Anzelc speaks truth on Mesaba boondoggle

In this Mike Jennings story rescued from last Saturday's edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, my friend and colleague Tom Anzelc becomes the highest level public official to acknowledge the foolishness of the Mesaba Energy Project:

Efforts to sort out the legal and administrative tangle that has ensnared Excelsior Energy will continue next week, but Rep. Tom Anzelc says the right outcome is clear: It’s time to drop the idea of building a coal-gasification power plant on the Iron Range.

“I am more convinced than ever that this project is not in the public interest, that it does not have a willing purchaser of the power, that its location is suspect, and it flies in the face of the discussion in the country and in the world, frankly, of sequestering carbon,” Anzelc said Friday.

Backed by legislation meant to encourage innovative energy projects and funded by an array of government grants and loans, Excelsior’s proposed Mesaba Energy Project has run into opposition both locally and with the commission.

One telling blow came last August, when the commisson ruled that Excelsior’s proposed terms for selling the initial 603-megawatt output of its power plant to Xcel Energy would be counter to the public interest. The commission dealt Excelsior another defeat last month when it denied the company’s request for an indefinite stay on negotiations with Xcel aimed at persuading the giant utility to buy still more power from Xcel.On Thursday, May 8, the commission is scheduled to consider whether to place a deadline on further negotiations between Excelsior and Xcel. It will also take up a more complex question — whether based on its “clean energy” credentials and overall costs, Excelsior should be entitled to sell Xcel at least 13 percent of the electricity that Xcel provides its retail customers.

Read the whole story here. It includes State Sen. Tom Saxhaug repeating the old line on why people should go along with the project (Because electricity is important and stuff). Interestingly, Excelsior Energy's Tom Micheletti did not return calls for this story. After his desperate-sounding letter to the editor from last week, I wonder why not?

Overheard at Senate District 3's endorsing convention

Today, the Minnesota Senate District 3 Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party held its endorsing convention for House district's 3A and 3B.

Rep. Loren Solberg (DFL-Grand Rapids) and Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township), both incumbents, were endorsed for re-election. The biggest news of the day was the terrible weather that many believed would keep people away from the convention. While those in the northern part of the district were forced to stay home (they had 8-12 inches of snow in Koochiching County) about 50 people showed up regardless, including some from Lake of the Woods County in the far northern part of the state.


Since the business of the convention was fairly routine, here's some snapshots of what I heard today:

• The DFL endorsement battle for neighboring House District 4A has boiled down to Irene Folstrom and John Persell. There may be more candidates but Folstrom and Persell are working the phones and have a big jump. Interestingly, both have connections to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: Folstrom, a band member who works with the Red Lake tribal court system, and Persell, a soil and water commissioner and longtime associate of the band who has worked on environmental issues. The question now becomes, A) will Leech Lake delegates go with a member of the band or a longtime associate of the band, and B) who shows up to the endorsing convention? Party regulars or all the new people who flooded the system because of the exciting presidential race? The answers to those questions will determine the endorsed candidate. The endorsed candidate will likely be the nominee and will likely face John Carlson, who recently announced he would seek the Republican endorsement for this seat. Tony Williams is also running for the Republican endorsement, but I keep hearing Carlson is going to be the more plausible candidate. If you read the Bemidji Pioneer story you'll see this guy Carlson is pretty savvy and gearing for a serious run at the 4A spot.
  
• The Al Franken vs. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer U.S. Senate battle for delegates continues, though from the mood of the group on Saturday clearly reflects the idea that Franken is well ahead and knocking on the door of a first-ballot endorsement. The JNP surrogate who spoke at today's SD 3 convention ended his speech by asking by show of hands who supported which candidate. By a 2-1 margin the crowd preferred Franken. Thus, the surrogate ended his speech with the phrase: "Well that went over like a turd in the punch bowl." I don't know that it's that bad for JNP around the state, but despite their fervor, JNP backers have yet to show me exactly how (and I mean numerically) their guy wins the endorsement.
  
• Same subject. Franken's pledged delegates are receiving heavy calls from JNP and surrogates trying to get them to switch. I've been criticized for making a big deal out of this, but if your primary targets are people who swore to their friends and neighbors they would vote the other way at the convention that means you're pretty far behind.
  
• We're all sick of snow. Everyone in northern Minnesota is sick of this fake spring we're getting. Also, the Prairie River is expected to flood even more in the coming week. So Itasca County residents have that to look forward to.

