Category: DFL Gov 2010

by Dave Mindeman

The three DFL governor candidates were on Almanac this weekend. It was an interesting and direct debate. I'm not sure much new was learned, but some of the lines were drawn on what their approach will be in the final month of campaigning before the primary.

Dayton has committed himself fully to his additional tax on the wealthier Minnesotans method of gaining revenue and balancing the budget. He does have the most specifics about how he will do that...but specificity also makes you vulnerable to wide interpretations from all sides. He seems prepared to defend his position.

Kelliher continues to preach her "balanced" approach on how to meet the budget problem. I do believe, however, that she will have to try to get at least as specific as Dayton on just what that entails. If she wants to question Dayton's approach then she must provide the alternative. She says that she and Gunyou are working out a detailed plan. I am anxious to see it.

Entenza wants green jobs and green energy to work and he wants it to solve other issues as well. He believes that we can utilize the energy dollars currently being spent and turn it into a Minnesota jobs plan. That would be impressive if he could pull that off. It is probably hard to get very specific on that but I would like to see more details on that as well. For instance, some kind of regulation would be needed to "force" power companies to shift their energy purchases to Minnesota based green resources. What would that involve?

It was obvious that Dayton and Kelliher were determined to engage each other directly....probably believing that they are the current front runners. Entenza was kind of "outside the debating box" in a figurative and literal (other end of the couch) sense. He seemed to be OK with that, although it was harder for him to get his points across at times. I would guess that Entenza is content to let Dayton and Kelliher engage directly for now. That will allow his media campaign to do most of his talking.

I expect that all three are probably polling pretty close together. I expect the debate points to get sharper and a little more biting as we approach August 10th.

Category: Mark Dayton

by Dave Mindeman

I have to commend Mark Dayton for making a point about the questionable connection MnDOT and URS Corp. have had over the years. Anyone who has read this blog over the past couple of years knows that I have had doubts about this relationship and still believe that as the victim's lawsuits move through the courts, there will still be other memos and e-mails that are yet to be found.

Here are some links to other posts I have done on this issue.

NTSB and Roller Bearings

URS - MNDOT Settlement

URS - MnDOT Connection

Dayton stated that he would question any future contracts with the firm. I am not sure that, as governor, he will have the authority to prevent them from bidding and winning any future contracts. However, it is also true that some of these design/build contract bid determinations are pretty convoluted in themselves. Only with this system could the new I-35 Bridge have been built by a company with one of the highest overall bids.

I hope that Mark Dayton will continue to raise those questions and if he becomes governor that he will work to end the revolving door of employees going to and coming from URS and MnDOT.

In the meantime, we will have to hope that the ongoing civil suits raised by the I-35 victims and their families can continue to uncover the real truth.