Woodard Hosts Contentious Town Hall Meeting in Northfield

In 2010, Rep. Kelby Woodard (R-District 25B) won his legislative seat by 37 votes.

At the Republican's Monday night town hall meeting at Jesse James Lanes, several of the 75 people in attendance openly spoke in opposition of his political stances.

Woodard opened by addressing health and human services, education financing and transportation, but things grew heated when an attendee denounced Woodard’s support of a bill that would dismantle background checks for Minnesota gun buyers.

She also criticized Woodard for championing HF 1467, which would make it more difficult to prosecute persons that use guns in self-defense by “eliminating the common law duty to retreat in cases of self defense outside the home."

“I’m sorry, but you did not listen in committee. I don’t think you heard the testimony that was offered,” one resident angrily told Woodard.

One constituent, who claimed to be a gun owner, a lawyer and decorated Vietnam War veteran, objected to Woodard’s claim that the bill was a second amendment issue.

“What you’re saying is trash,” an attendee told the representative.

Woodard last year unseated incumbent David Bly, a DFLer from Northfield. Bly carried Northfield with 68 percent of the votes.

Sen. Al DeKruif (R-District 25) also spoke at the town hall meeting. The freshman legislator last year unseated DFLer Kevin Dahle, who carried Northfield with 67 percent of the votes.

The night’s conversation, which began with two speeches about financial austerity, eventually returned to fiscal policy. Both Woodard and DeKruif spoke of the need to trim the budget and make state agencies “lean and mean.”

Many of the constituents, though, objected to that mentality.

“I’m concerned about lean and mean,” said one constituent, who worried that budget cuts were shortchanging the providers of much-needed public services. “I think it’s worth paying taxes to live in this country."

Another attendee said he paid more taxes than ever this year, to which, he was "ecstatic."

The meeting was not all criticism, though. After a tense exchange, one attendee quipped, “I know it’s a hard job to be a public employee,” which drew laughter from the room.

Bruce Morlan, a Bridgewater Township supervisor, thanked the legislators for their help in assuring townships’ ability to resist aggressive developers through interim ordinances.

Corporate tax policy also aroused the crowd’s emotions.

When one resident asked why legislators did not raise taxes on large companies, DeKruif spoke at length about the need for a business-friendly Minnesota. The state, he said, is ranked 50th in business climate—South Dakota is ranked first. Making the state more business-friendly would lead to prosperity, he argued.

“If that philosophy is true, where are the jobs?” said one constituent in response.

When Woodard agreed that the corporate sector would bring prosperity, the crowd again showed its opposition.

“If that’s the case, why haven’t we grown enormously since the Reagan years?” asked one attendee.

A bill that would require voters to show ID at their polling place also came under fire. Some are concerned that students, the elderly, and other groups do not have the time or resources to file the proper paperwork.

“By adding an obstacle to voting, you are blocking the democratic process,” said Adrienne Falcon.

Woodard, who is a co-author on the House bill, said that acquiring an ID isn’t very hard.

“If voting is that important to you, you should get a voting ID," he replied.