcissus in a minute. It's just the way he is and, like you say, he's very abrasive, but he wasn't the right guy for the job. He was the right guy for the job if you get where I'm going.

Speaker 3: 17:04

Yeah, and the other thing that you I mean I think that's very important both in business and politics is that you surround yourself with good people, the people that put you in spot.

Speaker 2: 17:16

yes.

Speaker 3: 17:16

And unfortunately. I mean, just look at it, biden. I was talking to an individual here this weekend while we were up ice fishing and we were talking about Anthony Blinken, the secretary of state. Well, can you tell me, blinken's all over the place, the guy. The guy is probably got more flight miles than you know, anybody. But but what does he accomplish? I can't think of a single thing that he's really accomplished, kind of like Fauci. Yeah, well, that's another story.

Speaker 2: 17:55

It's a huge story, but it's always sees it same as always come back, these guys wearing on position.

Speaker 3: 17:59

Well, the bottom line is you got to be judged by your results, and the results today for the Biden administration nationally and everything else are pretty dismal. Now you can talk about the economy, and yes, the economy is good, but you know Biden's taking credit for bringing it down, oh right. Yeah, well, you know, there is this thing called the Federal Reserve Board, and there's something called whiplash.

Speaker 3: 18:29

They didn't do a good job. I mean, remember inflation is transitory right, but they finally woke up and they, through their fiscal and monetary monetary policy, fighting the fiscal policy of the excessive spending of the Biden administration. But the monetary policy everybody looks at interest rates and they've driven down the interest rates. That's fine. But they have other tools in the toolbox to do things like that with reserve requirements for banks and other things like that, and they're doing what any other Federal Reserve would do and it's working. But Biden's taken credit for it Right.

Speaker 2: 19:11

And what does Biden say? We're going to push inflation up so we can make the interest rates down.

Speaker 3: 19:16

I'm sorry, I mean hey, the guy never had a real job, right? I mean, he never had a real job.

Speaker 2: 19:23

I love his quote when he was sitting in front of the steel workers in Ohio or something like that, and he says, hey, I don't work for you, and he did that. He said that. He did yeah well and I put it on the page right Because I run some pages here in town and someone chimed and says when did he say that? And I just simply gave her the quote and I didn't hear crap out of them.

Speaker 3: 19:44

No, I mean, it's another indication of his diminished mental capacity. And his second in command yeah Laffy, yeah the VP. I shuddered to think what would happen, her going up against Putin or Xi and China? You got to have strong leadership. I don't care if it's a business, I don't care if it's at the city, anyplace. You have to have strong leadership, and we are sorely lacking that.

Speaker 2: 20:14

You need a good type A and you say it, you do it, you finish it, yeah, every time.

Speaker 3: 20:19

And if you got to put up with Trump to get the results, that's fine. And for these people that are so afraid about the state of our democracy and Trump's going to declare himself king, Never happened. Yeah, I'm afraid they're just living in an alternate universe.

Speaker 2: 20:38

They just want something to hang their hat on.

Speaker 3: 20:40

Well, yeah, and we have institutions called the Supreme Court, yes, yes, and and and other institutions that certainly will make sure that never happens. That's the point of it. Three, three checksums, right, right, checks and balances, three layers of government.

Speaker 3: 20:58

But oh yeah let's not forget the fourth layer of government, the deep state, which which, hey, you know, we used to call it the bureaucracy, now they call it the deep state. But but in many it's just incredible to me and I learned this over at the state legislature to that these bureaucrats, unelected bureaucrats, make laws. Now we call, we call, we call the laws that they make rulemaking and in the final analysis, whether it be at the federal level or the state level, the legislature grants these agencies the rulemaking process, which essentially become laws. Yeah, yeah, epa is a perfect example of that, but you know all kinds of ATF. Well, yeah, the Sigtak brace, all the, all the agencies do this and and unfortunately, our legislature and and the federal legislature have trouble bringing that back. Now the recent Supreme Court ruling, west Virginia ruling, tried to roll that back, but so far as well as I can see, there haven't been any other lawsuits and things that that are so, that are that are enforcing that. But we need to roll back this useless rulemaking.