Iron Range Obama press conference called

The latest on the Obama/Iron Range front. I'll be in Duluth for a prior commitment but anyone interested should check this out.

Barack Obama's Iron Range Leadership Committee Roll Out

Press Conference
Saturday, February 2
NOON
Ironworld in Chisholm
The Rudy Perpich Room

Featuring:

Co-Chairs
Rep. Tony Sertich
Rep. Tom Anzelc

Endorsements breaking for Obama

I just got word that two prominent Edwards supporters are joining the Barack Obama camp on the Iron Range. Minnesota House Majority Leader Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) and U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (also DFL-Chisholm) will endorse Obama today. Who else is on board? I only know of Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam) who endorsed Obama last week. Others may follow. A lot of this is happening quickly as caucuses approach in just four days.

Iron Range Obama meeting now set for Saturday in Hibbing

The Barack Obama organizational meeting in Hibbing has been rescheduled for the day of the important South Carolina primary. Those interested in joining or learning more about the Obama campaign on the Iron Range are invited this Saturday, Jan. 26, at 3 p.m. to the Bob Dylan room of the Hibbing Public Library. The public is welcome.

RSVP for the meeting here if you can, or just show up.

Iron Range and border country State Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Twsp), a former teacher, labor leader and member of Gov. Rudy Perpich’s administration, is expected to endorse Barack Obama for president in advance of Minnesota’s Feb. 5 Democratic caucuses.

“Our nation needs healing, from the war to the economy to the tone of the debates we see on the news,” Tom told me this morning. “Barack Obama inspires people. He can heal our country and inspire another generation of Americans here in northern Minnesota.”

Barack Obama Hibbing Organizational Meeting
Time: Saturday, January 26 at 3 p.m.
Duration: 1 hour
Host: Jenn Watts, 218-464-3895
Location: Hibbing Public Library, Bob Dylan Conference Room, 2020 5th Avenue East

DISCLOSURE: I am Tom Anzelc's political chair and am supporting Barack Obama for president. I will share notices for other campaigns in the comments section or in the blog if I receive any information.

A view of the presidential race from the Iron Range

I have a cold and lost my voice yesterday, so I have to watch the political coverage today in relative silence. My particular throat issues prevent me from saying the words "yeah," and "uh-huh" without pain. I had never realized how important those words were in my vocabulary, especially at home.

Hillary Clinton just won Nevada by a little over five points. That makes South Carolina must-win for my guy Obama going into Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

The race for Minnesota's Feb. 5 caucuses has finally reached northern Minnesota with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama forming organizations in Duluth and on the Iron Range. Volunteer and precinct captain meetings for both candidates have begun in Hibbing, the Range's largest and most central city. Both campaigns have deployed field organizers here with Iowa experience (though Clinton's is an ex-Dodd operative).

What has been interesting for me is trying to figure out how this strong DFL area will break for the presidential race. If John Edwards was a front runner he'd probably be the guy to beat (Rangers like the old time Democrats). But he isn't and I wonder where everyone will go. I expect that most of the Iron Range legislative delegation will probably stick with Edwards, though I know Rep. Tom Anzelc of rural Bovey will soon endorse Barack Obama. I don't know of any legislators endorsing Clinton but she'll have strong support from many people I know in the DFL party organization, which is valuable.

If Obama wins South Carolina and maintains the national tie in the polls, then I'd say Minnesota is a close state but that the Iron Range is a complete toss up. A visit to northern Minnesota by Obama, Clinton or Edwards might deliver a treasure trove of Democratic delegates to that candidate. (hint-hint). I know the rest of the state doesn't always pay much attention to the Iron Range but this area is a bellweather for any successful Democratic campaign in Minnesota.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention this was a cross-post with www.mnblue.com. Check out the discussion going on over at MN Blue.

The Range and the "Recession"

The good and bad thing about the Iron Range economy is that it operates somewhat independently from the national economy. Pretty much, our fortunes follow the international steel market. While the so-called mortgage crisis has some reverberation here, people are strangely more optimistic about the future on the Range than they are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs. Believe me, it's a weird thing to hear people weeping about the recession on CNBC and hear Johnny Ranger say "Boy, I think I can get the bigger truck this year." Behold the following, published in Thursday's Hibbing Daily Tribune:

Disclosure: I know Tom Anzelc well and ran his 2006 campaign. I think he's right about this, but that his statement about the Range's "immunity" from recession was played up a bit too much. If the national economy stinks for too long, everyone is hurt. Ultimately, I think that's what he meant.

