Access To Democracy

Minnesota State Senator Jim Carlson, representing District 52, with parts of Eagan, Burnsville, Mendota Heights, and Mendota, joins Access to Democracy host Steve Francisco to examine some of the key bills that passed in the 2023 legislative session.

Highlights included a $72 billion two-year budget, including a $3 billion tax cut aimed at working families, as well as $2.6 billion for infrastructure projects, $2.2 billion for schools, and more than $1 billion for human services. Senator Carlson explains how DFL’s control of the governor’s office, and the House and Senate, led to a landmark session full of accomplishments. Republicans remain skeptical and claim that voters will render a negative judgment in 2024. This interview also examines what issues may be back before the Legislature next year.

Historian-author Newell Searle joins host Steve Francisco for a fascinating discussion about how the Minnesota National Forest, now known as the Chippewa National Forest, was created by Congress in 1902.
 
Mr. Searle, the author of an award-winning paper, “Minnesota National Forest: The Politics of Compromise, 1898-1908,” describes the diverse alliance of lumbermen, settlers, social reformers, the Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs, and various government officials whose compromises finally led to the creation of the national forest and laid the cornerstone for Minnesota’s conservation legacy.
 
He also explores the exploitation of Native Americans in Northern Minnesota by various reformers who supposedly represented their “best interests.”

Eagan City Council Member Mike Supina, joins host Steve Francisco for an interesting discussion of Eagan’s new rental licensing ordinance, the voluntary Safe Cam Program where homeowners may voluntarily register their cameras with local law enforcement agencies to better protect their neighborhoods, the status of road repairs, tree removal, and protecting local lakes and streams.

Steve and Mike also discuss how Eagan has been able to hold the line on property tax increases by creating a diverse mix of residential and business properties. The aging of Eagan’s population poses challenges for the City in meeting the needs of its residents for senior housing and affordable housing for working families and individuals.

An amateur pottery maker, Mike also talks about the Eagan Art House and opportunities for residents to express their creativity through making art.

Jason Viana, Executive Director of the Open Door Pantry joins host Steve Francisco to discuss the record-breaking demand for food at Dakota County’s largest food shelf, including the growing disparities in incomes.
 

To meet this urgent and growing demand and to help streamline its services to clients, the Open Door Pantry moved into more spacious quarters in Eagan earlier this year.

Jason dispells some of the myths about hunger and points out that most clients are, in fact, working families. Nearly two-thirds of the food distributed by the Open Door is fresh or perishable. The Open Door also has imaginative initiatives such as its Garden to Table Project supporting more than 300 garden plots where families can grow their own food. The Mobile Lunchbox Program delivered over 40,000 meals in four school districts in 2021.

Learn more in this interview about the vital role that the Open Door serves in helping fight hunger in Dakota County.

YAKOV GRADINAR, Chief Medical Officer for the Protez Foundation, joins host Steve Francisco for an informative discussion about the important work of Protez in providing free prosthetics to wounded Ukrainian soldiers, civilians, and children.

Born and raised in Ukraine, Yakov came to Minnesota 16 years ago to build a new life. He has found his life’s work in helping support the victims of Russia’s illegal war against the people of Ukraine.

The Protez Foundation not only provides free prosthetics, but also provides important follow-up care in Minnesota and Ukraine with volunteer physical and occupational therapists and psychologists.

Partnering with local hospitals such as Hennepin Healthcare and Allina and prosthetics makers such as Ottobock, the Protez Foundation is giving new hope to Ukraine’s heroes.