Woodbury Residents Gather For Lively Discussion On 'Myths' About Government

“Why do legislators want to create a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist?” a citizen asks.

“Because they’re legislators,” comes the reply.

About 150 people came to Tuesday evening for three rapid-fire .

The event, hosted by the progressive nonprofit River Valley Action, was aimed at sparking discussion among Washington County residents about the “myths”—that taxes and regulation destroy jobs, and that mandatory voter ID will prevent voter fraud.

David Schultz, a professor at the Hamline University School of Business, gave a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation in which he punctuated completed slides with a shouted “Go” and equated the argument that higher taxes lead to fewer jobs with claims that the sun revolves around the earth and exists.

“Businesses admit when you do surveys of them that taxes have a minimal impact,” he said. “If taxes are so important, then why is Minnesota doing so well and Mississippi so badly.”

After each lecture, the audience broke up into three groups that were encouraged by moderators to create questions for the speakers.

Phil Williams asked, “Do taxes matter if you look at other countries versus the U.S.?”

“Good question,” someone nearby said.

Tricia Fischer wore a “Socialism sucks!” button and said she was recently forced to close her interior design business.

“I had a small business, and I had to give it up because I couldn’t keep up with the taxes,” she said.

“Is that a question?” replied the moderator, Karen Fitzpatrick. “Do you want me to write it down?”

Becky Siekmeier, an organizer of the event, said that the goal of the “debunking common myths” lecture series was to “look at the other side of the story from what’s being presented by the mainstream media.”

“By having these sorts of forums, citizens can come together and get their questions answered by experts in their field,” she said.

The Woodbury forum was the second Washington County lecture; the first, in Stillwater, focused on schools and the state budget, and a future event is being planned in Hugo.

Rep. Andrea Kieffer (R-Woodbury) said she came to hear what her constituents think about the issues.

“I’m glad to see citizens are getting more and more engaged and knowledgeable about what’s going on in the government,” she said.

These sentiments of Minnesotan participatory pride were echoed by Jan Stoven, a 34-year resident of Woodbury who said she watches Almanac every Friday night.

“People have different opinions, but all the opinions are being expressed civilly,” she said. “I feel the energy in the room is very positive.”