Speaker 2: 22:31

Ie the main gal out in Maine, the secretary of state.

Speaker 3: 22:36

Oh yeah, well, well, no, this is I'm talking about regulations for, for well let's, let's just talk the gas stove thing, which has gotten a lot of press, and everything else you know, since when can the EPA, that one? Yeah, do a rule and and take away your gas stoves. Or, oh, goodness, goodness, what about electric cars? Yeah, right, and and and all of this, me, I want to drive my ice engine, my internal combustion engine, and I don't think the government should have anything to say about what I'm going to be driving or what I'm going to be cooking on, or my water heaters or anything like that, what your doctor should be doing.

Speaker 2: 23:18

Yeah, because he believes that. Jensen believes that the doctor and the patient are the people that should be in charge, not the government.

Speaker 3: 23:26

Well, you know it's, but unfortunately, tim, what's what? What I'm seeing with a lot of the younger generation and I'm not going to knock the younger generation, but there are a number of people that really want government to take care of them.

Speaker 2: 23:45

Oh geez.

Speaker 3: 23:46

And, and the student loan thing is another perfect example. Oh, don't get me started on that, right, right. But again, you know where is the American ideal? You work hard, you're rewarded and you pay your debts and you and you, you do your thing. But now there's a number of people that and the government has encouraged this oh, state and federal, where the nanny state, the government's going to take care of you. Don't worry about a thing. Yeah, you can incur all these debts and everything else, whether it be rental debt or mortgage debt or or college debt and things, but there might be a way where the government will pay for it.

Speaker 2: 24:28

You mean?

Speaker 3: 24:29

vote for it.

Speaker 2: 24:30

Oh yeah, vote for living, not work for living yeah yeah, it's, it's.

Speaker 3: 24:35

It's a bit of an upside down world right now and hopefully we can get back to our roots and get back to the values that made America great.

Speaker 2: 24:42

Now you were chaplain mayor for how many terms? Three terms, three terms, and in fact that was two years each, wasn't it? Yep, so six years. And how did chaplain mayor and again I, I serve a different city for a different thing and if and it's, but it's not actual council how did it prepare you for the house? I mean, the house is kind of a big step, and what were some of the key lessons learned in your mayor ship? Then did you apply at state level?

Speaker 3: 25:09

Well, actually, if, if you're a mayor and then you're elected to the house or the Senate over at the state, it prepares you a great deal. We we have many people that are elected over there that have absolutely no prior government experience at all.

Speaker 3: 25:27

They just walk in there and you know I had the educational background and also I served on the planning commission down in Brooklyn park when we did the Edinburgh projects and housing around there and everything else, and then the planning commission here in Champlain. I was chair of the planning commission, so really, and then I was. I was a council member for a term too, so it was, it wasn't too hard a step really.

Speaker 2: 26:02

So you were council when Boynton was in. Yes, okay, yep, I know that now in the area, right. So did that that kind of set ship for next level?

Speaker 3: 26:13

Well, you know, like I say, you just don't want to come home, shut the door and forget about what's going on and and Champlain growing suburb facing challenges. I think the city has done a wonderful job over the years. We've had good leadership. Nothing's perfect, but we've done a pretty good job, particularly when you compare Champlain to our pure cities in the Northwest suburbs.

Speaker 2: 26:49

Kind of sounded open ended there.