Anzelc predicts flush times on Iron Range
Calls region immune -- for now -- from recession
By Mike Jennings, Editor

BALSAM TOWNSHIP—A booming mining sector is likely to prevent the Iron Range
from joining the state’s and nation’s slide into economic recession, at least for the time being, says Rep. Tom Anzelc.

“Quite frankly, on the western Mesabi as well as on the entire Iron Range, I think ‘08 is going to be a very good year,” Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township, said Wednesday. He said mining exploration and mining development are flourishing in the region.

Anzelc said the Iron Range forms an exception to the recessionary pattern described Wednesday by Sens. David Tomassoni and Tarryl Clark. In a joint press release, Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm, and Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, called for Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s help in passing an economic stimulus package to counter the state’s negative job growth and high rate of unemployment.

“It is time for the state to make strategic investments in sustainable job growth, before more Minnesotans find themselves in the unemployment line,” Tomassoni said in the press release.

Anzelc said in an interview that the legislature’s principal tool for stimulating the economy this year will be bonding.

“You need to invest, invest in people when your economy starts to slide,” he said. “And a large bonding bill puts people to work — construction people first and then other jobs to follow.”

Anzelc said the Iron Range seems poised for a cycle of growth, thanks to new ventures such as Minnesota Steel Industries, planned $1.6 billion taconite-to-steel plant in Nashwauk, which lies in his district. The wood products industry, another staple of the region’s economy, is unlikely to have a good year, however, he said.

“The linchpins of our Northern Minnesota economy have always been our natural resources,” he said. “And we boom and then we bust. ... Wood prouducts appears to be in the bust cycle.”

Clark, the assistant Senate majority leader, pledged that economic development would be the top priority of lawmakers during the legislative session that convenes Feb. 12. As part of that effort, Anzelc plans to introduce a $67 million bonding bill to help pay for such essentials as gas lines and road and rail access at the Minnesota Steel plant.

He said he also supports vigorous investment through Iron Range Resources in mining communities’ water and sewer systems and other basic needs to heighten their appeal to entrepreneurs. The region would also benefit from fresh investment in its community colleges, he said.

Anzelc said he’s also seeking a $4 million appropriation to dewater the Canisteo Pit, which he called a threat to the towns of Bovey and Coleraine.

If the state’s recession deepens, its effects will ultimately reach the Iron Range, Anzelc said.

“And being a progressive person, I believe that economic stimulus packages proposed by government in cooperation with the private sector historically shorten recessions,” he said. “It’s all really about creating jobs and keeping people here.”

Floods are bad, mmm-kay

I promise: Last bonding bill post for the week.

I forgot to mention an item yesterday. The Canisteo Mine Pit is still perched like a big, wet mountain lion over the town of Bovey on the Western Mesabi Range. However, Gov. Pawlenty did not include mitigating the problem in the bonding bill. I spoke with Tom Anzelc and he believes they'll need $4 million to drain the water elsewhere. There is $15 million for flood mitigation in Pawlenty's bonding bill, so Range can hope to get some of that along with other funding to fix the problem. Between the DNR, Mineland Reclamation and bonding, this must get done this year. I don't know that an Iron Range town has ever been destroyed by a flood and 2008 seems a rather stupid time to break that streak.

Highway 53 expansion prospects

The Mesabi Daily News has an interesting story today about efforts to expand State Highway 53, the major north/south byway of northern Minnesota and the Iron Range. Coupled with State Highway 169, (the Range's east/west route) these highway improvements are absolutely necessary for a safer, more efficient infrastructure in our region.

Highway 53 matching funds still a concern
Road expansion to Cook
By Charles Ramsay, Mesabi Daily News

VIRGINIA — Finding the funds for Minnesota state match for the Highway 53 four-lane expansion to Cook continues as a major concern for officials.

State Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Bovey, told members of the Highway 53 Long-Range Task Force Wednesday that there were many lawmakers backing a nickel a gallon increase in the state gas tax in the 2008 session starting Feb. 12, and perhaps some combination of bonding, gas tax and other funding can be put into place.

Minnesota Department of Transportation officials told the group they hoped to have plans in place by 2010 for the next segment, Rice River to Cook, which may be up for state match funding by 2012. The expansion is planned to have a four-lane highway to Cook.

About $42 million in federal highway funding specifically for the nine-mile expansion to Cook that U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., helped secure in the SAFETEA-LU Highway Act still needs about $7.93 million in state matching funds to meet the 80 percent federal, 20 percent state mix.

