Paul Scott comment: "Dennis Karlsbroten deserves our thanks"

Many time when you go to the polls, you ask yourself, "Do I REALLY have to vote for one of these candidates?"  That's usually for federal elections these days because we have a Congress that is gripped by partisanship and inaction.

But we are much more fortunate on the local level, where we are often presented with the difficult choice of picking between two qualified candidates.

Such was the case in the recent County Board election, where incumbent Dennis Karlsbroten and challenger John Beard were both on the ballot.  Dennis Karlsbroten lost the election, which mean we will miss the skills he brought to the position--especially his quiet, bipartisan style.  This past county board has been the best county board I've seen in action in 28 years of covering county boards and a large portion of that credit goes to Karlsbroten.

When the controversial issue of frac sand mining was brought before the board, he and the other supervisors could have resorted to partisan slogans and name-calling (like other politicians have been doing recently).  Instead he and supervisor Dean Thompson agreed to study the frac sand issue and have spent the past two years talking with experts and visiting frac sand operations all over the Midwest.

This quiet, respectful, non-partisan approach has extended to other local issues as well.  I suppose I should regret that it has been bad for news coverage--someone yelling always seems to grab the headlines--but I think it has been good for our community.

So come to Monday's reception at noon at the Courthouse and give Dennis Karlsbroten a simple message: "Thanks!"