Readers Write: Hennepin County Board pay raise, candidate Harris, support for Walz

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

The Hennepin County commissioners appear ready to give themselves a 49% salary increase (“Commissioners vote themselves pay raise,” Aug. 1). If that doesn’t make your eyes pop out, a look at the actual proposed salary of $182,141 will. For comparison, the salary of the governor of Minnesota is $149,550. Hennepin County commissioners currently make $122,225. Most people would agree that that is a good salary given that the median income of a resident in Hennepin County is $48,681. While the County Board is a very important body, the salary increase is simply shocking given that the board has functioned quite well for many years at the current salary bracket, as well as by comparison to key leaders, such as the governor.

The commissioners who voted in committee for this huge increase are tone-deaf and out of touch with their constituents, most of whom likely are not tracking this proposed change. I believe that there should be much more transparency and public input before the full board votes on this.

Notably, Board Chair Irene Fernando and Commissioners Angela Conley, Debbie Goettel and Marion Greene voted in committee in favor of this dramatic and unvetted change, while Commissioners Heather Edelson and Kevin Anderson voted against it. Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde was absent from the meeting, but opposed the increase.

The decision is to be voted on by the full board Aug. 6. I urge my fellow residents to contact those commissioners who voted for the 49% increase and ask them to delay any action until there is chance for input from the public they serve.

Matt Perry, Minneapolis

Wow. Not only do Hennepin commissioners have a wildly inflated sense of themselves, but they have also lost track of what it means to be a public servant. You do it for the chance to serve your community — not milk it for all you can get.

“We’d make more in the public sector” tells us where we should send these commissioners next time they face election.

Mary Pattock, Minneapolis

•••

I was appalled to read of the Hennepin County Board voting to raise the salaries of commissioners by 49%. I worked for the county for decades. For several years, I was part of AFSCME’s negotiating team, bargaining our union’s contract with the county. Year after year, we found ourselves negotiating over whether our cost-of-living adjustments should be 2%, or 3% or, in some tough years, whether we should have any adjustment for inflation. I and my fellow union members saw the real value of our wages keep falling through the years. It’s hard to see the board’s proposed raise as anything other than a slap in the face to the thousands of county employees who continue to serve the people.

President John Kennedy liked to inspire our country by challenging us to be people of high moral character. In a 1961 speech to the Massachusetts Legislature, he defined those aspirational traits as courage, judgment, integrity and dedication. Surely, the comment by former President Donald Trump that Vice President Kamala Harris “turned black” points to a lack of character (“Trump: Harris ‘happened to turn Black,’ ” Aug. 1).

On the contrary, I thought the vice president set a wonderful tone with her response: “Same old show.” She was instructing us that it’s not helpful to exhibit moral outrage to vicious ugly comments. Rather, she used the incident to remind us that “divisive and disrespectful” rhetoric damages the strength that comes from unity in a country. Harris is showing us the type of maturity and character President Kennedy was pointing us to in 1961.

Don Hauge, New Brighton

•••

Trump employed one of his favorite tricks during his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists. Even though Harris never made a secret of her Black heritage — she attended a prominent historically Black university, was a member of a historically Black sorority, and was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus — Trump accused her of only promoting her Indian American heritage in the past.

The bonus for Trump is that the MAGA cult will accept anything he says as the gospel truth. The critical question for Trump and our nation is does anyone else believe him?

Gene Case, Andover

You have printed why Republicans don’t want Gov. Tim Walz to be a vice presidential nominee; you have printed why a political analyst (Blois Olson) fears he is not ready (”Vice presidential possibilities: Is Walz really ready for a larger stage?” July 30). What’s the deal? Are we Minnesotans so used to being humble, so used to being runners-up that we cannot recognize and promote one of our own for the phenom he is?

I saw his enthusiasm with his high school students in parades in 2006 as he ran for Congress. I saw his fearlessness as he conducted town hall meetings in his district after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. And I saw him work with the slim majorities of trifecta DFL government these past two years to enact once-in-a-generation legislation. This is a politician who not only takes positions, but gets things done. He listens to constituents (and sometimes changes his views after listening) and then acts. We should all want that from our elected leaders. He is the real deal!

Amy Caucutt, Rochester

Olson uses a lot of words in his commentary about whether Walz is ready for a larger stage, but says very little of substance. Musing that Walz has given in to the left instead of compromising to the middle, Olson offers no examples. Walz’s recognizing the right of women to make their own health care decisions and enabling workers paid leave and sick and safe time off are hardly radical leftist views. Olson’s abstract theme that Walz has strayed far left in his politics is lacking.

Olson revels in his bald pronouncement that Walz is not the most transparent governor in state history. His odd analogy suggesting that Walz is becoming another Donald Trump (as someone who says anything that party loyalists soak up) is as absurd as it sounds. Hannibal Lecter, anyone?

Olson’s lamenting that Walz does not take tough questions or critiques well comes without context or comparison. How does he compare to the Republican former president or his running mate, JD Vance, as far as answering questions on specific topics? In Trump’s debate with President Joe Biden, Trump answered very few questions. Walz avoiding Jake Tapper’s question on CNN about whether he would be interested in serving as vice president is politics 101.

Olson could offer a meaningful comparison of political policies and platforms of candidates and prospective candidates on the national stage, such as Walz, that might be helpful to voters. But that may make Walz look pretty good compared to the other options.