Minnesota State Senator Carrie Ruud’s feelings were hurt when Gov. Tim Walz visited Brainerd and she had to read about his tour in the paper the next day. In her opinion piece, she discussed an expectation of proper etiquette and camaraderie which means she expects courtesy and togetherness — relationship characteristics, in my experience, she fails to exhibit with her own constituents. The Senate’s ouster of the Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Nancy Leppink didn’t garner a feeling of togetherness. Leppink’s offense was requiring sprinklers in wedding barns which is a safety precaution that people may not realize they need until there’s a fire and you don’t have them. Perhaps criticism of Governor Walz’s use of emergency powers to protect the lives of Minnesotans in a pandemic didn’t build camaraderie. I don’t blame Gov. Walz for snubbing Sen. Ruud. Courtesy and togetherness is not a one-way street to Sen. Ruud’s Senate seat in St. Paul. What she expects from others she needs to demonstrate as well.
Steven Wymore
Nisswa
