The Sanford Center Malfeasance
I have a long and storied history of opposing the Sanford Events Center in Bemidji, most publicly during my run for Mayor in 2008. The years before that, I protested its construction, spoke against it directly to city council, and supported the organizing of a petition (completed with the required signatures) to place its funding on the ballot. That petition was rejected by the council who didn't care what the community had to say. A crowd of frenzied artists had managed to get Deb's vagina beaver put back that year, but threatening the event center money pit was a bridge too far. By the time I was actually running for mayor, my position had shifted from opposition to reluctant acceptance. Not because my concerns had been addressed, but because the city had already sunk millions into planning. Killing the project at that point would have meant lighting taxpayer money on fire, a further result of the same cowboy politics that had pushed it forward in the first place. So my stanc...
