Vote for local leadership, not furniture

PHOTO: Hernán Piñera, Flicrk CC-BY-SA
Aaron J. Brown

Aaron J. Brown is an Iron Range blogger, author, radio producer and columnist for the Mesabi Tribune.

Over 120 years, Iron Range mayors have come in all types. They are Republicans and Democrats (with a few socialists for flavor). They are wealthy elites and blue collar laborers. Some are educated savants who elevate the human species to new heights. Others are raving buffoons elected solely because of they know how to drive the town’s snow plow.

When you’re talking about small town politics, you get what you get. That’s why it’s been curious to see the term “Iron Range mayors” become a political buzz phrase in this year’s national election.

It stems from the decision of several Iron Range mayors to endorse President Donald Trump in his 2020 bid for re-election against Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Most of these characters endorsed and voted for Trump in 2016, so this wasn’t actually new. But this year their endorsements took wing with a political marketing campaign that put Eveleth’s Bob Vlaisavljevich on the video dais of the Republican National Convention. Babbitt’s Andrea Zupancich and Ely’s Chuck Novak appeared on Fox News. Virginia’s Larry Cuffe and Chisholm’s John Champa commented in a dozen or more political stories, all written with the same angle: watch out, Democrats. These guys are for Trump now (even though they already were).

True, more Range mayors endorsed Trump than Biden, but most didn’t endorse anyone. And that brings me to my point. Something stood out to me as I listened to the mayors talk about how the Range economy was booming thanks to Trump. I drive along Highway 169 all the time and things pretty much look the same.

And I realized that it’s the same old story from when the DFL was an invincible force in Iron Range politics. I once thought that local officials voted DFL because they believed in economic equality for everybody. I naively assumed that the Range’s immigrant history informed our contemporary beliefs. Now I see that I was wrong about that.

What really mattered, of course, is having someone higher up do the thinking for us while we provided the corporate profits and the political muscle. All we had to do was wait. One day, our benefactors would control all branches of the state and federal government and then we would reap our just rewards.

Ah yes, the promise of “you win when I win.” A political tale as old as time. But controlling all branches of American government doesn’t occur often these days, or for all that long. And it’s not really what makes towns succeed or fail.

If nodding in the background of political rallies is all we want our mayors to do, we could save a lot of time and money by electing furniture instead.

Think about it. Furniture never offends anyone. It’s heavy and doesn’t do anything, but that’s never been a barrier to local office before. Besides, think of the jobs that would be created moving the furniture up and down city hall steps for official functions. When new ideas come to a local city council they can be easily tabled, because many of the councilors will be actual tables.

Furniture will be very useful at political rallies. Everyone will be able to see the furniture from far away. And when the national ticket sits on our most cushy furniture, everyone will cheer! Hooray for our side! Later, the chamber of commerce can take pictures of the butt prints for the annual banquet.

Then, when the hot glare of the klieg lights goes dark, when famous reporters and smarmy political aides leave the Iron Range forever, we can put the furniture in storage. After all, mini-storage is a booming business in northern Minnesota. Where else would the rich people buying up our land store the boats we can’t afford?

Then, only then, perhaps when no one is looking, we could plan real ways to improve and strengthen our Iron Range communities.

Vote. Yes, do not hesitate. In our democratic republic it is our prescribed method of influencing state and federal policy. I don’t presume to change any minds about partisan races like President or Congress in an 11th hour diatribe such as this. But I would encourage you to look further down your ballot for the local races. These are the contests where your vote will most influence the outcome.

Are you disappointed with your choices? Do you notice that few people filed for election this year, or that the same old names seem to have an easy path to victory.

Well, then perhaps you and your neighbors should chat over the fence. Get something going on a community website. Identify goals for your local city council, school board and county commission. Try to include Republicans, Democrats and independents alike in your discussion. Focus on issues that will make a real difference in your community. And then run three people, five people, or ten in the next election. Start now.

Take turns attending meetings or watching them online. Share what you hear, good or bad. Write letters to the newspaper and post online your thoughts about local issues. Yes, even when there isn’t an election going on! You don’t even need to mention the president, whoever he may be.

