Elections

Cohasset 2024 Election Guide

KAXE

Published October 8, 2024 at 12:27 PM CDT

Barbara Baird, Shannon Benolken, Tim Carlson, Ryan Frank, Richard L. Kortekaas Sr., Andy MacDonell, Erik Odden and Kevin Ott are running for Cohasset City Council.

KAXE contacted every candidate twice using contact information submitted to the Secretary of State's Office to invite them to participate in our Election Guide.

Candidate responses have not been edited and are published as submitted.

As necessary, our news team added contextual information clearly marked with an "editor's note" and in italics, though responses have not been uniformly fact-checked. With our small team of three, we are unable to proactively fact check every statement made by candidates. But we will make every effort to make note of inaccuracies if they come to our attention.

Please contact our news team at news@kaxe.org with questions or comments or to report any errors.

KAXE's Election Guide only includes candidates in contested races. Visit our full list of who's running for office in Northern Minnesota to see who else is on the ballot.

Election Guide Homepage

City Council (Elect Two)

Barbara Baird

Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 60

Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
City of Grand Rapids, Director of Finance

Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
Deputy Clerk, City of Cohasset

Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
Council Member

Why are you running for office?
I feel I have a lot to give with 27 years of governmental experience in finance.

What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
Budgeting, financial stability, long range plans.

What effective policies will you support that will prepare your city now, next year and in the future to improve resiliency against climate change?
I have no experience in policy for climate change, however I think that our wealthy persons need to take a serious look at their carbon footprint.

High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
We need to have much more resident participation and input with government activities.

How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in government?
It is called resident participation! People need to be involved and watching what their government is doing.

Shannon Benolken

Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 53

Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
Park State Bank, Vice President Business Banking

Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
I have close to a decade of economic development experience in addition and I have years of experience in the nonprofit sector. I currently serve on the Cohasset EDA, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and I am the Chair of the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation. I have local, regional and statewide connections that will be very useful in office.

Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
It is the City Council's responsibility to govern the city. The Council creates and implements the vision for city, working closely with the administrator. The City Council is responsible for establishing the levy, and ordinances as well as planning and ensuring that services are delivered to residents in a timely and affordable manner. As elected officials, the City Council should act as the eyes and ears of the community and should act on the best interest of the community as a whole.

Why are you running for office?
The short answer is because I want to help.

I’ve wanted to run for Cohasset City Council since I was in my early 30’s and now I’m finally at a time in my life where I have the flexibility and time to devote to being a productive member of the council.

My mother was the Clerk of Cohasset for many years. All I can remember as a child was her working for the city even before I could understand what she did for a living. I grew up with the Cohasset City Council and I'm excited to be able to give back to a city that's given so much to me and my family.

What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
The 10,000-pound gorilla that is facing the City of Cohasset are all the “unknowns” surrounding Minnesota Power/Boswell Energy Center and what that means for our tax base. Minnesota Power’s parent company Allete, is in the process of being sold to a private company and should close sometime in mid- 2025. We know that the parent company is committed to Allete and the local leadership, headquarters and current workforce and we know that coal is going away by 2035. What we don’t know is what is going to replace it. There is speculation of natural gas, but we don’t know for sure, and it may be some time before we do know what the plan is for the future of the plant.

In my opinion, the city needs to be focusing on diversifying the tax base. The Boswell Energy Center is the lion’s share of our tax base and if it we lose it will be a tremendous blow to our residents. We need to attract more businesses to our industrial park and the other properties that are available within the city limits. Economic development efforts are critical moving forward.

Across the region, renters and owners are struggling to afford housing. If elected, what would you do to address the issues of availability and affordability for your constituents?
I fully understand that economic development is a double-edged sword. Attracting businesses also means the need for housing will increase in an already strained housing market. The new housing study just came out and it shows that the estimated housing demand in Itasca County between 2024 and 2029 is between 795 and 875 additional units. With economic development, the demand for housing increases dramatically. What's even more alarming is the fact that 60% of all households in Itasca County are paying 30% or more of their income on housing.

The City of Cohasset should be focusing on housing and attracting developers because it partners with economic development, and it increases and diversifies the tax base. I have experience in the nonprofit housing industry, senior housing and I am connected to developers in the housing industry.

I also think that there needs to be serious consideration given to zoning requirements that will allow for higher densities in some areas. I understand that living in a rural area, this is not always a popular opinion because we like our space.

I would like to see more senior housing developed. It's wonderful that our seniors are able to age in place be it by choice, other's by not having additional options. Here again, we have a double-edged sword. Our seniors staying in place does not free up the housing stock as it has in the past. It would be beneficial to give our seniors more options and opportunities for senior living.

What effective policies will you support that will prepare your city now, next year and in the future to improve resiliency against climate change?
After reading this question my gut reaction was, "Well, all of them!" But that's a little over the top. I am an outdoor enthusiast. I am an avid backpacker, I love being able to go winter camping in the Boundary Waters and take a drink of water directly from the lake from the hole that my husband drilled. I can watch the birds all day long and there's nothing better than the smell of the air on a cool fall morning. I don't take this for granted.

When I was a child back in the early 70's, my family's home in Cohasset was purchased by Minnesota Power because the neighborhood that we lived in was very close to the plant and they had a fly-ash issue back then. In the morning our cars, homes and lawns would have a light coating of ash. Fast forward, we now know that Minnesota Power is one of the cleanest coal plants in operation in terms of emissions.

Minnesota has very strict environmental standards and we need to honor those standards. I will adhere to the laws and standards that have been established and I will do my best be as informed as possible when the issues arise so that the best decisions can be made.

Prior to being a commercial lender, I was a business consultant and I am a business owner. I have an MBA with concentrations in public administration and finance. I am fiscally conservative by nature but that doesn't mean that I will say no to all spending. The spending has to make sense. It has to be responsible.

I have also been involved in the nonprofit sector in various capacities for years and I take my fiduciary responsibilities VERY serious and I will be an excellent steward of our tax dollars because I'm not afraid to ask questions.

How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in government?
This is really a tough question to answer. I can't just say, "Trust me!" Those who know me, know that I am transparent. I'm a terrible poker player--really horrible. My face gives me away every time.

But in all seriousness, I am very transparent and I think it's a combination of two reasons: I don't like surprises and I believe that honesty really is the best policy. I think that being able to deliver tough messages or bad news in a way that is direct and to the point but also with compassion goes along way towards building trust.

The only way to improve transparency and trust in government is through my actions.