Blue Earth County Commission

Candidate Biography:
Married, spouse Shirley. Two grown children, Marcus and Eliabeth, and four grandchildren. Retired from Piepho Moving and Storage. Former State Representative, State Senator and Skyline Mayor. Current Blue Earth County Commissioner since 2009.

Candidate Questionnaire:

1. Why should voters elect you to serve the position you seek?
I believe that my tenure as District #3 County Commissioner since 2009 has been a listen and learn experience. We have made Blue Earth County more effective and efficient with your tax dollars and more transparent, accountable, and accessible to all residents.

2. What would say are the key issues facing the city/district/county/state you seek to represent and how would you impact them from this elected position?
Several issues the County Board has dealt with included the Rapidan Dam, whether to keep and maintain the Dam or remove the Dam completely. The recent June severe weather events caused the County Board to re-evaluate the status of the Rapidan Dam and County Bridge 25. The County Board, after much consideration and deliberation, directed the County staff to move on with a new bridge and remove the Rapidan Dam. As a Commissioner. I weighed all the options and explored all the costs.. It was critical to gather as much public input as possible, as the County did, before making a final decision.

3. In your view, what is the role of the body/office you seek in supporting business vitality and economic development?
Keeping taxes as low as possible while maintaining essential services for our constituents.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and are an essential to the economic vitality of our community.

4. The effective and efficient use of public tax dollars is a key component to serving in public office. What experience do you have dealing with complex budgets? When presented with a budget that will often be several hundred pages in length, what will be your process to determine if it is a good budget? What improvements would you recommend to improve the fiscal responsibility for the body/office you would represent if elected?
Having served in the Legislature and on the County Board, I have dealt with a variety of Budgets. The question to always ask is does the budget item meet the needs it was intended for and is it still necessary.

Since staffing levels, capital requests and road projects make up 80% of the budget, I work diligently with other Board members, the County Administrator and top Department Heads to ensure a tight and fiscally sound budget that covers our top priorities and essential County services.

5. Compromise and consensus are a crucial part of bringing conflicting views/positions together to get decisions made in a democracy. How will you go about working with other elected officials of varied political backgrounds to build the consensus necessary to govern for the benefit of citizens?
Our Blue Earth County Board may have different personal political views but work together in a non-partisan fashion to promote the County’s interests with local, state and federal elected officials.

Candidate Biography:

Ross Arneson earned business and English degrees from the University of Minnesota, and law from William Mitchell. Organizations he worked for include the Austin Daily Herald, Robby’s Restaurant, Hormel, Mower County, Kodak, Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, First Judicial District, Watonwan County, MSU-Mankato, and Blue Earth County where he served as county attorney for 27 years. He is admitted to practice before Minnesota State Courts, U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court. (By comparison, of the ten attorneys in the Blue Earth County Attorney’s Office, only two are admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court and none are admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.) Legal proceedings he initiated allowed for the development of the improvement and expansion of Madison Avenue and Victory Drive, Blue Earth County Highway 90, and the Red Jacket Bicycle Trail. During his tenure his office processed 60,000 cases, including a dozen murder cases that were all successfully prosecuted. He was legal advisor to all county departments, and the county board.

Ross is an Eagle Scout and has provided community service to many organizations, including serving as a trustee to the Public Employees Retirement Association (the state’s largest pension) serving as a trustee for the Minnesota Valley Federal Credit union, and as a director for the Highland Park Neighborhood Association.

Ross has been married to Barbara (Baumhover) Arneson since 1979, and is proud of his two children, Nathan Arneson and Sarah (Arneson) Davis, and is delighted with his four grandkids.

1. Why should voters elect you to serve the position you seek?
After serving as Blue Earth County Attorney for 27 years, in retirement I have served as a trustee for the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA, the state’s largest pension) as a trustee for the Minnesota Valley Federal Credit Union, and as a director of the Highland Park Neighborhood association. I would like to continue public service as a county commissioner.
I am a licensed attorney and have a business degree from the University of Minnesota.

2. What would you say are the key issues facing the city/district/county/state you seek to represent and how would you impact them from this elected position?
When my opponent ran against Katy Wortel for county commissioner ten years ago a key issue was what to do about the Rapidan Dam. The board did not take timely action and the dam was breached. It may be years until we learn about the effects of the discharge of contaminated soil held back by the dam. The county board needs to take timely action in the future on such matters. Procedures for dealing with drug usage and deaths need improvement. The county has duties of promoting public safety and providing excellent infrastructure. I worked on those matters as county attorney. When I was county attorney I learned from Dr. Mike Osterholm, who was the state epidemiologist at the time, that we were overdue for a pandemic. I ordered N95 masks, disinfectant and hand sanitizer for the people in my office. I encouraged the sheriff to do the same. I asked the county nurse to provide instruction on mask fitting. That was back in 2014. The county needs to prepare for future pandemics.

3. In your view, what is the role of the body/office you seek in supporting business vitality and economic development?
Providing appropriate infrastructure for business is important. The Madison Avenue and Victory Drive improvements and extensions, the establishment of Blue Earth County Highway 90 and of the Red Jacket Bicycle Trail were made possible by civil court actions I brought.

4. The effective and efficient use of public tax dollars is a key component to serving in public office. What experience do you have dealing with complex budgets? When presented with a budget that will often be several hundred pages in length, what will be your process to determine if it is a good budget? What improvements would you recommend to improve the fiscal responsibility for the body/office you would represent if elected?
As county attorney I gave legal advice to the county board on budgeting that they did not follow, leading to a statutorily prescribed budget appeal in which the county board (including my opponent) was found in contempt of court. As county attorney I kept within budget for 27 years. As a trustee for PERA I was involved in setting complex annual budgets.

5. Compromise and consensus are a crucial part of bringing conflicting views/positions together to get decisions made in a democracy. How will you go about working with other elected officials of varied political backgrounds to build the consensus necessary to govern for the benefit of citizens?
County offices are non-partisan, so belonging to a particular party should not be an issue. As county attorney I worked with elected and appointed officials in order to accomplish statutory mandates for the county. I was legal advisor to every county department.