The 2024 State of Minnesota Townships annual election and meeting day is set for March 12th, meaning there will be several elections in the Greater Northfield area tomorrow.
While every township will elect members of the local Board of Supervisors, only a few will have contested elections on their ballots.
In Greenvale Township, Greg Langer and Scott Norkunas are both running to fill the seat being vacated by Supervisor Tony Rowan.
Bridgewater Township Supervisor Mike Little is being opposed by Larry Alderks.
In Northfield Township, three candidates, Matt Estrem, Josh Malecha and Jerald Studsdahl, have filed to fill the seat being vacated by Supervisor Ron Sommers. Northfield Township voters will also have two questions on their ballots. One seeks authorization to appoint rather than elect the town clerk. The other asks whether the county should be permitted to issue Sunday sale intoxicating liquor licenses to township establishments.
Supervisors are elected to three-year terms. Clerks’ terms are two years long.
Residents will also discuss and vote on their township’s annual tax levy. Most, but not all, annual meetings will begin after the polls close. Voting must remain open until 8pm.
A full listing of when each township’s polls will open, and where residents can vote is below.
DAKOTA COUNTY
Greenvale Township
Supervisor: Gregory Langer and Scott Norkunas
Vote from 10am-8pm at Town Hall, 31800 Guam Ave, Northfield MN.
Annual meeting: 8:30pm
The Board of Canvas meets at 6:30 pm on Thursday, March 14th. The public is welcome to attend the canvas meeting.
Sciota Township
Supervisor:Tony VanDeSteeg
Clerk: Heidi VanDeSteeg
Vote from 10am-8pm at 30038 Alta Ave, Northfield MN 55057
Annual Meeting: 8pm
Waterford Township
Supervisor: Frank Wergin
Clerk: Elizabeth C. Wheeler
Vote from 10am-8pm at 30038 Alta Ave. Northfield, MN (This is the Sciota Township Town Hall)
The Township Annual Meeting will be held at 8:15 at Prairie Creek Community School 27695 Denmark Ave, Northfield
RICE COUNTY
Bridgewater
Supervisor Seat A: Glen Castore
Supervisor Seat D: Larry Alderks and Michael Little
Vote from 2-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 500 Railway St., Dundas
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Cannon City
Clerk: Marilyn Caron
Treasurer: Anne Engen
Supervisor: Preston Bauer
Vote from 4-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 4490 Crystal Lake Trail, Faribault
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Erin
Clerk: Sharon Kaisershot
Supervisor: Jim Cihak
Vote from 3-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 12378 Independence Ave., Lonsdale
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Forest
Supervisor: William Malecha
Vote from 2-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 3625 Millersburg Boulevard, Faribault
Annual meeting: 1 p.m.
Morristown
Clerk: Dawn Nuetzman
Supervisor: Kevin Kubal
Vote from 5-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 402 Division St. S, Morristown
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Northfield
Clerk: No affidavits for candidacy were filed
Supervisor: Matt Estrem, Josh Malecha and Jerald Studsdahl
Vote from 2-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 10901 Jacobs Ave., Northfield
Annual meeting: 8:10 p.m.
Richland
Clerk: Robert Sommers
Supervisor: Stevan Johnson
Vote from 5-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 9985 240th St. E, Faribault
Annual meeting: 4 p.m.
Shieldsville
Clerk: Susan Ceplecha-Novak
Supervisor: Joseph Pesta
Vote from 3-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 7250 154th St. W, Faribault
Annual meeting: 2 p.m.
Walcott
Clerk: Kourtney Spitzack
Supervisor: Rick Heiderscheidt
Vote from 5-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 4020 240th St E., Faribault
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Warsaw
Clerk: Debra DeGrood
Supervisor: Ron Wegner
Vote from 5-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 22955 Dalton Ave, Faribault
Annual meeting: 4 p.m.
Webster
Supervisor: No affidavits for candidacy were filed
Vote from 3-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 4175 Delano Ave, Webster
Annual meeting: 1 p.m.
Wells
Clerk: James Zahn
Supervisor: Kevin Loken
Vote from 2-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 18400 Roberds Lake Boulevard, Faribault
Annual meeting: 1 p.m.
Wheatland
Clerk: James Duban
Supervisor: Diane Johnson
Vote from 3-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 9641 50th St W, Veseli
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Wheeling
Clerk: Rebecca Vergin
Supervisor: Ronald Keller
Vote from 5-8 p.m. at Town Hall, 8492 Nerstrand Boulevard, Nerstrand
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Pursell sees opposition to SRO bill as residual effect of George Floyd
Last week the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill that offers clarifying language with regard to School Resource Officers and their ability to restrain a student whose is acting violently.
Last year, a police reform bill was passed that made things unclear if an SRO would be allowed to use a prone restraint on a student whose actions were a danger to others or themselves. In the wake of the bill, more than 40 police departments removed officers from in-school roles for fear of the liability they could face in the course of doing their jobs. Months of negotiations within the House resulted in passage of the bill.
Representative Kristi Pursell (D-Northfield) said she voted in favor of the bill, whose Chief Author, Representative Cedrick Frazier (D-New Hope) is a lawyer with a background working for school districts and had spent quite a bit of time researching the situation.
Pursell said there were eight members of the House who voted against it, and she believes they all did so due to one specific incident.
“The eight people who voted against it were, I think, Minneapolis and Saint Paul folks, maybe a Duluth DFLer, who were concerned, in the wake of the very public murder of George Floyd, about the use of a prone restraint. And the language about prone restraints was where a lot of contention about this bill came from.”
According to the House of Representatives Press Office, except in cases of preventing bodily harm or death, the bill specifies a district employee, including a school resource officer, “shall not inflict any form of physical holding that restricts or impairs a student’s ability to breathe; restricts or impairs a student’s ability to communicate distress; places pressure or weight on a student’s head, throat, neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen; or results in straddling a student’s torso.”
Pursell said the House also passed the 2024 spending plan for the Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund. The money in the fund comes from a percentage of the Minnesota Lottery proceeds, and the bill is constructed based on the recommendation of a group made up of environmental and conservation professionals. Pursell said because the recommendations come from the right people, there is usually little debate over the best use of the money.
“In the two years I’ve been there it’s been kind of an easy bill to pass and a good one to work on early in the session. Typically, we take the recommendations that come from this board of professionals in the field. They say, ‘We’ve reviewed all these applications, and we have this much money, so this is where we’re recommending those dollars get spent.”
Both bills, she said, must still be passed by the Senate before they can be sent to the Governor for his signature.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Kristi Pursell can be heard here
School Board will vote on high school fix referendum option tonight
The Northfield School Board will meet tonight in the boardroom of the Northfield School District office building.
Another phase of the school district’s search for solutions to address the Northfield high school facility will come to a close tonight. The board will review its March 5th work session and discuss what referendum options will be placed on the November 2024 ballot, the ballot question structure, and the proposed bond term.
Other items on the agenda include a discussion of both the district’s 2024-2025 Debt Service and Internal Service budgets.
The School Board will always invite public comments from those who live in the Northfield School District. Time for those comments is scheduled at the beginning of each meeting. Registration is required to address the School Board. Those wishing to do so may sign up beginning at 5:30 pm.
Tonight’s meeting will begin at 6:00
KYMN Local News 3/11/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
