Brick City Blog

The Chaska City Council broached the subject of lengthening the term of the Mayor’s position from two years to four years in its January 4 session.

The Council should not move forward with such a move without other reforms.  Why not revisit the wisdom of the ward system at the same time?  Is Chaska really served by wards versus at-large council members?  I’m not sure that it is.  No Council candidate — in the time I’ve been in Chaska, anyway — has run a campaign based on the specific needs of their ward.  The lack of at-large council members was a key reason I couldn’t support any appointment scenario when Gary Van Eyll resigned as Mayor.  How can I support the installation of someone I never had the chance to vote on to be Mayor?

Ideally, the city should be structured with four at-large council members and a mayor all serving four-year terms.  Barring that, though, the Council would be well-advised not to lessen accountability by lengthening the Mayor’s term.

Meanwhile, user “Bella” posted an blog entry about the charitable efforts of Jay Rohe’s wife, Heidi.  “Bella” objects to Mrs. Rohe’s use of Costco as a key vendor for her charitable food program that opertes out of St. John’s Lutheran Church.  “Bella” further stipulates that the use of Costco for this program should be a reason not to vote for Jay Rohe, because Costco isn’t located in Chaska.  When we’re at the point of criticizing how people run a charitable food program (barring evidence of negligence or fraud), we’ve officially reached campaign silly season.