Posted: 11/1/06
Past, present debated in commissioner race
 Russ Goudge, left, chats with Wyoming resident Cathy Peterson as he went door-to-door campaigning recently. (Photo By Cliff Buchan) |
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
Who wins the Chisago County District 4 County Board seat could be determined on how voters in the Wyoming and Stacy areas judge the past and present involving the two candidates.
Ben Montzka, the two-term county commissioner from Wyoming, is facing a stiff challenge on Nov. 7 from former Commissioner Russ Goudge who held the seat for two years in the early 1990s.
After a 12-year absence from elective service, Goudge is running again, hoping to reclaim the county board seat he once held.
For Montzka, a private practice attorney in Wyoming, the race is a bid to secure four more years on the board.
But both candidates face issues heading into Nov. 7.
For Montzka, it is criticism from several directions that he has been a polarizing force on the county board and has not been able to deliver for the rapidly growing district that includes Wyoming, Stacy, Wyoming Township and an area of Chisago City that was annexed from Wyoming Township.
For Goudge, it is criticism that he left office in a snit in 1994, turning his back on colleagues and not running a serious race that he eventually lost to Curtis Lendt. Lendt, who was replaced by Montzka four years later, served a county board term that was marked by alcohol-related driving offenses.
As the campaign moves into its final week, Goudge and Montzka continue to hammer away at their accomplishments while posting disclaimers to refute claims that could push voters one way or another.
Goudgeís story
Goudge, a carpenter and home builder, makes no bones about the mistake he says he made in 1994. Goudge filed for reelection and faced a three-way runoff in the primary, a primary he won.
But then came trouble. In communications to local newspapers, Goudge withdrew from the contest although he remained on the ballot. That letter was a mistake, he says today.
What was never said at the time, Goudge says now, is a series of personal issues he faced, including a death in the family. After a family trip to the BWCA that summer, Goudge said he saw less importance in politics.
And there was also the frustration of dealing with the county board on matters of finance, he said.
When Goudge failed to get 50 percent of the vote in the primary, he said he felt under appreciated by residents of the district.
ìI won but it felt like a defeat,î he said.
ìIt was a big mistake,î he said of his 1994 letter. ìI was so naive, how would people know? The rest is history. The letter came out. People didnít take it well.î
Montzkaís story
Montzka says he stepped forward to run for the county board in part to restore some dignity to the post after four years of personal missteps by Lendt, who has endorsed Montzkaís reelection bid.
Montzka won in 1998 and claimed a second term without opposition in 2002.
The commissioner recognizes he has had some differences of opinion at the board table with colleagues but says those disagreements are borne from his desire to do what is best for the taxpayers of the county. Montzka says principles force him to stand up for what he believes is right.
He criticized a health and human services educational program within the county this year and says that his relentless efforts to seek change eventually resulted in program corrections that will help solve the problem and save taxpayer dollars.
ìThat program is now suspended,î he says. ìI want to protect the taxpayers.î
So be it, he says, if he is persistent in lobbying for positive changes at the county level.
ìI have not put up with bad governance and I will not do that,î Montzka said.
Montzka disagrees with those opposing his reelection bid who say he is not effective and has become a disruptive force on the board.
He says the record will show that a vast majority of county board votes are unanimous and that when he questions decisions or policies, it is done in a professional and respectful manner to the views of his fellow board members.
If he is so ineffective as opponents claim, why would the 200-member county Teamsters employee unit endorse him, Montzka asks?
More Goudge
Goudge says it was Montzkaís performance and battles the past four years that led other district residents to call on him to run in 2006. ìIt kept looking worse and worse,î Goudge said.
ìFrankly, I thought I was retired,î Goudge added. He had never completely backed away from some form of public service after leaving office in 1994. A 16-foot fall from a deer stand two years ago and a full year of recovery gave him time to reflect, he said.
Goudge says his observations of several key issues facing District 4 led him to conclude that reelecting Montzka would do nothing but ìimpedeî benefits to the area.
ìThatís the bottom line,î Goudge says.
For Goudge, who also has city council service in Wyoming, Montzkaís shortcomings center on what he says is the inability to broker compromise on key issues. ìHe never did reach out to other board members,î Goudge says. ìHe was not able to carry the day.î
If elected, Goudge said he would also stand up for the needs of the district even if it involved confrontation with others on the board.
Goudge says his record should be judged not so much on his two-year county board term, but on the body of his work.
Even while out of office, Goudge says he has remained committed to working for the area from his volunteer service in community functions to his time on the Wyoming EDA.
More Montzka
Montzka said he believes it was confrontations with other board members that in part pushed Goudge away from his time to serve in 1994. Montzka questions how the district will be better served if the commissioner is not willing to challenge fellow board members at every turn.
Montzka disputes that he has been an impediment to progress in the district and says the record speaks for itself.
He argues that he has been successful in providing county dollars for Wyoming Police Department needs, led the push that resulted in the construction of three county-owned library buildings, including the new Wyoming facility, helped steer highway dollars for improvements to county roads in Wyoming Township and Stacy and helped craft a smart-money bonding plan for the CR-17-I-35 interchange in Lent Township.
In all, Montzka says, he has steered just under $11 million to key district projects in recent years.
As an elected official, Montzka wonít stop short of criticizing his own performance. He says the county needs to be more vigil in financial decisions, get moving on its comprehensive plan that must address the rural flavor of the county while assisting in the development of tax-producing commercial projects and generally do a better job as policy makers.
For Montzka, the bottom line of his service is to address the needs of District 4 while making decisions that are good for the entire county. He believes he has been successful and the occasional skirmishes in Center City are part of the process.
ìGenerally people are satisfied with their county government,î Montzka said.
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