March 21, Campaign Updates

Around town:

This past week I attended the Friends of the Wild River State Park pancake fundraiser and learned about the incredible organizing that our community is doing to improve our natural resources. I also attended the Wild River Audubon Society where scientist Deanna Leigh taught about MN Plant Watch, an organization working to study and protect rare native plants in Minnesota. As spring comes about, I am also planting new native plants on my land, and with help from Minnesota Native Landscapes, I am planting 31 new native species, including Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, Milkweed, Black Eyed Susan, Goldenrod, Aster and so much more.

I was also really interested to learn about the difference between a Mute Swan and a Trumpeter Swan from Sean Hoppes, the Interpretive Naturalist at Wild River State Park. Learn about this story on my Facebook Page!

Learning from the community:

I spoke to a Chisago Lakes Area School District Board Member and got a bit more information about what is required of our state legislature to support our public schools.

The first problem is there are deferred maintenance and school safety issues and the District is having trouble raising money for these necessary renovations. The second issue is that even though Chisago County continues to be one of the fastest growing counties in Minnesota, our school district enrollment is down.

First, I would support a direct appropriation to the School Districts to pay for the most immediate infrastructure issues to make our schools safe for our kids without raising our property taxes.

Second, I would address the structural issue that dwindling enrollment forces schools to cut services due to budgetary shortfalls. I would work with school board members and educators to amend the funding-per-pupil formula to make up for lost enrollment so that our public schools can continue to provide incredible academic, vocational, and life skills for our kids.