You might even see a real miracle. The furniture may rear up on its hind legs and actually do something useful for a change. If not, we can easily replace it with people who fight like hell for our actual towns, not the imaginary ones you see on TV.

Aaron J. Brown is an author and college instructor from northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and co-hosts the podcast “Power in the Wilderness” on Northern Community Radio. This piece first appeared in the Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020 edition of the Mesabi Tribune.

 

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Comments

  1. Yep…no one ever really takes on the owners. They never have. Truth be told, that is pretty much the reason my entire generation left. Although it was “comfortably” couched in “opportunity” it was truly to get away from madness of letting whomever it was having their way with the lives of most people I remember being upset when JFK came to the Memorial Building and I could not go. His visit did not improve the family coffers. And neither will the rolling sign carrying proud boy wagons in Hibbing. It is just hooking up to the “glamour” of the moment with their four foot flags and nothing more. As you say,” I drive along Highway 169 all the time and things pretty much look the same.” Maybe the words of the Talking Heads are more true then anything Dylan as much as I love his body of work pencilled.

    Once In A Lifetime
    Talking Heads
    You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
    And you may find yourself in another part of the world
    And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
    You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
    You may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
    Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
    And you may ask yourself, “How do I work this?”
    And you may ask yourself, “Where is that large automobile?”
    And you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful house”
    And you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful wife”
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
    Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Water dissolving and water removing
    There is water at the bottom of the ocean
    Under the water, carry the water
    Remove the water from the bottom of the ocean
    Water dissolving and water removing
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, into the silent water
    Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Leting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
    Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
    You may ask yourself, “What is that beautiful house?”
    You may ask yourself, “Where does that highway go to?”
    You may ask yourself, “Am I right, am I wrong?”
    You may say to yourself, “My God! What have I done?”
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, into the silent water
    Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
    Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Same as it ever was, look where my hand was
    Time isn’t holding up, time isn’t after us
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
    Same as it ever was, hey let’s all twist our thumbs
    Here comes the twister
    Letting the days go by
    Letting the days go by
    Once in a lifetime
    Let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by
    Source: Musixmatch
    Songwriters: Frantz Christopher / Weymouth Martina / Eno Brian Peter George / Byrne David / Harrison Jerry
    Once In A Lifetime lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Mca Music Ltd., E.g. Music Ltd., Warner Chappell Music France, Inc., Wb Music Corp, Index Music, Inc., Universal Music Mgb Songs Obo Eg Music Ltd, Bleu Disque Music Co Inc, Wb Music Corp. O/b/o Index Music, Inc., Index Music

  2. Fred Schumacher says

    The glory days of the Iron Range are over. That has been the end case for mining towns for thousands of years. Mining is a one-time harvest, and the world is littered with abandoned mining towns on dead end roads. The local economic power of mining is over not because of what politicians do but because of the tremendous productivity increases of the industry. It doesn’t take many people to operate 120 yard haul trucks and 60 yard shovels. Just wait until autonomic operation takes over. The technology is there. Farmers use it every day.

    Politically, the Range’s days of glory are also gone. It’s simple demographics. At one time, the solid DFL voting Range provided the swing vote needed to control state government. A Republican voting Range just gets subsumed into the Republican voting southern and western parts of the state and disappears. If you think Gazelka and Daudt are now going to pay more attention to the Range, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

    So where are the Range’s DFL voters today? Well, mostly down in the Metro, where they’ve moved to and continued their lives, leaving behind those who can’t or won’t adapt to changing conditions. When North Dakota’s perpetually low unemployment rate is mentioned, I always respond by stating that North Dakota exports its unemployed to Minnesota. That self-selection process explains how the Metro votes liberal and the rural areas vote conservative. After the 2016 election, the Star-Tribune ran an article on pro-Trump voting Pepin County, Wisconsin and noted that the population of Pepin County today is that same as in 1900. My question was, what happened to all the people born in Pepin County over that period? The liberals left and went to the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Chicago and the conservatives stayed behind.

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