Speaker 3: 26:51

Well, I don't intend it to be open ended, I guess I guess really, if you look at law and order, for example in the Northwest suburbs, and you see how well Champlain does by protecting our citizens and everything else, and you look south of us and you see every day serious, serious crime going on, yes, so that benchmark, champlain comes out with a A plus, hands down, yep, the fuzz can do it right. They can and they're supported by our council. Yes, they are. And then if you look at development, it's not by accident that Highway 169, our main thoroughfare, looks like it does the Highway 169 development standards which my administration and other administrations have held the setbacks, the landscaping, the lack of billboards, and you know we're not lined from city edge to city edge with used car lots and other things. There's very careful consideration that has gone into the development of Champlain and I guess I've always said that once you build it it's there, right, hard to get rid of. So you better do it right the first time.

Speaker 2: 28:27

Yeah but how? When you talk about multiple administrations, different councils, you're talking about like, what was the crossings? How many names does that have?

Speaker 3: 28:38

Well, yeah, and you know that that kind of, that kind of morphs. I mean, boynton started that project because he had roots there on the river and things and he came to me and we discussed, we discussed it and you know we had some rundown apartments that were crime-ridden, yep, and we that was. There were so much potential there to, number one, increase tax base. Number two, eliminate crime situations. Number three, provide some really really good housing and emphasize the river, to open up the river for our residents. You know these were all goals and in government you sit down. Well, you sit down and you establish these goals. In private business we call it benchmarks, but it's pretty much the same and unfortunately, one thing I learned is, at least in private business, you, if you're an executive or whatever, you can institute your program or whatever and it's going to happen pretty quickly.

Speaker 2: 29:51

In government it takes a long time Very long, yep and there's always resistance and there's always some guy on your group or in a group down the road from you that have a a hard on for something.

Speaker 3: 30:03

The not in my backyard syndrome, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 30:06

I faced that as an ED director and Dayton and I'm just like dude, you know we gotta move forward.

Speaker 3: 30:11

Oh yeah, okay, yeah, well, dayton's an interesting study right now, there's no question.

Speaker 2: 30:16

Yeah, and the crossings, I remember I was running. I was 16 and I was running for mayor at the time. I believe and you know, they all want you to make political promises. I said look, I can promise you is that if I get in, the heads are going to roll and people are going to do the job right.

Speaker 3: 30:33

That's all I can tell you and and they want miracles from you, and you want to be an hospital and you want to say look, it's not about miracles, this is about what I can do with, for other people, exactly because in the weak mayor system that most cities have, yes, you're one vote, yep, but you have to drive the agenda as the leader and you have to obviously line up the votes and everything else, but. But I've always said that what you're, you're elected, you're most likely a person that is just interested in the city and everything else, but you're not a professional.

Speaker 3: 31:16

Right you don't have your master's degree or whatever. And so what? What I always said, and what I, when I work with Brett Heitkamp, our city administrator, and we had a very good working relationship said you know.

Speaker 1: 31:30

Brett, here's the deal.

Speaker 3: 31:31

We're going to the council or the people that provide you the direction. You're the professional that has to institute it, sure, implement it, yep. And if we want to go out for a request for proposal for a development area, or if we want to rezone anything and everything you know, or redevelop something, we're going to give you that direction and I expect that we will execute that, and Brett's very good at that.

Speaker 2: 32:01

Yeah, but just last previous sessions of council or it seemed a little little terminal.

Speaker 3: 32:09

Well, you need to have direction from the top and and, but that's government, tim. I mean government is, democracy is messy. Okay, if you want, if you want good, clean, if you want clean government, not good government clean government be a dictator.

Speaker 3: 32:25

Oh, there you go. Yeah, I mean, that's true, though Dictators don't make mistakes, right? Dictators don't have transparency, and in a democracy it is about the messiest form of government that you could possibly think of. But, but unfortunately, people don't study the government anymore. When I was in a legislature representative Dean Erdal and myself Dean's a teacher, ex teacher from Litchfield we actually found out that many school districts in the state were not teaching civics and we had to pass a law that said you're going to have to teach government to your kids in school, at least for one semester. Isn't that common sense?

