Letter: Senior Expo Was Voter Outreach

To the editor:

A blog post recently falsely claimed that the Senior Expo put on by Rep. Kirk Stensrud was a campaign event. This is simply not true. 

The Senior Expo was a constituent service event coordinated by Rep Stensrud. We need more efforts like this to help link senior citizens in our communities to services and volunteer activities.

Senior Expos present citizens of all ages the chance to discover ways to volunteer to help their neighbors and make our community stronger. No one before Rep. Stensrud took the time and effort to bring together seniors with services that can benefit them and where they can use their talents.

In no way was this event a campaign activity.

Other state representatives host senior expos for their communities. Rep. Jim Abeler has hosted 14 of them in Anoka—one took place in September 2012. Here is the newspaper story: http://abcnewspapers.com/2012/09/14/abeler-to-host-annual-senior-fair/

The flyer was not a campaign flyer. It was simply a summary of the people who participated in the senior expo. It provided contact information for the organizations. It didn't ask anyone to vote for Rep. Stensrud.

Their argument that it was a campaign event? It was paid for by Rep. Stensrud. There is nothing that prohibits a legislator from using campaign funds for constituent services. In fact, the law requires him to when the legislature is not in session. The DFL's ignorance of existing law is breathtaking.

I thank Rep. Stensrud for bringing this idea to Eden Prairie. We are and will continue to be a strong community when we connect people and services together.

Rep Stensrud has already said that he would check with organizations in the future about using their logos. I hope this experience doesn't put an end to this good idea and effort by Rep. Stensrud for our community's seniors.

Citation:

Minn. Stat. 10A.01, subd. 26.  #6 in subd. 26 covers the definition of constituent services.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=10A.01

David Johnson, Eden Prairie