Anzelc said backers of a 5-cent-per-gallon tax increase have 68 votes in the House and 34 votes in the state Senate, enough to pass it, although that may not be enough for funding, he added.

While he has not been in favor of borrowing for transportation before, Anzelc said he has changed his mind, and maybe a mix of a modest gas tax increase, some bonding and some borrowing may help the bill be signed. Last year, legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Pawlenty could not agree on a transportation funding package.

“Let’s pass a bill in the first month’’ of the session, Anzelc said. “This isn’t about politics, it’s about public safety.’’

Minnesota U.S. Senate race heats up on the Range

I see at MN Publius that State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) has endorsed attorney Mike Ciresi for Minnesota's upcoming U.S. Senate race. The editors at MN Publius believe this may portend future Ciresi endorsements from other Range legislators. It might, but this situation is indicative of the overall woes of this Senate race. Incumbent Norm Coleman is somewhat popular, but not in any meaningful way. People generally don't hate him, but believe that he's a pretty slippery political chameleon.

Part of the appeal is that he's been very good about the "process" of being a Senator; he's effective at responding to things and runs a pretty good office. When Dylan Days, one of my projects, needed some help with visas some years ago his office provided quick assistance. It's not nearly enough for me to forgive him for his war votes or fervent support for the Mesaba Energy boondoggle on the Range, but his quick reactions are why people don't have strong negative feelings about him.

With his allegiance to ultra-unpopular President George W. Bush Coleman would normally be a good target. But Minnesota is a funny state and there's no guarantee that the DFL can get this one. I believe Bakk is underestimating Franken and overstating Ciresi's skills, but still; neither Franken nor Ciresi will have an easy time in beating Norm Coleman. They should; either one would be better, but for some reason Coleman knows the formula for calculating political fortunes and might escape.

This race also represents a change on the Iron Range. Most of the time, the Range delegation unifies behind a candidate. Heck, in any year prior to 2004 this race would see an Iron Range candidate. But everyone up north now realizes that Iron Rangers don't have the political or financial capital to mount a successful statewide run. Our last success story, Gov. Rudy Perpich, was a truly remarkable exception. But even so, normally the delegation backs one candidate. This time, you have the West Range legislators -- Reps. Tom Anzelc and Loren Solberg and Sen. Tom Saxhaug -- backing Franken. Bakk -- the "north" Range senator -- is backing Ciresi. It remains to be seen what Reps. Tony Sertich, Tom Rukavina and David Dill will do, but I don't think any of them are going to make an endorsement whole-heartedly. If you didn't need $10 million to run a campaign Sertich, Rukavina or Bakk would be in this race.

Also, on the subject of MN Publius's post, Tom Bakk may have been crowned "King of the Range" during a committee meeting last session, but the title is largely a joke. Bakk is chair of the Senate Tax Committee -- one of the most powerful spots in St. Paul -- which makes puffery a staple of his diet. The truth is no one is really in charge of this Iron Range delegation. They just are the way they are. It may be many years before we regain the influence we've lost since the 1980s and years more before another Iron Ranger is elected to a statewide office.

UPDATE: Don't forget to take part in the Quick Poll along the right side of the blog. Do you believe Santa Claus is A) real, B) not real, C) real in our hearts, or D) State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook).

Game on!

Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Wednesday that state support for Essar Global's Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk is back on after the company assured him it wouldn't violate U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The whole ordeal became a rather fast and scary lesson in international trade and politics. Fortunately, it has worked out in the favor of the Iron Range.

Today's Duluth News-Tribune has a comprehensive story. My state Rep. and quasi-neighbor Tom Anzelc said it best, in the future let's hope that due diligence precedes press conferences. There's no reason Pawlenty couldn't have confirmed details with Essar before he declared his potential withdrawal of state support.

Pawlenty got in a good line, though, saying that he needed to clear this matter up before the governor's hunting opener this weekend near Hibbing (in the heart of the Iron Range) or else "the hunter would become the hunted." He must have been hearing some of the same things I heard around the Range before yesterday's good news.

The danger looming above Bovey

Local media have reported on the dangers surrounding the eroding Canisteo Mine Pit by Bovey, where water levels in the pit now rest several feet above portions of the city of Bovey. A rapidly eroding wall of earth is all that prevents a major flood that would destroy much of the town and wash out the Iron Range's primary east/west highway. However, KARE 11 has done a solid job of reporting on the story for a statewide audience and explains the situation even more clearly for beginners. Have a look:

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=267232

Kudos to my friend Rep. Tom Anzelc for his work on this issue.