Minneapolis Political Candidates Try to Shoot Voters in a Barrel at Heart of the City Party

Photos by John Hoff

by Jordan Neighbor

JNS Guest Blogger

The Heart of the City Party that took place in the Hawthorne neighborhood was like prime gold-mining territory for this year's batch of candidates of Minneapolis elected offices. It makes sense to spend some time at the Heart of the City parties, since most, if not all of the party-goers tend to be active, involved residents, who often times have big mouths. I'd even say it's like shooting fish in a barrel, all those civically engaged citizens concentrated in one spot, with food and wine provided for free - I know campaign money is tight, isn't it, candidates?

Not all the political candidates were captured on camera. I know park board commissioner Annie Young was at the party, as she has been at each one, often the first to arrive and the last to leave. Annie is a staff member at a northside neighborhood organization and she has been on the park board for a long time. She is an at-large commissioner, so her territory is the whole city.

Also Councilmember Don Samuels made an appearance at the party, but his visit wasn't captured on camera. Don is running for re-election to the 5th Ward and has been featured on this blog many times. Don is always doing something blog worthy.

Here are some pictures of other political candidates. The first picture is John Erwin, he is running for an at large park board commissioner as well. John has served on the park board in the past, then took one term cycle (4 years) off to focus on raising his children. I spent a while chatting with John and enjoying the spicy guacamole that he brought to share. Since this is a free speech forum let me just say, I'LL BE VOTING FOR YOU JOHN, I really enjoyed meeting you and I can tell you are the kind of public servant I want on the park board. Read more about John here.

The second photo is northside resident Bill McGaughey. Bill lives in Harrison and he is running for Mayor of Minneapolis. In the past he has been a candidate for Congress. He is an active poster on the Minneapolis Issues List and he is active with the Minneapolis Property Rights Action Committee. (Ssshhhh! Don't tell JNS, or we'll never hear the end of THAT!!!)

The next photo is Jon Olson. Jon is a park board commissioner for District 2, which covers a majority of the northside. Jon owns the Dairy Queen on Lyndale in the Camden area and he is running for re-election to the park board. I tried to find more about him on google but it doesn't look like he has a campaign website.

The last photo is an interesting guy named Ray Rolfe. Ray is running for the city council seat for Ward 3 currently held by Diane Hofstede. I spent some time with Ray roaming around the Hawthorne neighborhood. It sounds like Ray is trying to keep his eyes and ears open for an awesome real estate bargain, much like what has been featured on this blog in the past. Those real estate bargains are going quickly, perhaps not quite as good of a steal as a few months ago, but there are still some bargains to be had, so GET TO NOMI, and get a bargain for yourselves.

Take some time to browse the city political candidates in your area and get involved in your favorite campaigns, it's great social involvement and you get to shape your community. Remember to learn about IRV, the new voting system in Minneapolis this year, and do a good deed by filling in an older neighbor about how to vote with IRV.

(Do not click "read more")