Check out their financial reports. Are these the people you want responsible for City finances?

Some of those who were leading the Red Wing “Recall City Hall” campaign are now running for City Council. Ron Goggin (Wards 1 & 2), Jason Snyder (Ward 3), Ted Seifert (Ward 4), and Janie Farrar (At Large) are running as a bloc in this election cycle — Don Kliewer (Ward 2) won the open seat earlier this year — and as above, you can see they all have been working together:

Candidates for City Council… Recall City Hall… candidates in parade with trailer labeled “Citizens for Responsible Government” and the truck pulling it belongs to ??? Jason Snyder??? Flyer sent around to many in Red Wing by “Citizens for Responsible Government” — as we say in transmission, “it’s all connected.”

How many of the same people are involved in all of these efforts? How many are wearing many hats, and just who is wearing whose hat? How closely were they working together? Look who was funding the Recall efforts! (Campaign Reports – Recall City Hall) Look at the 5 signers sponsoring the Petitions, and look who walked the petitions around and signed Affidavits! (Recall Petitions here! and “Dean Hove 2” Recall Petitions). Look at the candidates, their treasurers, and monetary and in-kind donors for both candidates and Recall.

What about “Citizens for Responsible Government,” the name on the trailer in the parade leading the candidates, festooned with all the candidate signs, and “producer” of that cheesy-but-expensive-to-mail flyer that just landed across the city? The flyer makes wild presumptions, misstatements, and demonstrably false claims, and does not cite to sources for claims made. At the bottom, it states it was written and produced “without any candidate involvement or endorsement” — though the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. Look at the photos above! Look at how the language of the flyer below parrots the points and language of the Recall City Hall page (scrubbed but available via Wayback):

Neither the Red Wing “Citizens for Responsible Govt” nor “Citizens for Responsible Government” are registered as a Committee or fund nor are registered with the Secretary of State. They are for sure not related to the legit “Citizens for Responsible Government” reporting to the Campaign Finance Board, registered as a 302A business corporation, and run by known DFLers in north metro!

Here are the bloc Red Wing City Council candidates Campaign Financial Reports and the Recall City Hall Reports (including documentation of missing $5,569.96 as of November 2021, grown to $5,593.63 as of August 10, 2022), plus photos of candidates and the “Citizens for Responsible Government” trailer, plastered with all of their campaign signs, parading through Red Wing (parade spot paid for by Recall City Hall on July 19, 2022, long after recall over). SEE FOR YOURSELF! (The blue ink comments, circles and arrows, and the orange and yellow highlighting are mine):

If you see any math errors let me know, as I’m at the 46 percentile in math, and though I’ve checked and rechecked, errors can happen — and I’ll correct pronto.

Note: In the Candidate Campaign Financial Report, they’re spending money, more than they’re taking in, with no explanation. What money are they spending? Where did that money they’ve reported spending come from??

Note: The Recall campaign report of November 2021 shows that $5,569.96 disappeared in November, 2021, and it’s up just a bit to $5,593.62 in the August, 2022 report. Where did that money go?

Note: The Recall campaign filed “Amended” reports after I’d pointed out irregularities in its first two reports. The Recall City Hall campaign reports are beyond irregular, and the missing $5,593.62 as of the committee’s August 2022 report is a major issue yet to be corrected.

Note: The Recall City Hall campaign paid for a $300 River City Days parade spot on July 19, 2022 despite the recall effort ending in August nearly a year before! Note also that none of the candidates marching with “Citizens for Responsible Government” paid to be in the parade line-up, and there was no identified “Recall City Hall” contingent. Sure looks, parades, and quacks like a coordinated duck!

GooseStep

Given the connections between the Recall City Hall and the candidates, the ties of candidates to “Citizens for Responsible Government”/”Citizens for Responsible Govt” and a review of their financial filings, what do you think? Is this an example of fiscal responsibility?

  • The reports filed are missing much information.
  • The numbers on the reports don’t add up.
  • Where, when, and how did Recall City Hall’s $5,593.63 disappear?
  • Where did the candidates’ get the money state they are spending when it’s a lot more than they report taking in?
  • Is there a connection between Recall City Hall money disappearing and candidate money “not received” being spent by campaigns?
  • Did Recall City Hall pay for the parade line-up spot used by the candidates AND “Citizens for Responsible Government” at River City Days?
  • Where they’re all connected, is it plausible that they’re not coordinating their efforts?

WITH THESE CAMPAIGN FINANCIAL REPORTS, DO THE CANDIDATES DISPLAY THE LEVEL OF FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY NECESSARY TO MAKE FINANCIAL DECISIONS FOR THE CITY OF RED WING?

THROUGH THEIR ACTIONS, DO THE CANDIDATES DISPLAY THE INDEPENDENCE OF MIND AND CRITICAL THOUGHT NECESSARY TO CONSIDER A RANGE OF VIEWPOINTS AND EQUITABLY REPRESENT CONSTITUENTS?

You can find all their campaign reports as filed here on the City page:

2022 Campaign Reports – Red Wing City Council

Here are the Recall City Hall campaign finance reports, also on the City page:

Campaign Reports – Recall City Hall

Ask the candidates about their reporting! Let them know what you think!

2 Responses to “Campaign coordination, $5,593.63 MIA from Recall City Hall, and more!”

  1. Alan Muller Says:

    Thanks, Carol, for this very useful report. There is a LOT of room for improvement in how Red Wing is governed, but I don’t think this crowd is offering anything useful.

  2. Michael Johnson Says:

    So this all leads me to wonder if these recall participants came together as a spontaneous movement or were an infectious element in search of an open wound???

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