A Politician Candidly Answers Your Top Five Questions

When I was elected and realized what I was about to embark on, I grew weary before I had even begun. Becoming a first-time elected official overnight was a strange blend of great privilege and crushing responsibility. My drive to serve well and fear of failure weighed on my shoulders like slabs of granite.

Naturally, one of the most common questions I get asked is “Do you like being in politics?” - - to which I usually give a tidy answer: It’s a challenge, but yes I do. The long answer is: I liken it to parenthood. You can theorize and observe in others what it might be like and how you might act as a parent, but all of it goes out the window once you become a parent and you live it to see how complicated and hard it really is to do well!

Politics is about influence. The strength of your influence is driven by the strength of your relationships. I have a lot of influence and there are also a lot of people who want to influence me. It can be easy to get lost in it. I believe it’s my job to be thoughtful, smart and consistent about the decisions I make, and not let the pulls of influence—on either end—steer me off course. I must always know where true north is.

My first year in office as a County Commissioner has been intense, immensely challenging and incredibly rewarding. I am grateful for every hard situation because it has made me grow as a leader and most importantly, I have become a better advocate for others.

Q1: What has surprised you the most?

A1: There are a few things that have surprised me. I didn’t fully appreciate how the County Board works. We work as a body. It is only as a collective Board that change can happen. Having consensus is what matters and shapes policies. And one of the most surprising things I learned is that we don’t allow public commentary at our regular board meetings. My first action in 2020 was to propose an amendment to allow a maximum of ten minutes (two minutes per person) at our regular Board meetings*. We work for the public. The public should have a voice. The amendment failed in a 4-2 vote, but I will continue to advocate for this issue.

Q2: What was the hardest vote you had to take?

A2: After two months in office, the issue of Anoka County’s lack of best-practices in hiring top staff positions came before me. The Board was asked to directly appoint our own Board Chair, another Commissioner, to our highest staff position as the next County Administrator. This meant the job would not be posted or any interviews conducted. The expectation was that directly appointing her as Administrator would be a good decision, and she had a lot of support from the Board to make this happen.

But I could not in good conscience support this action. While our Board Chair had a lot of experience as an elected official, she did not have an education or experience as an Administrator. Yet, because she was in a position of power, several Board members presumed that she could change her role from Commissioner to Administrator and oversee 2,000 county employees without interviewing her (or anyone else), or without having the appropriate credentials. It was not a best-practice hiring method for a public organization, and in my view, it was unethical in nature. When any decision is before me, I ask, who is benefiting the most from the outcome? The answer should always be the public **.

Q3: What’s a fun Commissioner fact people might not know about?

A3: I am a rather short person (I’m 5’2” if I stand very straight). I hate when I sit in a chair and my feet dangle because they don’t touch the ground. In my first Board meeting, I did what I always do and lowered my chair so my feet would touch the floor. Apparently, this didn’t give a good visual because you could hardly see me over the dais. The facilities department was kind enough to make me a box to place on the floor next to my chair so I could rest my feet on something solid and keep my chair at the highest elevation.

Q4: What have you done in your first year?

A4: Mostly, I spent my first year dedicated to learning how county government operates. I regularly attended committee meetings I was not assigned to. I plan to continue this practice in key areas like Transportation and Management.

I have a lot of energy for community service. I’ve looked for opportunities to better my district and I’ve found them! Here’s a few things I’ve done in my first year in office:

• Initiated a Chomonix Golf Course Transparency Portal that is posted on our website. We now offer an accessible tool for everyone to view financial updates in real time that didn’t exist before.
• As the Law Library Liaison (one of my many roles), I brought a free, once-a-month Law Library Day to Columbia Heights. This helps community members connect with (free) resources around Family Law, court system actions and other legal matters like expungement *** .
• I have and will continue to advocate for best practices in hiring our top staff positions.
• Hosted several “Coffee with The Commissioner” events throughout my district to give residents updates and listen to what’s important to them.

Q 5: What do you hope to do in your second year?

A5: This is what I am very passionate about—possibilities! County government may run at a slow pace, but as a Commissioner, I have the privilege to make improvements for my district and the county at-large in meaningful ways.

Some future projects that I am excited about include the work of our Diversity & Inclusion Committee. As the first person of color on the Board representing the most diverse district in the county, I am committed to addressing the barriers people face in minority groups.

• In 2020 we will be getting new public directories in our Government Center that include other languages besides English (Hmong, Spanish and Arabic).
• I am also collecting art to be displayed in our lobby that will better represent our diverse residents of today.
• There is something called the New American Academy: a six-month program offered to residents who speak English as a second language that educates them about the context of our laws and culture. It is currently hosted in Blaine, and I hope to get it offered in Columbia Heights as well.

And who knows what other opportunities may present themselves..? I’m just getting started.

Read my previous blog about politics HERE.

Read my next blog about politics HERE.

*The StarTribune article covering the board rejection of my public commentary proposal.

**The original Administrator Appointment Board Meeting, held on March 26th 2019 (at minute 50:10). On May 14th (58:25) the board appoints our Board Chair as the next Administrator in a 4-2 vote.

*** In the common law legal system, an expungement proceeding is a type of lawsuit in which a first time offender of a prior criminal conviction seeks that the records of that earlier process be sealed, making the records unavailable through the state or Federal repositories.

Mandy Meisner is the Anoka County Commissioner for District 4 (Fridley, Columbia Heights, Hilltop and part of Spring Lake Park). District 4 is the most diverse district in Anoka County. You can connect with Mandy on Facebook.

This blog is not an official communication of Anoka County, and does not represent the opinion of anyone else on the Anoka County Board, Anoka County staff, or any other body Commissioner Meisner serves on.