Fellow constituents in District 10A:
I am a bipartisan voter (Democrats and Republicans), and support candidates who are honest and serve the needs of their constituents.
Republican campaign flyers omit the facts, and are dishonest regarding Ward's voting history. Ward did not vote for a luxurious Senate office building with amenities.
The truth: Ward exerted much effort to ensure that the office building was fiscally responsible, and did not include unnecessary luxuries. Ward voted for, and was involved in the process to lower the Senate office building cost to $72 million.
Republican flyers write that Ward voted to add new taxes for: babysitting, car repair, and haircuts. The truth is that Ward never voted for the taxes. Ward voted only to send the bill to a committee for further review in 2013, not in an "advancing" vote, but for evaluation. The bill was removed, and the taxes were not considered further.
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Ward did vote in favor of spending to build public restrooms on Crane Lake, not "out houses." The flyer omits information. The funding for public restrooms on Crane Lake was included in the Environmental Finance bill, written by Minnesota Rep. David Dill. The bathrooms were requested by the Minnesota DNR, Department of Parks and trails. The DNR was ensuring water quality and public safety through the request. Restrooms were built in order to ensure lakes are not polluted by waste bacteria from humans, such as high levels of fecal coliform. The restrooms must also be built to ADA code for people with disabilities.
We need to hear how candidates are going to vote on specific issues, rather than argue about opponents.
Matt Brastrup
Baxter