Speaker 3: 33:11

Well yes, but not. Evidently in some educational systems in the state Isn't that isn't insane. You know, the biggest threat to democracy is people that don't understand our system of government and democracy. And you know the January 6 thing, right, Right, Well, I knew you wanted to talk about this.

Speaker 2: 33:35

Well, I wasn't going to bring it up.

Speaker 3: 33:37

January 6, thing, trump got some very, very bad legal advice from that woman attorney who has since been. What was her name? Sidney Powell. And you know I, you know Trump was never in government before. No, he was a private private company and this electoral thing.

Speaker 3: 34:00

Many people don't realize this, but the electoral college is very convoluted and I won't claim to be an expert on it, but my old college roommate who was a political science professor at Minnesota, duluth, is, and you know there have been in the past. In fact, brett Bayer wrote a very good book about this, about Ulysses S Grant and how grants save the union. After the Civil War, reconstruction there were it was very turbulent times because the South wanted to rise again and the old politicians in the South they weren't going to put up with, you know, freedom of the slaves and and the new forms of government and everything else. So they tried to kind of take control. In fact Grant had to send the army in there a couple of times to restore peace. Wow, yeah, it's. Brett Bayer does a very good job in this book.

Speaker 3: 35:02

But so the election comes up. Grant's on his way out. He's served as two terms, but when the electors show up there's two, two slates of electors from some of the Southern states like Georgia, and there were a couple others. Well, you know, one slate represented the true vote, the other slate was put in there by the Southern politicians and who's to determine who's the right slate of electors. Sure, grant brokered a deal with the Supreme Court and and they worked it out where the electors that were the right electors elected the president. But there is nothing in the Electoral College Act that says if you're an elector, that you have to represent the will of the people. Kind of mind blowing, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 36:02

Sure got me quiet.

Speaker 3: 36:03

Yeah, but the way that things have worked is if you are an unfaithful elector, you are simply replaced by the, by the, the state that sent the electors to the, to the US Congress. So unfaithful electors have occurred in the past and but you know the whole, the whole January 6th thing was very abhorrent. I I you know, being a member of the Minnesota state legislature. When you walk in those halls and you walk up those big steps and everything else, you realize that you're really a little bit a part of history.

Speaker 3: 36:46

And and when I saw what was going on in our US Capitol, I was appalled. But in the final analysis, number one Trump hasn't been convicted of insurrection. Correct Colorado, this has seemed to realize that.

Speaker 2: 37:04

So, does Maine?

Speaker 3: 37:05

Right and but he made some very bad mistakes but in the final analysis, in the end he corrected it. I mean, he spent way too much time not moving forward but everybody left and he did say, I believe, go peacefully and protest peacefully and things, but nonetheless that'll be a black mark in the history of Trump when it's written and it was bad and he's going to be fighting that Sure For the rest of his life.

Speaker 2: 37:45

But there's a difference between insurrection and insurrection. You don't run around the state Capitol with a camera phone when we left Afghanistan and Biden left all his stuff there all our stuff, they're not his. Yeah, we own that. And the people came in behind him with real guns and they really took it over with the real insurrection way.

Speaker 3: 38:03

Yeah, you know, the media are the people that termed it an insurrection and I watch all the media. Of course I watch a lot of Fox, but I watch CNN. Maybe my wife is just like you know News Hour comes, I'm glued to watching all of them and you look at my apps, and my phone is the same way.

Speaker 2: 38:27

Sure.

Speaker 3: 38:29

And you have to do that to have a fair and balanced opinion. Right, you got to know what the other side is thinking. Yes, exactly, but I've always given the thought that you know all of our media is based where? Motion to DC, New York City, actually? Oh, really. Well, ABC, CBS, NBC, they all their headquarters are in New York.

Speaker 2: 38:56

Okay.

