• Who I Am.
• My View of St. Louis County
• Rights of the People
• Labor vs Business
• Economic Diversity
• Environmental Issues
• Welfare Reform
• Foster Care Reform
• Juvenile Reform
• Elderly Issues
• College Students in our area
• Emergency Services
• My volunteer work and advocacy

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College Students

1. I have gotten to know many students who attend The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) and College of Saint Scholastica (CSS) in the past couple of years and they are great for the most part. We often hear about the bad things, but let me tell you about some of the good ones.

   I had the privilege of working with the SERVE student group up at UMD. As the chairperson for the city of Duluth's commission on disabilities we were faced with a problem of snow shoveling. There is a city ordinance that requires homeowners to keep the public sidewalks clear in front of their property. But how do you enforce it without hurting the people you are trying to help? Such as people who are unable to shovel due to physical or medical problems, and who can't afford to pay someone to do it for them because of their income. Well I happened to tell one of the students in my cab one night about this and he said this would be a great project for SERVE to take on. This group was willing to go out and shovel free of charge for those who were not able to do it themselves. We held a press conference and got the ball rolling. Before I even left that day someone had already called in to their office. Hats off to those involved, I say.

2. There are over 15,000 college students here in the Duluth and Superior area. If they really wanted to cause trouble I am quite sure they could do a lot more than they do. Sure they like to party, but so did most of us when we were their age. The only difference is we were able to do it in the bars at age 18 in Superior and 19 in Duluth because we were considered of age at that point. Personally I don't think that you should be able to go off to war and die for your country and not be able to have a beer. It's like saying you are old enough to make your own decisions except for the decision to have a drink. You can sign on the dotted line for Uncle Sam, you can go to jail and be charged as a adult for any crime you commit, you are held accountable for everything you do as a adult but if you have a drink you're breaking the law. My own brother was in the Marine Corps and when he was home on leave we couldn't go out to the bar because he wasn't 21.

3. The student population contributes a considerable amount into our local economy every year. Think about this: If each college student spends $1000 a month times 15,000 students that's a $15 million dollar impact on the local economy each month. To me that's quite a lot of money that is being brought in.

4. I wish that we had the economic diversity that could keep them here after they graduate. The fact that they for the most part don't have the job opportunities here that they need to stay is really a shame. We really need to think of these people as our future leaders and our future as a city and a county may very well depend on them.