Should transit tax stay or go?

A dramatic contest is unfolding between the longest-serving Washington County commissioner and the Republican-endorsed challenger for the District 1 seat.

Dennis Hegberg, 61, a banker who lives in Forest Lake, has held the post since 1989. He's also the chairman of the county's Board of Commissioners.

But last spring, his support for a quarter-percent increase on sales tax in Washington County to fund transit projects proved controversial. He subsequently lost the local Republican Party's endorsement.

The GOP's choice for the District 1 seat is Eric Langness, 30, a Forest Lake school board member, who said Hegberg's vote on the transit tax issue inspired him to take on the veteran county commissioner. Should Langness win the Nov. 4 election, he vowed, he will work to repeal the sales tax.

The transit tax issue has become a central campaign issue in other county commissioner races as well, with some candidates in other districts also pledging to remove Washington County from the newly formed County Transit Improvement Board (CTIB).

In all, three of the five seats on the Washington County Board of Commissioners are up for election this year. District 1 includes Birchwood, Dellwood, Forest Lake, Grant, Hugo, Mahtomedi, Marine on St. Croix, Pine Springs, Scandia, White Bear Lake and Willernie. Of all the election campaigns Hegberg has been involved in, this one is going to be the "most different," he said.

For one thing, he's had to remove the "Republican endorsement" label on the ads he's saved from his last run.

His supporters, too, are of a different ilk this time.

"My enemies are my friends now," Hegberg joked. "When I look at some of the DFL people that I've dealt with over the years, they're very supportive. So I have the support of more of the middle and the left most definitely this time around."

He said many people have told him they're disappointed that the transit tax passed, and many others have said they're supportive of it. He's not sure which group he's heard more from, but said he sensed the race between him and Langness is even so far.

Regarding the controversial 3-2 County Board vote last spring, Hegberg said he voted for what he thought, and still believes, is right for Washington County's future.

"I think it's a proper thing to do and so that's why I'm sitting on my position," he said. "But I think I have to work on educating the public on why this is so important for our future in Washington County."

The nation's oil dependency has created the need to develop other ways of getting around, he said. "We're on an edge of a change in our society as far as energy use, and we have to start looking at different alternatives."

Hegberg added that, traditionally, funding for transit has come from real estate taxes. He supports raising the sales tax, he said, because it offers a different revenue source for transit funding -- one that is based on discretionary spending.

Langness decried the increased sales tax because he said the transit projects they'll fund will not benefit Washington County residents.

"We're not on the plans for the Met Council to have expanded transit," he said. "I think that being in CTIB right now has put this county at great risk, because should the CTIB board finalize anything with the Central Corridor and send out bonding, then Washington County is responsible for that."

On term limits

Both candidates said they opposed the notion of imposing term limits for local government boards.

But Langness raised questions about Hegberg's long tenure. "Whether I would stay on the board for four years or longer is likely," he said, "but I doubt that I would sit on the board for 18 years as my opponent has. I think that that is too long and a board does need a change and a vision that reflects something different periodically."

Hegberg cited his years of experience on the board and in life as an advantage over his younger opponent, whom he said tends to see things in black and white. "When I was first elected, I had blinders on and I saw things more black and white. As I've matured, I see more things in the grayish area," he said.

"So I think even though we're [on the board] for a long time, we do change. Cause I would have never voted for the transit 10 years ago. I would've been on the other side of the issue."

Allie Shah • 651-298-1550.