Speaker 3: 38:57

They have correspondence in DC, obviously, and all that so does Fox. Fox is in New York and unfortunately you know the values of New York and the surrounding area and things are not the values of Wyoming or South Dakota or things like that. So inherently we get a bit of a biased view and a biased reporting that way. But you know, the media has always been that way. Remember Randolph Hearst Ring the bell? Yeah Well, he was considered, you know, the newspaper king or whatever. Patty Hearst was his daughter or something, daughter or granddaughter or something like that.

Speaker 3: 39:46

But the media if you go back and look at American history and that's why people need to do this newspapers had an outsized influence in elections for a lot of the presidents and they always will. But you know you have to make your own decisions and the only way that you can make your decisions is to be educated about it and do your research. So, to conclude, on this January 6th deal, you're going to have to make up your own mind about it, and is it an insurrection or was it an insurrection? Or was it just a violent, violent protest? And some of the people that have been prosecuted probably deserved it. They've earned it. They've earned it.

Speaker 3: 40:34

Maybe some of the terms have been a little long, because you can be a fentanyl dealer and get off a lot easier, but nonetheless, you know the system is working that way and I guess I'm willing to give Trump not a pass, but I'm willing to give him the idea that everybody's entitled to a mistake and, fortunately, nothing serious. Well, it was serious, but we saved the union and I don't think and I have the greatest respect for Pence standing up and saying I don't do this and it worked and it worked, and I will bet you that Trump never he's going to be so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so careful if he is elected president again with some of these constitutional issues. And we have a very I think we have a very good Supreme Court that's conservative, but yet John Roberts is a very, very astute man and the checks and balances will prevail.

Speaker 2: 41:48

Now, if we shift this in overdrive here, a quick answer on, in your view, what's the most pressing issue facing Northern Twin Cities metropolitan area today? I mean not back when you were in, but I mean just by seeing what's going on. What strategies do you believe are more necessary to address these? Ie, the fentanyl problem, ie, the George Floyd Square round thing, take your pick.

Speaker 3: 42:13

Well, yeah, I mean, you know, I served on the public safety committee for two terms over the house and I got to know all the cops and district attorneys and everything else, and I guess we've touched on this a little bit. We need to support our law enforcement. And then, secondly, we need to reform the court system, and our Hennepin County district attorney I'll tell it to her face is very ineffective, much too liberal and needs to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Secondly, we need to elect officials that are willing to pass these laws and not play their political games, the. You know, I've often said that local government touches you more than any other government. Oh yeah, and if you're driving down 169, you get a speeding ticket. Well, suck it up, because you were speeding and I have Maybe excessive acceleration, perhaps Well, I got a ticket from our cops and a champion one time.

Speaker 3: 43:30

And he actually wrote it. Yeah, they knew where it was and I just went. Yep, okay, I got it. I was speeding, so just write me I don't care, but but you learn a lesson. And this fentanyl crisis is really related to the border and this massive fentanyl that's coming in. I just got back from ice fishing up in Red Lake. Like I was telling you, far northern Minnesota, and as you know, red Lake, part of it is federal Indian reservation up there. Okay, and we were talking to the guide that we had up there and out in the lake and you're sitting in a fish house you know how it goes, you're you're chatting quite a bit because the fish aren't biting, right, but he was telling us about how severe the fentanyl crisis is on the reservation up there.

Speaker 2: 44:21

Okay.

Speaker 3: 44:24

And he was actually alluding to the fact that so many young people are dying from fentanyl up there that the, the, the elders are concerned about. Is the tribe going to go on? Oh boy, I mean, it is just absolutely horrible. And of course we have that here in the Twin Cities too, and you know, society can't exist with these permissive laws regarding drugs.

Speaker 2: 44:50

But laws, don't make laws in force. Like our district attorney, if, if, if, if. Like our, like our police, if they catch somebody. I've been nicked a couple of times as far as being broken into. We caught them on camera. We literally LPRed them right to their house. They've got the product in their hand and they're not pressing charges. Well, they're not, they're. They just, let me say this way they're not, they're not pressing charges, but they're. They're just like oh, it's property, we don't care.

