Coffee with Sexton addresses city shooting

Sheriff Jay Dulas, Jessica Rollins, Mark Schaetzke, Mikhail Rostislavovich, Commissioner Doug Christopherson and Ann Staloch all attended the latest installment of Coffee with Minnesota Representative Tom Sexton on Friday, Jan. 9, 2025.

 

Sexton addressed the shooting of Renee Good in his newsletter dated Jan. 9: “I'm sure you have heard about the fatal shooting incident in Minneapolis yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with the family members of Renee Nicole Macklin Good and with law enforcement officers across the country, including those in Minneapolis now and those who were involved in the incident. There is no denying that the resulting rhetoric has been weaponized against individuals and agencies on both sides of the situation. In the face of a tragedy like this one, it is a great reminder that our law enforcement officers have a job to do and don't deserve the hate that is spewed at them for doing it. It is also a reminder of our freedoms we have here in the U.S., such as the rights to free speech and peaceful protest. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation as the investigation unfolds. In addition, we must work towards defusing the situation now and in the future.”

 

Representative Sexton told the group about the Department of Homeland Security’s website to find out if ICE has been in Waseca County and who was taken at: https://www.dhs.gov/wow. Sexton, “The people they are focusing on are the worst of the worst, a lot of child molestation, and we as a society should not be tolerating that at any time. That’s what ICE is targeting, is criminals doing very bad things in regards to drugs and minors.”

 

Mikhail Rostislavovich called attention to Sheriff Dulas and said, “Today is Law Enforcement Day, and I would like to thank you Sheriff for everything you do for us in this community and your deputies and other law enforcement.” Sheriff Dulas replied , “We appreciate all the community does for us and we appreciate the collaboration, it makes our job that much easier.”

 

During the talk Sexton also called attention to classic historic Minnesota buildings which are not being used. He mentioned some structures at the University of Minnesota saying, “On the Minneapolis campus, there are some beautiful historic buildings that are currently not in use. They don’t have the need or the ability in the budget to bring these buildings up to code.”

 

A guest brought up Clear Lake and the plan to bond for funds to help fix drainage problems: “Clear Lake and the sewage dumping water overflows have been overwhelming the wastewater treatment plant.” Sexton pointed out that it’s not because the plant was designed poorly, it’s just being overwhelmed by excess water. Continued Sexton, “Clear Lake four years ago was hit hard by the weeds, but the weed harvester and with the selective treatment of the lakes we were able to clear that up.”

 

There was discussion about area boat landings and keeping invasive species from spreading. Different guests pointed out about having signs posted, and having inspectors check boats both coming and going, Sheriff Dulas added, “We’ve seen it when we bring our law enforcement boats out onto the water, at different lakes and landings, people inspecting their boats and we hope that’s working.”

 

Ann Staloch asked, “Considering that the Governor is not running for reelection, but has made statements on how he is going to handle himself for the next 11 months. And with Speaker Demuth running for governor, what do you expect the tone to be during this next session?”

 

Sexton replied, “I’m hoping for a little more positive than what we saw during our last session. We all expect everyone to act appropriately.” Rostislavovich added, “He should continue to govern in a positive direction, but if he tries to use that last year of his term to incite anger and division, that’s where the problem is going to be. Right, left, whatever, they try to work together, and the tone and tenor is set by the governor. His constituents should be letting him know, calm it down. That’s what we as citizens should be doing, is we should call the capitol, and tell him, his staff goes over those messages every morning and they will let him know.

 

The Minnesota corporate tax rate is one of the highest in the country. According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, companies like 3M that were founded in the state, but are not growing here, they’re outsourcing to other states for their research and development and manufacturing because it’s not profitable to stay here.