Question 4:

The Governor of Minnesota will be asked to come up with solutions to a variety of issues that culminate in the tension between the need to protect the environment, and the need to sustain economic development. Solutions to conflicts that have arisen through issues such as the BWCA, timber resources, agriculture, including feedlots, and others will require making difficult choices and creating consensus. What are some of the tradeoffs you see in these rural and urban issues? In your rebuttal please respond to these two questions. Can you create consensus between these divergent Minnesota interests to work out some of these problems? If so, how would you create that consensus?

VENTURA Question 4 rebuttal:

Most of the candidates responding to question 4 seem to agree that a balance can be struck between economic and environmental interests. I think so too.

The trick is, in real life situations, exactly how do you get people to rise above their self interests in favor of the public interest?

I disagree with Dayton’s statement that " ‘...most of the disagreements among parties involved in development/protection disputes are resolved by the individuals or groups themselves.’ "

In many of those cases, the disputes end because the big guy trampled the little guy into the ground. All too often, the big guy is government and the little guy is the ordinary citizen who does not have thousands of dollars to contribute to his favorite politicians.

In my response to question 4, I promised specifics that show I can solve problems by building consensus. As I said, you resolve conflicting interests by emphasizing common interests. If a resource scarcity is seen to be part of the conflicting interest, you find alternative resources.

As Mayor of Brooklyn Park, that is what I did to help solve a difficult situation between apartment owners and nearby homeowners.

The homeowners were concerned about the nearby run-down, drug-infested apartment complexes. Many said to tear the buildings down. The landlords and tenants had an abundance of legal rights in theirfavor to keep the buildings as they were.

I got the landlords, police, and City working together. We also got a corporation involved in a public/private partnership. The corporation needed a ready source of employees. It provided the capital to revitalize the buildings in which many of its employees now live. The corporation now provides bus service from the apartments to its plant.