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There are seven members of the Anoka County Board, each representing an area of the county. The 5th District includes parts of Coon Rapids and Andover. This seat is up this year in a special election because Commissioner Scott LeDoux resigned from the board. The candidates for District 5 are:
| Becky Fink |
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About Me: Becky believes we learn a lot about people by how they live in the community and how they campaign. Becky Fink has lived and worked in Anoka County all her life. For 25 years Becky was with Rise Inc. in Spring Lake Park, ten of those years as COO of Rise Mental Health and Housing Services. She is the only candidate for any seat on the board with 25 years of service with our County Workforce Council and has chaired local and statewide coalitions for as many years. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Nucleus Community Clinic in Coon Rapids. Her husband Don Sommer and their son Michael, a Sergeant with the Blaine Police Explorers have made their home in Coon Rapids for 18 years.
She has prepared for this position for 15 years. As a member of Boards of Directors for the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, HOMELine and leading statewide organizations, she has been productive and well respected in her work with Minnesota Legislature. Becky is recognized as an experienced citizen advocate with our Anoka County budget and process, departments, policy and tax fairness. She is dedicated to clean campaign practices while holding candidates accountable. |
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Important Issues: Cost effective employment training and retraining, accompanied with the ethical community leadership to keep Anoka County jobs from being shipped off of our shores is a first.
Transparency of Anoka County Government and serious increase in citizen involvement are two of Becky’s most pressing interests, particularly in light of the difficult choices the board will face over the coming months and years. Guarding our community’s safety net from ill informed and political decisions that will impact families and our infrastructure for years to come requires an informed and engaged commissioner. The cities of Coon Rapids and Andover and the county wide must expect a commissioner to be informed, ethical and able and willing to pull their own weight and not rely of solely on the direction of others. Being capable of doing the work and experience with accountable leadership is required to do the job. |
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Political Philosophy: These are very serious time and I am a very serious candidate. Election to public office is a privilege and elected officials must not confuse the privilege of the office with privilege for themselves. She considers herself progressive and believes there is a place in our community and society for shared public concerns, shared values which require shared resources. She believes that the public’s business must be done in the public eye and that the decisions for how to pay for shared expenses should be done in the open, with public involvement and scrutiny. She has no interest in any more government involvement in her life than does most people. She recognizes the inconsistency of outright hypocrisy of certain styles of campaign posturing. She believes in earning votes one at a time by being forthright, finding common ground to do the people’s work and representation that reaches beyond talking points. |
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Endorsements:
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| Carol LeDoux |
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About Me: Growing up in a small town boasting a population of 958 people, Carol enjoyed an uncomplicated childhood where no one had much, nobody locked their doors, and kids played outside until dark. Her parents were exceptionally strong and strict, expecting obedience and achievement from Carol and Chuck. Having survived the depression and WWII, they were politically active, and very careful spenders. Carol attended college majoring in Fine Arts and was very active in performance activities, her sorority, and the civil rights movement. The Vietnam war loomed large. She came to Minnesota after detouring through the mountain west. Recently promoted, she arrived during the winter of 1996. As a practice consultant for a large optical firm, Carol traveled extensively. She soon met Scott and confidently told him it was entirely too cold here for her, but he had a slightly different idea; they were married at summer's end. After her second back surgery, rethinking traveling was necessary. She returned to college seeking a Business Ethics degree, worked for an enterprise technology firm developing and delivering training curricula, started a successful small business and became a realtor. Carol is running for her ill husband's seat.
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Important Issues: Carol's priorities include what Scott has worked on as your commissioner: public safety, roads and transit, parks, the airport, and jobs. Carol's diverse business background will allow her to focus on attracting businesses considering expansion. This is a very complex issue including crime rates, safety, roads, transit, life style amenities, educational excellence and tax incentives. Because Anoka County is not on the radar for businesses, it will require hard work, and applying all her acquired skills. Our citizens deserve to have our county recognized as the great place to live and raise a family that it is. Our workers are not only ready, willing, and able but also highly skilled and well educated. She is an experienced business woman ready to lead and create growth to expand our tax base. Join her to continue the fight!
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Politcal Philisophy: Carol has been a member of both major parties. She can no longer embrace the ideologue's pressure to conform to an unyielding, rigid philosophy. Solutions to pressing problems will not be found if officials concentrate on creating sound bites and shouting at their opponents and colleagues. She believes if we cannot lower our voices, listen, and find consensus, our form of government may be doomed. Independent thinking hopefully leads to fair solutions, deliberate problem solving, compassion, and wisdom. Blind ideology, whether left or right, usually leads to narrow-mindedness, and blind acceptance of propaganda. She believes that it is time for real leadership that comes from being able to make decisions placing people before parties and principles before politics. She is an independent thinker, conservative leaning and ready to lead.
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Endorsements: | |
