Brown, Grandstrand show contrasts in approach to office
May 22, 2012 at 4:44 pm in Grand Forks Herald
Along with their difference in age and experience, Grand Forks’ two mayoral candidates contrast in their vision for the job they are running for. Continue Reading
Brown has been mayor long enough. Grand Forks has seen little improvement during his tenure. It’s time for some fresh ideas in the office of the mayor.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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If I know Grand Forks, this will be the biggest landslide victory in the history of the mayor’s race.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Born and raised in GF, but I’ve been away for about 4 years.
Reading how Brown continues to patronize Grandstrand in these exchanges is one of the reasons why I fear I may never return to Grand Forks: current leadership is so afraid of change that they scoff and belittle the unknown. Brown can try to take all the credit in the world, but I hope for the sake of progress the voters will be able to see through his last ditch effort to look like he actually cares about what he’s doing, besides picking up a pay check. True, delegation is a part of the job description, but so is an active interest in pressing topics and attending meetings more than once every 5 years. “You are where you need to be when you need to be there” sounds like an esoteric machination poorly camouflaging a weak excuse of a man who truly isn’t able to meet all of his responsibilities.
Grandstrand may be lacking in age and arguably experience, but his passion, research, and desire are exactly what Grand Forks needs. The city and the state have found themselves in a nationally unique situation where they will continue to see growth both financially and residentially. A passive approach by the mayor is not what is needed. An impassioned, driven mayor who isn’t afraid to usher Grand Forks into the future, who is in touch with the youth and could help stymie the brain drain that has plagued the town for so long is available now in Tyrone Grandstrand.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Where does Tyrone give us solid indication that he is the one to deliver all this?
He talks about rent and encouraging developement.
Thats not within his span of control as Mayor. He is touting things he has no way of controlling.
Secondly, he blames Brown for no new Library being built.
We as a community voted on that and the Library failed miserably.
Are we to believe that Tyrone would have just given ut a free pass and left us to pay for it?
That alone is a scary proposition.
Sorry but all i see in Tyrone at this point is a young man who wants to use this position as a stepping stone all the way up the political ladder.
I’m hearing a lot of talk, but not seeing much in terms of how he plans to actually make things happen.
Maybe he needs to explain better what his plans are for the future of this community and why hes so involved that he needs to be in the seat all day every day just to run our city that has been run just fine for years by a part time Mayor.
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I suppose one way to beat Brown is to replay his statements from his first campaign, which consisted essentially of “We need an outsider as mayor to eliminate the business as usual attitude of City Hall.” Of course, the “outsider” became the consummate insider. After three terms, he seems to believe the position belongs to him.
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From the City of Grand Forks Website:
“In Grand Forks, the voters elect the mayor who serves a four year term. The mayor’s position is part-time and pays $24,000 a year.”
Does Grandstand realize this? If elected, is he honestly going to sit in his office 8-5 M-F for the next 4 years for part-time pay? I guess if he really wants to, then more power to him. He will be done with his mayorial duties by noon and then be free to work on his next campaign ambitions.
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There nowhere near enough difference between ‘em philosophically.
Both will promote reckless spending by City Council on projects that should never see the light of day. Both will favor subsidies for the already-wealthy/Corporations, and the so-called “underprivileged” while waging a silent war on the rights of all citizens, and the paychecks (excessive taxation) of the middle class. This town needs social workers with access to the City checking account like we need to put power drills to our skulls.
Grandma was right: “I wouldn’t vote for them for dog-catcher”.
So again: Is it worth giving Grandstand a “promotion” in order to get him out of his Council seat? Maybe he does somewhat less damage as Mayor than as Councilman?
First Guess: He’s not going to be a three-term Mayor. He’ll be Mayor as a stepping-stone to something Grand-er. Which we probably shouldn’t encourage…
More of the same ol’ same ol’ from Brown…or more of the same ol’–maybe worse–from Grandstrand.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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First order of business will be for him to change the job description of the mayor to full time with a $100K salary. If he’s elected, the city council will have a hard time saying no (given that except for Terry Bjerke, they routinely don’t say no to almost any spending request).
Hot debate. What do you think?
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No way. People in GF had apoplexity when they wanted to raise it from 13 to 24. As for the council, Gershman runs it, makes no difference who the mayor is.
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John: he has an independent source of income. His pay is purely symbolic.
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I’ve heard this before. What, did he inherit a bunch of Berkshire-Hathaway A stock? Can you be more specific?
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I dont know if the “Full Time” Mayor campaign is the way to go.
I just believe Grandstrand has went about it the wrong way.
I need to know what you plan to do differently.
