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Proudly serving the city of Saint Paul, the Republicans of Minnesota House District 66B want to help you live a better life.
Politics

MN Secretary of State Website Tool, Caucus Finder, was Neglected for 2 Years!

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The CaucusFinder Tool had not been updated since before Redistricting in February 2022. This went down in January 2024 in order to update it by February 7, 2024.

To be proactive this year, I decided to schedule a post weeks out from February 27th to show where all the Precinct Caucuses are for Republicans in the Local Party Units aka BPOUs in Saint Paul. However to use the CaucusFinder Tool which is very helpful in the past to find ones Precinct Caucus location for whatever Major Party you choose you need to input addresses into it.

So using a list of addresses from past delegates in St Paul from CD4 GOP those addresses were inputted into the CaucusFinder in the first week of January 2024 and there was an issue that arose.

CaucusFinder Problem

The HD 66B Republican Precinct Caucus Location was set up in December, after helping out a City Council Candidate in 2023, to be Johnson Aerospace & Engineering High School (aka Johnson High School) in St Paul on Arcade St. Then inputting the address of someone in HD 67A it came back as the same location at Johnson High School. Oh the horror! I thought that I had double-booked the High School for the Precinct Caucuses. Then putting in another HD 67A address I found it to be in the location list below.

It was curious why that one address went to Johnson High School and not the actual one. So I went to the Ramsey County GIS Precinct Map, and found out the location to be in St Paul Ward 6 Precinct 7. I inputted other addresses in the precinct and they came up as Johnson High School. This was Clue #1 about what was going on with CaucusFinder.

I put in another address in SD 67 that was further east into the District and the caucus location was found to be the one below.

Then I looked up the caucus locations in SD 65, and HD 66A which are listed below.

I then put in an address of an old friend who lives in the St Thomas University area which is in SD 64. The caucus location for that address was Johnson High School! What was going on?

From the Ramsey County GIS Precinct Map I found out the address was in St Paul Ward 4 Precinct 12. This was Clue #2.

I put in an address near St Paul Avenue and Davern St and found the correct location below but it was named Ramsey Middle School. This was Clue #3.

Mystery Solved

Clue #3 was a curious one that tickled a memory of a conversation with Ramsey County Elections Manager David Triplett in late summer of 2022, when I was making updates to the polling locations for the August Primary and the General Election. I like to add maps next to the addresses of locations that are important so readers can make plans to go to places they might not have been to before.  The Google Map location showed Ramsey Middle School to have been changed to a new name, Hidden River Middle School. I told him about it and he replied a week later saying I was correct.

So whatever was going on with Caucusfinder it had to be something that happened in 2022.

Clues #1 & #2 answered the “what happened” in 2022.

Well Redistricting had happened and St Paul Ward 6 Precinct 7 and Ward 4 Precinct 12 had been in old HD 66B prior to Redistricting.

So this meant that the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon’s office hadn’t updated the precincts inside of the Legislative Districts since Redistricting started in February 2022. The final Ward & Precinct map wasn’t approved in Ramsey County until April 2022. This may have led to Candidate Greg Copeland thinking he still lived in Ramsey County District 6 instead of being actually in District 3. One would have to check to make sure this was the case.

So what has the MN SOS and the Minnesota Legislative Body that does oversight of that office been doing for the last 2 years?  That’s a Good Question.

Action to Fix It

I contacted the MNGOP Deputy Chair Donna Bergstrom and told her about how the CaucusFinder was messed up. I also sent a note to Ramsey County Elections Manager David Triplett as well. I knew Mr Triplett couldn’t do anything about it but he said later that he contacted the MN SOS Office about the issue. Sent a note to Senator Mark Koran because I didn’t know how deep the problem was.

I also sent a note to the MN Secretary of State’s Office explaining what I had found out about Caucusfinder. Finally I sent a note to Alpha News MN’s Reporter Liz Collin, just to make sure some sort of action would take place on this. I could see people being sent to Precinct Caucus locations outside of their Legislative District and being super angry about it.

I heard back from Deputy Chair Bergstrom as well as Liz Collin. I didn’t hear back from the MN SOS office but the fact they took CaucusFinder offline and posted the above notice about it’s availability after February 7th says they got my message.

This article I posted it largely to explain that the MN Secretary of State’s Tool of helping people find their Precinct Caucus Location was neglected for 2 years. I helped to make sure that Precinct Caucuses were not messed up in any way this year. I looked for Republican Party Caucus locations and not other Major Party locations, but I may have helped them to avoid major chaos in their party in choosing precinct delegates & alternates.

Tom Polachek HD 66B Republicans Vice Chair of the Website & Social Media, 2023 to the Present

Action, HD66B

The Fred Factor

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At the Cross Cultural Workshop, August 14, 2023, Waihon Liew mentioned some books to read about. An attendee named Jason said he is a mailman and there are some Kareni or Hmong on the block he delivers to. When he has to interact with them their kids run inside the house to hide and close the shades. Jason asked how he could let them know he is friendly and the mail carrier is not the police.

Waihon, the instructor, told some key ways to bridge the gap, as the Kareni were a persecuted people in Myanmar (formerly Burma). They learned to be leery of anyone in a uniform.

Waihon gave him a book called, “The Fred Factor,” by Mark Sanborn. The book was inspired by a mailman named Fred Shay.

Do You Know a “Fred” Who Needs to be Recognized?

While eating lunch at the Roseville MN Chick-fil-A, I spotted a “Fred,” named Conrad. He is a Senior Citizen Black Man who is a store Ambassador who makes sure people feel welcome and kids have fun especially when he MOOs out loud so everyone inside hears him. He also takes trays when customers are done and gives out mints and hand cleaning wipes. Conrad goes above and beyond the job to earn the title of a “Fred.”