Speaker 3: 45:15

Well, you know again. I know that our current administration, mayor Savas, has been trying to hire more cops, and this is an initiative that that Ryan and I talked about some time ago. But but, tim, we're in Hanopin County.

Speaker 2: 45:36

Right. So no matter what you do, it goes downtown.

Speaker 3: 45:40

Right.

Speaker 2: 45:41

And it means nothing.

Speaker 3: 45:42

And if you're a cop and, like our poor lady in Brooklyn Center Potter, and you make a mistake and it was a serious mistake, very, very yeah, and Kim was a resident of Champlain.

Speaker 2: 45:56

Yes, she was. We almost had her on the show.

Speaker 3: 45:58

Yeah, great, gail and her, her son, played hockey so I met her in passing a couple of times. But but you know cops don't want to work in Hanopin County because of now you go across the river to Anoka County. Sign them up.

Speaker 2: 46:18

Sheriff's Department take them all down.

Speaker 3: 46:19

Yeah, so so recruitment of cops. Why would you want to be? You're a young kid, you're going to going to school. Why would you want to be a cop?

Speaker 2: 46:26

Right, what is the incentive there? Oh, look, I see on TV at Kim's in jail for an accident, all this, all this stuff. You know Derek Chavon? He was on the phone to Bob Krolls when his, when he was in his proper position for holding George Fenton all down to the ground. Yeah, George Fenton, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 46:48

It.

Speaker 3: 46:48

I mean again watch the fall of Minneapolis and and we have some very serious questions about our legal system, all the way to the governor. But nonetheless, you know these are issues facing the North Metro, or any Metro for that matter, Right, Right. The other thing is, for Champlain is responsible development and we have. It took a long time but that riverfront development there, the Amplitheater, has been a tremendous success and the and the event center has been used much more than I thought and it's it's gaining more and more momentum. I think that's a wonderful gathering place for residents of the city. We're still hopeful that that restaurant I know they're in negotiations, final negotiations, to get that going, which will be, I think, a big thing for the North Metro in itself.

Speaker 3: 47:55

So we're, you know again we're doing things that other cities are not doing.

Speaker 2: 48:02

Well, champlain is 95% built out, isn't it 98, something like that.

Speaker 3: 48:05

Yes, it is, and and you know, for instance, the some of the last developments up there by Bauer Berry Farm and all that have been, I think, home runs, both in terms of adding to the tax base and in terms of the, the, the demographic well, not the demographics, but. But we've attracted high taxpayer people into the medium density?

Speaker 3: 48:33

Yes, well, yeah, medium it's. It's primarily residential. Now let's turn the page and go back to, for instance, brooklyn Park. I am not a big believer in high density housing. I am a believer in what we call life cycle housing, where I think everybody should have an opportunity to have an affordable house with in the city. By saying affordable, I don't mean that it's subsidized, I mean that it's market rate affordable and we have that. We have older housing stock here in Champlain which is affordable. We have some apartments and everything else which which are good starter places and senior apartments. We've we've excelled in senior apartments, yeah, yeah, and you know why, tim, senior apartments aren't a big crime problem, right, and I'm not saying apartments in general are.

Speaker 3: 49:31

I'm just saying some are Call the service, get up there pretty fast, right, and seniors are really, I think, good people for for cities.

Speaker 2: 49:41

They make good neighbors.

Speaker 3: 49:42

Yep, they do so. We've excelled in that, and the Met Council, of course. I don't know your listeners or people in Champlain.

Speaker 2: 49:50

Oh, we got all kinds of listeners.

Speaker 3: 49:52

Well, well, the Met Council, you know, dictates to seats.

Speaker 2: 49:56

Yes, they do. Yes, they do.

Speaker 3: 49:57

I'm fully aware of that, and it's an unelected it's, it's yeah it's, it's appointed, it's yeah, with no end date, by the governor and I. I urge people to go on a website and look and see who your Met Council representatives are, because nobody knows and then just look at their work history. They're a rubber stamp for the bureaucracy there and obviously Southwest light rail proves it.

