LETTER: About that ‘sometimes controversial’ former council member in New Brighton

To the Editor:

A recent front page story about a former New Brighton council member has the former member expressing deep concerns about the future of New Brighton.  

I have been a resident of New Brighton since 1968. During that time, I have seen dramatic, positive changes in the city. The first 38 years of those positive changes were without any assistance from past-council member Gina Bauman. From my perspective, the last 12 years of positive change have occurred in spite of Bauman being a council member. In my opinion, her votes often were obstructionist.

As the article states, Bauman was often a dissenting voice and sometimes a controversial figure. I would venture to expand that statement to “an often controversial figure.”

This past off-year election, when Bauman lost her seat on the city council, saw a larger percentage of registered voters expressing their preferences than one usually sees in off-year elections. Bauman’s contention has been that voters in the off-year elections are better informed of the issues.  

My contention is that the people running our city should have a bigger electorate than around 20 percent of the voters -- about the average voter turnout in most of the past off-year elections.

New Brighton has been a progressive city during my 50 years as a resident here. I have every faith that it will continue in that direction, without Gina Bauman on the city council.

Dixie Luoma, New Brighton