Anoka County Commissioner would refuse salary -- if he runs again

The longtime commissioner won't say if he will seek another term, but he has plenty to say about the pay he would refuse.

By PAUL LEVY, Star Tribune

Last update: July 9, 2009 - 12:05 AM

Dick Lang, a five-term Anoka County commissioner, kisses pigs, talks to flowers and is considering resuming a football coaching career at age 70. He is also contemplating a run for reelection next year. But if elected, he will refuse his $56,000 salary.

"I'll keep $1 because I think they'll force me to take something, but that's it," Lang said this week. "I feel like I owe the county too much as it is."

With a year to go before the filing deadline, Lang has plenty of time to mull and tease about his future. Potential opponents say they don't know if he is running. Fellow commissioner Scott LeDoux said: "Even we don't know what he's planning to do."

But Lang is adamant about declining a salary. He also said, whether reelected or not, he wants to be a volunteer driver for seniors and veterans making visits to the county's future Veterans Administration clinic.

Martha Weaver, Anoka County's manager for public affairs, jokes that Lang returns a portion of his salary to county-related functions anyway. Recently, Lang offered to help a group of East Bethel quilters sell raffle tickets. He admits he bought nearly 350 himself, more than half of all the tickets sold.

As for kissing pigs, Lang said he does that at county fairs to raise money for 4-H groups.

"I'm just a simple guy who went to school in a one-room schoolhouse with no plumbing in Ham Lake," Lang said. "What does somebody like me need the county's money for?"

The son of a tailor who commuted to Minneapolis by Greyhound bus, Lang is now a grandfather of nine. His reputation as a guy who holds court and knows everyone at the local cafe -- in this case, the Red Ox Cafe in Ham Lake -- has been an asset during election years. In 2006, he garnered 59 percent of the vote in the county's District 2.

But his reputation as a tough guy is now as deflated as one of the old game balls he was awarded when he was captain of the St. Cloud State football team.

"Gardening has destroyed the reputation of my youth," said Lang, an ex-Marine and football lineman. "My wife, Mary, points and I plant flowers where she tells me. Then I talk to them. Things like, 'Oh, you look so pretty.' And they just grow."

After coaching youth football and baseball for 20 years -- his football players have included former Twins catcher Tim Laudner of Brooklyn Center -- Lang became an assistant youth football line coach again four years ago. He is considering assisting once more this fall.

"My grandfather, an immigrant, told me you should always put more into your life than you get out of it," Lang said. "Anoka County has been so good to me. If I run again, how could I accept a salary? I'd feel better just turning it back."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419