Pat Tepoorten
Wyoming Township Reporter

Former Wyoming Township residents, now current Chisago City residents, Larry Parker and Don Taylor were elected to the Chisago City Council handily, in a special election Tuesday, April 19.

The election, which made available two seats on the city council, was part of Administrative Law Judge Kathleen Sheehyís recent annexation ruling, which placed roughly 5000 acres of Wyoming Township land into Chisago City. The election was designed to offer new city residents a chance at representation on the council and, with the election of Parker and Taylor, new residents have been given that voice.

Taylor, who received 610 votes, and Parker, who received 587, easily defeated incumbents Sue Skow and Karen Dincau, who received 182 and 181 votes respectively, ending what had been multiple council terms for both candidates.

Dincau had already served a four-year term before her reelection to a two-year term in November. Skow was originally appointed to the council to replace a departing council member, and was elected to a four-year term last November. Skow and Dincau attended their last meeting as city council representatives Tuesday.

Parker comes to the city council with a great deal of experience in local government, including service on the Highway 8 Task Force for over 11 years. He had served as a township supervisor, appointed in the fall of 2002, and elected in 2003, and served as board chair through the difficult process of fighting the proposed annexation by Chisago City.

Following Sheehyís ruling, Parker stepped down from the chairmanship, but continued to serve on the board until the end of February. In a rather bizarre turn of events, he now represents the city he spent the better part of the last couple of years actively battling over annexation issues.

ìIt is a little out of the ordinary,î says Parker, who added, ìand I didnít even have to pack a suitcase.î With the annexation in the past, Parker looks forward to representing Chisago City, or ìall of Chisago City,î as he is quick to point out.

ìI donít want to create animosity between the city and the former township. I was elected by Chisago City and my goal is to blend the entire community into a better place to live, work and play.î

Taylorís baptism in local politics came directly as a result of the annexation process, when he formed Citizens Against Hostile Annexation in February of 2004. He formed the group, he notes, when he learned residents of Wyoming Township would not be allowed to vote on the annexation proposal. Since that time he has remained very interested in local politics, although this will be the first time he has served in an official capacity.

To Taylor, winning the special election wasnít the only goal. He wanted to win by a margin large enough to ìsend a clear message to city leadership,î he said, adding, ìThere has been decisions in the past that the people havenít been real happy with. We wanted to let the council know that people have been watching, and that they want to be heard more.î

Taylor had set forth the goal of defeating the incumbents by a two-to-one margin, a margin he felt would accomplish sending that message, and a margin both he and Parker exceeded.

ìI was very happy with the results,î he stated, adding he has been busy studying in preparation for taking his seat in May. He attributes his desire to be involved in local government directly to the annexation process.

ìWe canít just sit back anymore. As residents we need to get involved.î

The two newly-elected council members will be sworn in to begin Chisago Cityís regular meeting on May 3.

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