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Commissioner Challenge: To Be Continued...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Dear Friends:

This election year and campaign was an exciting, challenging, and well worth it adventure. Unfortunately, we came up short challenging the incumbent, Tony Bennett, in our contest for County Commissioner.

• Tony Bennett:  19,787 (53.1%)
• Jim Schottmuller:  17,289 (46.4%)
• Write In:  154 (0.4%)

Out of 37,230 votes, Tony Bennett received 2498 more than us, which means we needed only 1249 votes (3%) to tie-up.

Thank you supporters!

I'm extremely grateful for every one of my supporters and the scores of volunteers and contributors who fought beside me in the campaign.

Special thanks to my wife, Angie Schottmuller, who worked non-stop as my campaign manager and personal graphic designer. (She designed this awesome website by the way!)

Many volunteers devoted countless hours to door-knocking, literature drops, sign posting, and making phone calls. Your personal sacrifices of time and resources were invaluable to this effort. Most of my supporters I hadn't met before the campaign, and they will likely now be friends for life. Thank you all!

Where to go from here?

To lose a race is always disappointing, especially when it's so close. However, I don't consider our campaign a defeat. We gained support from over 90% of the residents I spoke with; we just didn't get to enough doors.

After fighting for accountability, spending and tax constraints, and restored safety priorities for nearly 6 months, it is indeed a challenge to stop now. So I'm not. Although I was not elected, I still plan to fight for Ramsey County residents and follow through on my action plan.

It's still time for the county to live within OUR means.  Join me in my continued campaign to bring common sense and fiscal responsibility to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.

My Action Plan:

• Resolve issues plaguing the Ramsey County 911 Emergency Call Center (ECC)

  Further investigation to expose the issues is in progress.

• Repeal the commissioners' self-approved 25% pay raise and give it back to taxpayers

  Along with Dennis Dunngian (District 7 challenger), we're starting a petition to repeal the raise. Check back soon for an option to sign the petition online!

• Expose unnecessary county spending and hold the line on taxes

  I plan to attend the Truth in Taxation hearing on December 11th (and all similar meetings there after) to publicly protest the board's 4.5% property tax levy increase for 2009. Join me!

• Improve county collaboration with residents and local government

  In conjunction with other passionate citizens, we're looking to form a "watchdog" organization to keep Ramsey County residents informed of governmental waste, fraud, and abuse.

Stay connected - Send us your email!

Spreading the word is still a challenge. Please join the team and subscribe to receive email updates on important issues and events. Please also consider donating to the campaign to help cover the cost of brochures, website hosting, and mailers.

Check back soon for website updates. In the mean time, I'd still like to hear from you! Please contact me with your questions, concerns, and ideas.

Sincerely,