Minnesota voters went to the polls yesterday to determine candidates for the upcoming general election in November, and to fill a vacant seat in Minnesota’s Congressional Delegation to the US House of Representatives.
In the race for the Northfield City Council At-Large Seat, Davin Sokup received 42% of the vote. He will face Thelma Estrada in the November general election, as Estrada garnered slightly more than 30% of the vote. Former City Councilor David DeLong’s third place showing, with just under 28% of the vote, eliminates him from the ballot.
Brad Finstad, the Republican endorsed former member of the State House of Representatives is the apparent winner in the Congressional Special Election. With a solid 60% of the vote, Finstad easily defeated DFL endorsed Jeff Ettinger, the former CEO of Hormel. Finstad will finish out the remainder of the term for the seat left vacant when Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away in February. He and Ettinger will face off again in the general election in November.
The Rice County Sheriff’s race showed no surprises. Incumbent Sheriff Jesse Thomas lapped the field almost twice, pulling in just under 64% of all votes cast. He will face one of the Sergeants in his department, Ross Spicer, in the November election. Spicer garnered 22.67% of the vote. Richard Bailey finished a distant third with 13.54%.
The results of the Third Rice County District were a surprise. Incumbent Commissioner David Miller finished third in the primary, and therefore will not be on the ballot in November. The voters in that district will choose between Faribault Chiropractor Gerald G. Hoisington and the Northfield Public Broadcasting Station Manager Sam Temple, who finished in the top two spots with 41.3% and 31.4% of the vote respectively. Millier received 23.5% of the vote. Candidate Steven Hauer finished with 3.8%.
For all results in the Minnesota Primary Elections click here
Hillmann outlines district facility funding plans
On Monday night, the Northfield School Board directed district staff to prepare a referendum for the November ballot to renew the school
district’s Capital Improvements Levy.
The Capital Improvements Levy was initially passed in 2011. It provides money for the district to maintain and improve district facilities and was limited at that point to $750,00 annually. The November referendum will offer two questions. The first will be asking the community to renew the referendum, and the second will ask to expand the levy limit to $1.65 million.
With those funds, the district will be able to continue to do the things for which it has been using the levy. Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said the funds are used to improve the grounds, buy equipment, maintain the buildings and upgrade classrooms. The new money will also be used to pay the salaries of five of the six people who work in the district’s technology department, and to upgrade the furniture for many of the classrooms around the district.
The Capital Improvements Levy is separate from the bonding the district would have to do in order to make the major improvements being discussed for the high school. While an expanded levy would provide more than double the funds it has over the last ten years, that number still pales in comparison to the $90 -$120 million the district estimates it would need to modernize the high school facility. The district would have to bond for that money, which would mean another referendum. Hillmann said while the school board has opted to spend more time studying that situation, they are not going to table it. A market-research group has been contracted to help the district better understand what it is the community wants from the high school and is willing to pay for. Once they have that information, the district will put that referendum in front of the voters, and it could come as soon as February.
“I just don’t want people to be surprised and say ‘Wait a minute, you just asked for this in November and now you’re asking us again?’ Really, we’re going to be asking a couple of times over the next year, because that’s where we’re at. And then we are also starting to meet with various community entities around an athletics portion of the high school to see if we can get multi-governmental agency investment, as well as business investment. So, we’re working with some business champions to help us with that as well.”
The board is expected to vote on the final language for the Capital Improvements Levy at their next meeting on August 23.
Groundbreaking ceremony showcases good feelings about development of, around Public Safety Center
Yesterday, Rice County broke ground on what will be the new county Public Safety Center. 
Located on the North Side of Faribault, the complex will be located in an area recently acquired by the county that encompasses nearly 400 acres. The building of the Public Safety Center is the first action in a plan that will also include housing development, a park and a new road to enhance the connectivity between the East and West sides of Faribault.
The building will house a new Law enforcement Center for the Rice County Sheriff’s Department as well as a 76-bed jail that will be a much more modern facility than the current jail, which was designed in 197 and opened in 1975.
The entirety of the Rice County Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Jesse Thomas and several members of his department. along with such dignitaries as Faribault Mayor Kevin Voracek, Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell and Rice County Administrator Sarah Folstad attended the ceremony. County Commission Board Chair Jim Purfeerst spoke in his remarks about how the development of the area will bring much needed housing to the entire county. County Assistant Jail Administrator Stephanie Duhme touted the many new services and opportunities the new jail will offer. With most detainees dealing with mental and/or chemical health issues, the new facility will address those needs with natural light, color and space, as well as better facilities for counseling and medical issues.
Sheriff Thomas greeted those gathered with the words “Welcome to progress,” and then described how the new law enforcement center would make things safer for the Rice County community, with improved access to emergency vehicles, more space for evidence and the canine unit, and dramatically improved training facility.
Commissioner Galen Malecha, who had been an opponent of the project, says he is excited about many of the facets it will bring, including the opportunity to develop more housing. But the improved mental health opportunities for the incarcerated are what he is happiest about.
“The State of Minnesota is not doing its job when it comes to mental health,” he said. “I hope Rice County can do something to fill in the space the state has left.”
The new Public Safety Center is scheduled to be finished in the fall of 2024.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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