Speaker 2: 50:25

Well when, when Mayor Sabus brought out the Hexits, me and him were kind of on point with that, I said look, you launch it in Champanel, launch it in Dayton at the city council, and that sure got a lot of attention. I did hear that Hennemey County dropped a couple of road projects for you but for us. We picked up about three projects from the commissioner.

Speaker 3: 50:44

Right, but you also realized that there was some noise about Champlain maybe looking at joining an Oka.

Speaker 2: 50:56

County. Right, the Hexits that's what's our attorney over there says that we don't want to call it succession, we want to call it exiting from the current council.

Speaker 3: 51:04

Correct and you know, sometimes you, you have to whine a little bit to get some things. And prior to this, prior to our posturing, if you will, prior to this, we weren't getting Jack from Hennepin County Right. It's amazing how they woke up.

Speaker 2: 51:25

Well, you got their attention. We're on the news, champlain's on the news, dayton's on the news. Hey look, we're going to do this and we're going to push for this. Dayton's a little different because we got we got two different counties.

Speaker 3: 51:34

Yeah, you can, and and of course we would need two cities to do this. Yes, but the point is, tim, that whole deal didn't just happen. Okay, it did it just was. It didn't happen, it was, I dare say, shall we say, orchestrated. Well, you said that I didn't.

Speaker 2: 51:56

Okay, then who's the players?

Speaker 3: 51:58

Can't tell you yeah.

Speaker 2: 52:02

Okay, I step, I smell your step on it, but you know, again, I brought it out over there, ryan brought it out over here, and nobody wants to do nothing. They all want to say, oh, we don't want to deal with it. And I don't think, I think that's a bad thing to do. I think we should continue through with this.

Speaker 3: 52:19

Well, there are definite advantages for the citizens of Champlain and obviously taxes. Hennepin County is a very high tax county, Big time.

Speaker 3: 52:30

Compared to Anoka. Obviously there's administration. Anoka I think most people would say Anoka County is has very good administration and Champlain has a very, very small voice in Hennepin County even now, and really obviously law enforcement, so on and so forth. So there's advantages, but it's very if you and I'm sure you have you look at it, there's a lot of hoops to jump through. Just think, for example, the property tax records. Okay, okay, they all have to be transferred and made sure that they're updated to Anoka County.

Speaker 3: 53:12

That's a huge task, oh I would imagine, and and there's just all the little nitty gritty stuff would be difficult, not impossible, but you'd have to have a committed group, working group to do this. Another example of what's going on nationally, of course, is counties in western Washington state want to join.

Speaker 3: 53:42

Idaho out there. Okay, because they are so different from the coast, their agriculture, rural values and everything else, they fit right in with Idaho's politics and, and all of that, there's a movement of foot to do that, taken essentially partition the state of Washington. It's indicative of the turmoil that, whether it's cities, counties or states, and indeed our federal government, are going through.

Speaker 2: 54:20

Now, I was expecting to break this up at about the 30 mark, but because it got so intrigued into this, we won't do a midroll. I'll let the computer pick a midroll. So we won't take a break. But I do want to ask some other questions before we bounce. Sure Now, who took your spot, zach, in in Cougar?

Speaker 3: 54:39

Appets. Yes, Zach did.

Speaker 2: 54:40

Okay, during your time in office, how did you navigate the complexities of bipartisan? Because, again, they're so polarized and that if you ain't doing the right to left and if you ain't a socialist left versus a democratic left, I mean that's kind of a thing.

Speaker 3: 54:54

Well, yeah, you know, I guess Jerry Newton over there now. Senator Jerry Newton, very good guy to work with the EFL and we worked together way back when when we were rebuilding the Coon Rapids dam which which preserved the recreational pool and Champlain as the.

