Local Politics

The three lawmakers who represent Richfield talk about the upcoming session and listened to citizen concerns at an open house.

John Ashmead, Deb Etienne and Todd Nollenberger (from left) won Tuesday's Richfield school board election. A $20 million school levy was defeated by 252 votes.

Newcomers John Ashmead and Deb Etienne were the top two vote getters Tuesday among 15 candidates for three school board seats. Incumbent Todd Nollenberger retained his seat, but School Board Chair Peter Toensing lost his, finishing fourth. The other current board member, Tom Flood, decided not to run for another term.

Unofficially, 4,586 votes were cast in the school levy referendum. The measure, which would have increased property taxes in the district by $2 million a year, lost by 252 votes out of 4.586 cast.

Ashmead, a retired St. Paul elementary school principal, and Etienne, a manager with Delta Airlines, both are longtime Richfield residents whose children attended public schools. 

Just 23 percent of the Richfield's 19,868 registered voters turned out for Tuesday's election.

Here are the results:

* Incumbent

The campaigns this fall to fill three Richfield school board seats and decide whether the school district will win more taxpayer funding have been low-key affairs.

Lawn signs for only a few candidates have sprung up on the city's busier streets. Even fewer "Vote Yes for Richfield Schools" have made their appearance.

The two school issues are the only items on the ballot in Richfield next Tuesday.

Fifteen candidates, including two incumbents, are running for three seats on the school board. The school district is asking voters to repeal an existing tax levy and approve a new one to raise an additional $2 million a year for 10 years.

In an effort to prepare city staff for a state government shutdown, Richfield City Manager Steve Devich compiled a list of potential consequences on city services.

"Many of the services that the city provides are dependent upon an ongoing relationship with the state," Devich stated in a memo to the City Council Thursday.

The possible impacts on the city include, but are not limited to:

• Delay of the Nicollet Avenue bridge project
• Lane closure approval for the July 4 celebrations
• Lottery will not be functional at Liquor Stores
• No testing/licensing for building, plumbing, electrical contractors
• Funding of foreclosure loan/grants
• Delay of projects such as Lyndale Gardens, KMart, Ron Clark, Richfield Parkway
• Securing the frontage road for the Taft Lake project
• Increase in the Section 8 call volume for several reasons
• Public safety - traffic related activity, not service to the public
• Inability to run background criminal history checks for several professions
• State funding will not be received or reimbursed
• Several DMV and DNR licensing services unavailable
• Car dealers unable to get plates or transfer titles

This is only a partial list of possible outcomes due to a shutdown. According to Devich, some of the most significant would be the inability to issue motor vehicle licenses, heavy call volume from people who depend on State subsidy payments, and not receiving payment due in July from the state to the city itself.

More information will be released to the community as it is made available.