If you are going to accomplish less than Brown, i dont really care how many hours a day you put in.
If you want my vote, you need to tell me what you can do better than the current administration.
I’m listening…..
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Before i vote to put an unknown entity into office, i would need to know what the current Mayor has done that has hurt our town.
I see growth, i see private industry growing, i see the USAF still in the picture.
I dont really see any negatives.
I’d like a new sidewalk and maybe some better painted roads but somehow i dont think either of these guys will get that for me so until Grandstrand can sell me on something he is going to do differently to drastically improve our city without spending every last cent in the coffers, i see no resason to change what in my eyes seems to be working just fine.
If Tyrone wants to be Mayor, he really needs to spell out for the people what he will do and how he will do it.
I dont want to hear what he thinks about the current Mayors decisions, i want to hear what he will do differently.
Politicians, always quick to complain about the guy in power but always willing to do the exact same thing once elected themselves.
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I actually like some of Mr. Grandstrand’s ideas. I’m not sure the town needs a full-time mayor, but it isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever heard. However, I’m far more inclined to vote for him in 2016 or 2020 once he has had some post-college work experience, preferably in the private sector.
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” However, I’m far more inclined to vote for him in 2016 or 2020 ”
I tend to believe he’ll have much bigger fish to fry by then. Like Glassheim, a run for the ND legislature while on the council. Then ND senate. I think his timetable is DC by the time he’s 40 or so.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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From my personal experience with Tyrone, you should hear “micromanagement” every time you hear “hands-on,” and every time you wonder why a recent college grad would want to be full-time mayor instead of pursuing a career in his field, you should realize that politics IS his career field.
If you want a fresh face in the office, a micromanaging, career politician is not who you are looking for.
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I’d love to hear you elaborate on your personal dealings with Grandstrand. Your statements less examples do not paint a complete picture.
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I worked with him, and it was one of the most terrible work experiences of my life. He is completely disrespectful of other people and their time. Example: he plans meetings with people and does not show up. Not only does he not show up for those meetings, he doesn’t bother to cancel them. Later, he calls to reschedule without an apology. This isn’t a one-time example. He did this to nearly every high-ranking official at UND as well as many, many students and coworkers.
As far as micromanaging goes, Tyrone assigned his employees tasks to complete, but required them to check in with him at every step of the process. Unfortunately, he wasn’t available often enough for employees to actually get permission to move forward with the completion of their tasks and because of that, nothing valuable was ever accomplished. We were only accomplishing tiny bits of our tasks at a time and moving extremely slowly because of his inability to give up control to those individuals he had hired.
If you would like for me to go on, I could spend the entire day giving you examples of his inability to lead.
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I’ve read the articles, I’ve read his website, I didn’t go to the debate though … but I still have no idea what Grandstrand’s views are!?!?! All I ever hear him saying are things like ‘full time mayor’, etc. Well, that’s fine and dandy, but it tells me nothing about what you’re going to do during your job hours, what your viewpoints are on city issues, future growth, etc. I don’t know Mr. Grandstrand at all, but I’m left with the impression that he’s eager and willing, but doesn’t have a clue what it is he’s going to be doing.
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Ask him if you are wondering about his views.
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I’m getting the strong impression that some believe that Mr. Grandstrand’s intention is to never hold a job in the private sector his whole career.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Agreed. When we first discussed him everyone brought up Pomeroy and the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse. None of them can say they had any legitimate bootstrap experience.
Again, if real world experience was a requirement, Berg would never have been on the ballot; any ballot. He is a generational benefactor of someone else’s work ethic. Inheriting a spot on the Board of Directors is not the same as working your way there.
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This is a tough call. I know Mayor Brown. He is a good man. That said 12 years is enough. My problem is the alternative.
I give him props for his youth, vitality, and willingness to ignore the status quo. Unfortunately youth, vitality, and a willingness to thumb your nose at authority are hallmarks of adolescence, not adulthood.
I do not know if he has what it takes. Then again, our system is built on checks and balances. We are electing a small city mayor, not J. Edgar Hoover. Even if he was a complete disaster it is uncertain how much real damage he can do. When you get down to it he is simply one more vote on the city council.
I agree with everyone that he is not the least bit interested in a career in city politics. In ten years he will be going for Hoven’s seat.
That is not necessarily a bad thing and it is certainly not a reason not to vote for him. I am back to square one: does he have what it takes to form coalitions and a vision for where GF should be in 10 years?
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If we stop Grandstrand now, we won’t have to deal with him later…when he has more power, more authority, and more-influential friends.