If you would like to recognize a “Fred” you can let us know at our Twitter/X Account @HD66BGOP and use the hashtag #FredFactor, then explain why he or she is a “Fred.”

Action, HD66B

Crossing Cultures & Being Influential

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Waihon LIew

The Cross Cultural Workshop on August 14th was a success. We had several members of our bpou as well as other bpous across the Metro and even Linwood, MN. Thanks to Mikki Murray and Tawn Johnson and others in promoting the event to other local party units.

Presentations by May Lor Xiong & Waihon Liew

The first presentation was by Asian American Republicans Chair May Lor Xiong, who was the endorsed MN CD4 Republican candidate in 2022 talked about some of the lessons learned when she ran for office. One might think the Karen of Myanmar (formerly Burma) would have the same cultural ties to Hmong but they are completely different cultures.

May Lor Xiong stressed that people in general want to be part of the solution to problems that present themselves. The best practice is to listen to people and find common values you share and start from there.

May Lor Xiong, the endorsed 2022 CD4 Republican Candidate

Next Waihon Liew, Chair Donna Liew’s husband has many accolades in connecting those from other cultures

Waihon Liew’s Background

Originally from Malaysia, Waihon has his M Sc in Education Leadership and Masters in Cross Cultural Studies.  Waihon taught comparative religions and cross cultural studies at St Mary’s University, Winona, as well as similar courses at North Central University, Minneapolis . He has taught under the American Degree Transfer Program at two major universities in Malaysia and has been teaching / mentoring Karen immigrant students at Sejong Academy (K-12), St Paul since 2016.

Through his alma mater, Winona State University, Waihon started a Continuing Education program for schools in Malaysia in March 2023. Because of his work with immigrants and efforts to improve education in Malaysia, he was named Distinguished Alumni of the Decade by Winona State in 2023.

3 Core Values We Share

  • Freedom
  • Faith
  • Family

Waihon talked about the 3 Core Values Karen Immigrants from Myanmar have in common with us.  They are Freedom, Faith, and their Families.

In Myanmar they had no concept of politics but they would get dictates from their government what they were supposed to do. So when someone in a uniform shows up at their house there is an element of fear.  Jason a BPOU leader from SD 33 Stillwater is a mailman and he expressed how when he shows up at houses were Karens live at, the children run and hide and they close the shades. 

Waihon Liew said how they were taught by experience to fear anyone in a government uniform. They were targeted for their Christian Faith and they were forced to flee their homeland for the safety of their families.  The Hmong were no different when they fled the country of Laos pursued by the Communists.

Malaysian Flag. See how close to the US Flag this is.
The Karen of Myanmar Flag

Books and Movies

Waihon talked of different books and movies to learn valuable lessons from. Here are two of them.

  • The Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn (there’s an audiobook at the Ramsey County Library using the Libby App). Also probably available at Half Price Books. It’s about a mailman named Fred who gives the best possible customer service to those on his route in Denver.
  • McFarland USA (Movie). It’s about Coach Jim White

Mark Sanborn has several videos online that cover the exceptional service by Fred Shay his mailman for over a decade in Denver.

Ways to Cross Cultures and Be an Influential Leader

Waihon said the best way to be an influential leader is to be a servant to others first. The best example of this is Jesus Christ. In his ministry he was first to serve others before he taught lessons.

In his ministry to the Karen of Myanmar Refugees he was welcomed into their community and given a robe of the Karen colors.

He suggests to listen to others as everyone has a story to tell. Once hearing them, you can relate a story of your own the people you are talking with can understand.  Praise others and nurture their values.

If you would like to know more here are some assignments you can do until the next workshop:

  • Read Books
  • Support Groups
  • Servant Leadership
  • Go to Cultural Events with your kids
  • Find ways to volunteer
  • Be intentionally attentive
  • Learn to be patient (it sometimes takes time for people to catch on to understand the ideas you are putting forth)

Thank You to those who attended

We thank all those who attended our workshop. Initially there was a phone number in the first notice of the event to Chair Donna Liew that was in error. We had such a great showing that future events of this kind will be planned.

Thank you to Chair Donna Liew for the meal she made for the event. Thank you to Waihon Liew and also to May Lor Xiong for their great presentations.

Education

St Paul & Ramsey County Libraries Libby App E-Reader

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Prior to the Covid lockdowns many people used to go to the library in person. Since then people have gotten into the habit of reading their books from a distance on e-readers. It’s not the same as an in-person visit as it used to be. Seeing the librarians, saying hello to regulars at the library and sipping on a cup of mocha at the attached coffee shop like at the Downtown St Paul Library or at the Ramsey County Library in Roseville MN.

It was also a plus when area school children had their artwork displayed in public. There are some great budding artists out there.

Metropolitan Library Service Agency, or MELSA has an E-Reader System called The Libby App by Overdrive or Libby for short.

Here’s a video from another public library in Texas, with an informal tutorial.

 

Libby books can be read on a Kindle device, in fact it will ask you which method of viewing your book selections you’d like to read it on. On my laptop computer it makes use of the full screen. It is crisp and fluid in its functioning.

The best news is being able to borrow magazines. Another favorite activity of many at a Library was to go to the area near the fireplace and read, or leaf through a magazine. Libby has that covered. There is no crinkle of pages or the sometimes hard to turn a page due to the metal spine.  The magazine pages are vivid and you can enlarge them or just leaf through the pages as you would in an actual magazine.  The best thing is it won’t take up too much space on your coffee or end table.

Life has returned to as close as normal as it was before Covid lockdowns. One can still use the e-reader but there are just some things your devices can’t replicate online.  Some of the things are seeing the librarians and saying hello, enjoying a mocha from Dunn Brothers, or hearing Howard’s Countdown Trivia at the Roseville Library in the last hour before closing.