Speaker 3: 55:18

there was a big push to remove the dam and let the river flow freely, shutter, to think what that would have done to property values in our city. But but you know Jerry was a very good guy to work with. You know I had a good relationship with Melissa Hortman. I haven't seen her recently but, but you know you learn in business but you don't always get everything you want. But you mentioned the art of the deal yes.

Speaker 3: 55:51

Okay. Well, yes, you got a deal and you have to give and you have to take. Unfortunately, that is very unusual in the legislature now, but but if you know how to duck and weave a little bit, you can get things done, yeah.

Speaker 2: 56:10

Duck and weave. I got it. I got it. So there's there's just so much that there's so much to talk about it. But you know, we only have 60 minutes and I still got to put pre and post rolls in here. Now I'm going to go off script and I'm going to just simply say what do you got to say? Now, I'll mind you, this is a worldwide show, but this will fit into your local genre, and what would you say that you people should be doing locally in their government.

Speaker 3: 56:43

Well, I would simply say get involved, be educated, make try to make the right decisions, be mindful of your neighbors and your friends in the city. Champlain has always practiced politics that are different and it hasn't been so terribly partisan. You need to work towards that and, granted, you're pushing a bowler up a hill nowadays, but, but I think that you know there's good in everybody and you need to find that and you need to be willing to compromise a little bit to get things done so everybody can pull away in equally.

Speaker 2: 57:35

A metaphor pull away in equal. That's pretty, that's pretty insightful.

Speaker 3: 57:40

Well, if you're going to get something done, you know gridlock. Gridlock doesn't work very well, does it? And even if you? You know when I served, when I first came in, we were in the minority, so I know what that's like. The Republicans were in the minority and then for two terms, we had the majority and I urged our leadership in those two terms, when we had the majority, not to treat the Democrat minority like they treated us. It's just that simple and you need to build bridges and if you, if you do that in business, you're going to be successful.

Speaker 3: 58:21

Sure, you're used to doing it, you're used to doing it and you know your customers and everybody else are going to appreciate that and you're going to grow your company. But but you need to do that a little bit in politics too.

Speaker 2: 58:33

Sure, you can't stay some one-sided, but but I've always had that on the fence feeling I always have as my customers, as my political side. You just listen. I mean because just because you don't make sense today, it doesn't mean it won't make sense later.

Speaker 3: 58:46

It's funny, isn't it, tim? People you mentioned listening. Okay, yeah, it's an art form. Now, this podcast and everything else, people are listening to it and all that. But in simple conversations today, you can be, well, you can be talking to somebody till you're blue in the face, sure, and they're not listening to you. Nope, nope, and. And so, whether it's personal relationships within your family, or whether it's political or whatever, you need to listen.

Speaker 2: 59:15

You can hear me now and listen to me later. Eventually it's going to work.

Speaker 3: 59:18

Probably Yep.

Speaker 2: 59:20

Well, we are 56 minutes. I got some post-roll in here. Wow, wow. This is an incredible show. I didn't, again, I expected to do a mid-roll, but because it was moving so well, you did a wonderful job. Huttcast really appreciates it Traumatically. It's just. I can't thank you enough for coming in and taking your time.

Speaker 3: 59:39

Well, glad to do it. Thank you very much, tim. It was a pleasure Okay for Huttcast.

Speaker 2: 59:43

we're going to sign off Again. We'll put a mid-roll somewhere and it might sound interrupted and choppy, but we'll have to live with it and the guys out in the eastern side of Australia. I know I get what you're saying. I've already addressed that issue. It'll be fixed on the next commercials. So thanks everybody for tuning in and I hope that all you over the seas guys can get some solace in what we're doing here locally for Huttcast signing off. Thanks again everybody and that's a wrap for Huttcast. Huttcast is again a pragmatic approach to seeing things how some people see them. If you like our show, give us a thumbs up on the Facebook site. Again for Huttcast. Thank you again. Have a wonderful evening.