Glassel on Hostile Annexation

Glassel Denounces Hostile Annexation

It is the duty of a County Commissioner to fairly represent all residents of the District, whether town or township.

Whether we are town or township, we consider ourselves rural and have no interest in trampling upon the rights of others.

Hostile Annexation is a disgrace to the hardworking and intelligent people of Chisago County. Annexation should not happen without a vote by the people affected.

Please also read "Glassel, Gustafson
Likely To Win September Primary,
Carpet Baggers, Land Grabbers, Big City Politicians Not Expected to Advance"

Go Down about six stories.

Glassel On Taxes!

Taxes/Fees - 2 Minutes

The legislature has capped local government tax increases at 3.9% per year for the next three years. The current County budget requires increases well in excess of this percentage. How do you propose to solve this problem?

The legislature has done us a favor with this cap. The object is to force county government to live within your, the taxpayers, means.

With already high property taxes and the price of fuel and food increasing, many of our residents are also experiencing a budget crunch.

When these folks need to “something,” but lack the money, they get creative and do “something else,” as they have no well from which to draw more money.

There has been no such creativity on the part of current board to cut costs.

The tax and spenders simply go back to the well, raise your taxes and say “we had to do something.”

The wasteful ways of the tax and spenders have come back to haunt them in an election year. Once again, they look to the taxpayers to bail them out.

In tough times, the solution is always the same. If you ain’t got it, don’t spend it!

The various departments within county government must be held accountable for their spending as the Taxpayers have nothing left to give.

The tax and spenders need to understand that the good times are over. It is time to tighten our belts and cut the pork from the budget.

Doing so will benefit many hard working rank and file county employees, that live and pay taxes in the county. These folks are smart enough to know that any pay raise is quickly taken from them in the form of higher property taxes.

We take care of our own in Chisago County. Most county employees are one of us, and like the rest of us, are happy to be employed, knowing that we will ride out these tough times, together.

If the department heads cannot get their budgets in line, I have no problem making the cuts for them.


Do you favor increasing taxes/fees or reducing expenses/services to balance a deficit budget? If increasing taxes/fees, which ones and how much? If cutting expenses, what services would you cut?

Raising taxes and fees is out of the question. The people have nothing left to give.

Glassel on Overregulation!

In a time before zoning and governmental interference with private enterprise, two well known, local business ventures were established. Sven’s Shoes and Eichten’s Cheese Shop.

In today’s anti business climate, neither would exist.

Sven’s is a classic example of starting small and building as you grow. A close look at Sven’s building reveals the stages of his growth, from a small house to a fairly large retail and manufacturing facility, employing several people.

Joe Eichten’s harebrained scheme has turned into a local legend. From cheese to bison to gourmet restaurant.

25,000 cars, possibly 40,000 people a day drive through South County on Highway 8. All we need do, is remove the anti business restrictions and let our local entrepreneurs take advantage of the traffic count as Sven’s and Eichten’s have done.

We don’t need to waste taxpayer dollars luring business to the area. All we need do is loosen some of the anti-business restrictions currently in place.

If we get government off the backs of our local business owners and prospective entrepreneurs, create a business friendly environment, the business tax base will increase and we will prosper once more.

Agriculture has historically been a major economic activity in Chisago. As the overall economy shifts and changes, we ought not to lose sight of its value to contribute to the overall good of our area. What are some of the things you think we can do to retain agricultural activity and enhance the rural character of the area?

The people of Chisago County are its greatest natural resource. It is our people that provide the rural character of the area.

Many city folks work a lifetime to become one of us by purchasing a piece of land and building their dream with us.

Chisago County farmland, while beautiful and picturesque, is marginal at best, when compared to farms in Southern Minnesota.

Much of our county is better suited to raising kids than corn.

It is simply not possible to subsidize a local farmer to the point where he can compete with farms elsewhere.

We ought not lose sight of the fact that Government does not own this farm land. It is owned by private citizens and its owners know better than we, its best purpose.

We need to get government off the backs of our farmers and let them determine for themselves whether to raise corn or sell pieces of their property to others to raise kids.

Either way, we all prosper.

Glassel Well Suite to be Commissioner

What skills and abilities are needed to be an affective County Commissioner?

What skills and abilities do you have? Why are you running? What are your priorities? How do you propose to secure consensus from the other Commissioners to implement your priorities?

The Current Board is largely reactive and does not provide the leadership required by the citizens of Chisago County.

Commissioners Gustafson, Robinson and Schultz have controlled the Board since 2005 and are incapable of thinking beyond the box of inbred, Good Old Boy Politics.

A lot of folks are experiencing tough times right now. Tough times require tough leadership. Leadership that will find solutions to our problems. We cannot continue to throw money at our problems. We must find the root cause of our problems and solve them without raising taxes.

The wild tax and spending spree of the current board has placed our county in jeopardy. We cannot go back to the well and force tax payers to pay for the wasteful ways of the County Board.

For any Governmental Body, taxpayers are the collective goose that lays the golden egg. Without taxpayers, government itself would cease to exist.

If we continue this wild tax and spending spree, we will kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

The residents of Chisago County are not subjects to be ruled. The citizens of Chisago County are hardworking and intelligent, requiring little of our government.

If we are to prosper, we must engage the awesome brainpower of the people in an open and honest debate about the issues facing us.

Getting elected to public office does not make any of us smarter. To be a good representative, we must listen to the people, for the people are smarter than we.

We must have representation that listens to understand, not to respond.

The people of Chisago County need representation on the Board.

I will provide that representation.

Glassel Speaks about Township Roads

Township Roads

It may be a long time before the county can build and pave more roads. The well is dry. If we continue to tax and spend, with no return on investment, we will kill the goose that laid the golden egg, the taxpayer.

As new and more responsible board members get a handle on the budget crisis, the picture will improve.

At that time, we must address the imbalance that exists between North and South County.

It is my understanding that MnDot assesses each Commissioners District by miles of road and traffic count to determine the percentage of county road funds to be spent in a given district.

Commissioners from Districts 1, 2, and 4 bring home the bacon and get their rightful share of road building funds.

For years, District 3 taxpayers have gotten the short end of the stick.

For some unfathomable reason, Commissioner Gustafson has sent way too much of our road and bridge money to District 5 in the Rush City area to help Commissioner Mike Robinson.

Many unpaved Township Roads in Franconia and Chisago Lakes experience far heavier traffic than roads currently being paved in the Rush City area.

In some way, this imbalance must be corrected.

While good roads in all parts of the county do help us all, we must focus on those areas most likely to increase our tax base.

Paved Township roads in South County will increase property values much sooner and will likely attract more new residents than anywhere else in the county.

We need this growth, we need to assist our townships in the road building process.