House 5B Primary Candidate Commentary: Jeff Kletscher

MinnesotaBrown offered a 600-word guest post to all the candidates in the House District 5B Special Election. The first in the series runs today with Floodwood Mayor Jeff Kletscher.

Thank you for the opportunity to share a few words with you.  I have been a resident of Floodwood since August 1989, when I came to Floodwood to be a mathematics and computer teacher at Floodwood School.  Northern Minnesota quickly become home and I become an active member of the Floodwood Community.  In January of 1993, I began my involvement with local government and served on the City Council for 10 years.  In 2003, I become the Mayor of Floodwood and was recently re-elected to my 5th term in November. 

My involvement in local government has provided me with the opportunity to represent the residents of Floodwood and the Floodwood Area at the County and State levels of government.  I had the honor of serving on the St. Louis County Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee for 6 years and am currently representing the southern part of St. Louis County on the AEOA Board of Directors. (I also currently serve on the AEOA Executive Committee.)

My trips to the State Capital began immediately after my election to the Floodwood City Council.  Working with other Floodwood elected officials and our elected state officials in St. Paul we had success.  Success lead to additional trips to St. Paul to fight for the Floodwood Area, and that lead to even more success.  My presence at the Capital was noticed and lead to my being called to testify on bills that affected not only Floodwood but other small cities across Minnesota.  Press conferences soon become a part of my call to duty at the Capital — the story I shared was different and I was not among those familiar press conference faces. I successfully shared real stories on what small cities face, and helped protect Local Government Aid (LGA) for the smallest cities in our State.  Soon the press corps sought me out; I had a solid background and a good story to tell — I wasn’t the same old talking face so often seen at the capital. 

In June 2010, I was elected to be President of the Minnesota Association of Small Cities, a voluntary membership organization which lobbies for cities of 5000 or under.  Leadership is not always easy, especially during tough times, but I am enjoying the challenge. 

If elected to serve District 5B, I promise to work hard for the Citizens of the District.  Times are tough in our homes, our communities, our county, our state and our Nation; but we will emerge from these tough times as stronger individuals, communities, counties, states, and a stronger America.  We need to make it through these tough times – we are hurting and will continue to hurt for period of time, but in the end it will get better.  Jobs will return, salary freezes and cuts will be replaced with raises.  Challenges will be replaced with opportunities — I promise to work through the challenges with an eye on the opportunities that lurk in the future. 

We must all work together to elect the best person to represent District 5B in St. Paul.  The person elected will need to fight hard and overcome numerous challenges and help lead us all to a more positive future.  I have 18 years of leadership experience and ask for your vote of support and confidence on February 1st.

Thank You,
Jeff Kletscher
District 5B DFL Candidate

Other DFL candidates include Carly Melin, Ray Pierce, Jr., Shelley Robinson and John Spanish. The Feb. 1 DFL primary winner will face Republican Paul Jacobson and IP candidate Cynthia Kafut Hagen in the Feb. 15 general election.