Brown vs. Grandstrand = Frying pan vs. Fire
I propose a write-in for Bjerke. Can we clone him and get Doublemint Twins on the Council?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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“Brown vs. Grandstrand = Frying pan vs. Fire”
rock-hardplace
Scylla-Charibdis
gallows-stake
North-Korea-Iran
Good thing it’s just a ceremonial office.
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Writing Bjerke in is definitely not going to stop Tyrone. I don’t like Brown all that much either, but I know that he isn’t going to spend his life climbing the ladder trying to become POTUS….he will never wreck real havoc.
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Gee, and I was only figuring U S Senate.
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That is only one ring on the ladder…his plan is to go all the way to the top. I don’t think he’d make it that far, but he’s an ambitious guy.
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It’s “rung” on the ladder. And being from ND he wouldn’t have a chance at the White House. Not even a VP spot since it’s only 3 electoral votes. He’d have to be happy with some big spot in the Senate.
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OMG….I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry…my finger slipped one key to the right.
In his plan to reach POTUS, becoming a senator is only one RUNG on the ladder. Like I said, I doubt he could reach it, but he is an ambitious guy, which means that his inability to achieve does not hinder his ability to dream.
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Well, his only advantage is that no other politician in ND would ever consider the White House a possibility. Guess he’s aiming high. Dreams and reality, though, can be far apart.
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I worked with him, and trust me, negativity toward him is completely warranted.
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Seems like this would be an opportune time for a “None of the Above” option.
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Where has Tyrone gained all his vast experience? He wants to be your full time mayor because he isn’t old enough to have even had a full time job. He has an opinion on everything but no firm plans to execute them. What is his background in business? Does he have any kids? What would he know about the public school system. Is he a home owner? Does he know anything about the property tax situation or how those taxes pay for schools, city services,parks, etc. His political experience is basically limited to student gov’t and his short time on the council. He has barely gotten his feet wet on the council and he is already looking at a higher office. Does he expect a higher salary for being a full time mayor? He makes me nervous, sounds like a classic carrer politician in the making. Is he a Kennedy. Tyrone come back when you have some real life experience and some firm policy plans for us as citizens to consider, than maybe I would consider you. Until then I’ll take my chances with Mayor Brown and Terry Bjerke.
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” His political experience is basically limited to student gov’t”
I wish I had buck for every UND student council member who ran for public office since I’ve been here.
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I have NO problem with a young person as Mayor.
I have EVERY problem with a liberal spendthrift as Mayor.
Unfortunately, we’re two-for-two on Mayoral candidates with no respect for tax money, or the people providing it.
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There is really little requirement for a full time mayor. Does there need to be change in the wake of measure 2…yes. Do we need a full time mayor to do so, no! That would lead to micromanagement and the city would move backwards.
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Grand Forks had a full-time mayor before 2000. Mayor Brown changed it when he was elected.
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That’s because Pat Owens had nothing else to do. The only reason the mayor’s salary went up to $24K was that she was making $42K as administrative assistant and had to take a huge cut.
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Mr Grandstrand tried buying Drinks for absentee voters, PRETTY MUCH COLLEGE students that WEREN’T going to be here for the election!!! I have seen the kid in action in a council meeting, he DOESN’T even understand how things work there, how is he gonna understand what a MAYOR does….. Lowering Rent, he has NO CONTROL over what people pay for rent, he has no control over anything without the support of the City Council!!
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He should FIRST try being a FULL-TIME City Council Member first!! He can’t even check into issues that come before the meetings, just gets all his info from what is stated at the meeting.
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He—along with the Council–damn well WILL have power over rent prices…because the City subsidizes development of rental properties and other housing.
With the taxpayer forced under penalty of law to underwrite the risk that the property developer should rightfully accept, the market forces that determine rental property availability–and therefore prices–are corrupted.
But who cares if the middle class of Grand Forks has to buy not only their own houses, but also subsidize the construction of rental housing for the transient UND population? Heck, let’s buy the students drinks and pizza and see if they’ll vote for even more “gravy train”, and useless, counter-productive City infrastructure.
Oh, wait. Most of the useless, counter-productive City infrastructure doesn’t go to a vote of the Citizens.
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Where are you getting that he “tried buying Drinks for absentee voters, PRETTY MUCH COLLEGE students that WEREN’T going to be here for the election!”
The Alerus has early voting (and has had early voting in the past MANY times for students), Mayor Brown has offered to give people rides, people have gotten pizza from other people running for office – that doesn’t mean they are bribing people to vote for them. Yikes.
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Saying that you’re listening and actually listening are two very different things. In fact, I just asked Tyrone a question about the Fantasy’s situation the other week…he said he would get back to me, but I’m still waiting.
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