Rep. Emmer talks to council about transportation

by Frank Lee

operations@thenewsleaders.com

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer talked about transportation and the needs of a growing Central Minnesota population at the May 2 St. Joseph City Council meeting.

The congressman was invited about three months ago to appear before the council by Mayor Rick Schultz. Emmer succeeded one-time presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.

“I’ve been in office now for 15 months,” said Emmer, Minnesota’s Sixth District freshman congressman. “And one of the things I ran on was a funny thing called ‘customer service.’ This office works for you.”

Kim Poganski, volunteer chamber president of the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce, and Stearns County Commissioner Mark Bromenschenkel were in the audience at the meeting.

“While we have had great representatives from this state who have been in Washington, D.C.,” Emmer said, “over the years, I don’t know very many of them that – once they were elected to a federal office – came back to local political meetings, local city council meetings (and more).”

Emmer was the Republican nominee for governor in the 2010 election and also served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2005-11.

“We need to show up and see them in person and get their feedback,” Emmer said of his appearance at the city council meeting. “That’s where I have the most fun, when I get to actually see people – both people who might agree with me and people who may not.”

The husband and father of seven said his time serving on a city council like the one in St. Joseph before becoming a congressman was the “most rewarding public service” job he ever had.

“That’s not to minimize what I’m doing now,” Emmer told the council. “But what you do is you’re answering directly to your neighbors . . . You can have that immediate impact on your neighborhood.”

The St. Joseph chamber includes about 100 chamber members, Poganski said, who want to know from Emmer what is being done to improve transportation, such as extending Northstar service from Big Lake to St. Cloud to drive commerce in the area.

“This district, Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, where St. (Joseph) is located in Stearns County and as you head towards the Twin Cities and beyond, this is probably the most intense transportation location in Minnesota,” Emmer said.

“We have to start looking, especially when it comes to transportation, as to how we can keep more of our transportation tax dollars right here in the state of Minnesota . . . and empower our state, county and local officials to apply those dollars more appropriately.”

Emmer said he was “proud” to be a Republican, but he also said he represents the entire district even as he referred to “Washington bureaucrats” as impediments to getting things like the Northstar light-rail extension accomplished.

“It’s all about moving people and product,” Emmer told Poganski at the meeting. “That’s what drives our economy, that’s what drives our quality of life, our standard of living. If you’re not doing that, your private economy is not able to grow.”