Rep. Mary Frances Clardy, a second-term Democratic State Representative (District 53A) recently visited six-term Republican Rep. Dave Baker in his district in the Willmar Lakes region (District 16B) for the first Minnesota Legislative Exchange (MLE) trip.
The 30-hour excursion among the prairies and speckled waters of Kandiyohi County occurred less than a week after the tragic assassination of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the attempted murder of Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. So, with understandable sadness, tragedy and emotions shadowing the trip, what prevailed between these two legislators was a remarkable display of empathy, support, and appreciation.
The day started out in picturesque New London, Minnesota, “the city on the pond” and the oldest town in Kandiyohi County. There, Reps. Baker and Clardy met with the board of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, a research organization that provides policy makers with nonpartisan analysis and evaluation of issues from a rural perspective. The discussion centered on a new report by the Center about population and economic trends.
Pictured from L to R: Reps. Keith Allen, Paul Anderson,
Mary Frances Clardy, and Dave Baker before the CRPD Board Meeting
Pictured: CRPD Board of Directors and staff with Reps. Clardy and Baker and Citizens League staff
From there, Reps. Clardy and Baker drove to Spicer for two meetings with local officials. The first involved school superintendents and leadership from the Willmar, New London-Spicer, and Paynesville Area school districts. The discussion was rich and robust, covering a range of topics including the READ Act, the impact of AI on schools, pipelines and opportunities for increasing the number of young people pursuing teaching as a career, safety and security in our schools, education funding, and more. As a teacher, Rep. Clardy was especially intrigued with these insights and promised to consider them as she looks further at educational workforce issues.
Pictured from L to R: Janell Bullard, Superintendent of Paynesville Area Schools; Liz Windingstand, Director of HR at Willmar Public Schools; Jamie Boelter, Superintendent of New London-Spicer School District; Rep. Mary Frances Clardy; Rep. Dave Baker
The Minnesota Legislative Exchange (MLE) is a first-in-the-nation effort to build trust and bipartisan relationships in state legislatures. As Minnesota’s leading nonpartisan nonprofit focused on civic engagement and public policy solutions, Citizens League is proud to lead this important effort, intentionally forging new relationships to bridge divides and govern our state effectively.
The second meeting in Spicer brought together several local business and civic leaders from the construction, energy, and agriculture industries, along with officials from Willmar and Kandiyohi County, and the local chamber of commerce. Here the conversation focused on business regulations and how they can impact efforts to attract talent.
In the afternoon, we visited the Minnesota Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health Hospital (CABHH) in Willmar. This one-of-a-kind 16-bed facility – which opened in 2020 after Rep. Baker led efforts to secure state funding for its construction – offers impatient psychiatric services for youth with complex mental illnesses and behavior disorders, who cannot be treated in their home communities.
Reps. Baker and Clardy toured the CABHH and saw the unique design and furnishings that were developed to keep patients safe and comfortable. Rep. Baker has been a longtime advocate on mental health and substance abuse issues, and Rep. Clardy suffered a traumatic brain injury on the job in the classroom – so both legislators bring personal experience and understanding to the importance of this type of facility, which focuses on caring for patients who often have multiple diagnoses and for whom prior treatments have been ineffective. Our deep gratitude to the remarkable, hardworking health care professionals and staff at the CABHH for the time they spent with us and the tailored, comprehensive care they provide to these children and families.
Pictured from L to R: Mitch Arvidson; Holly Knofcynski; Rep. Clardy; Rep. Baker; Jackie Lynn Stegeman; Mark Kragenbring, R.N; Carrie Briones
Next, a short drive brought us to BNSF’s Willmar freight yard and terminal. Willmar was a division point (with facilities for servicing, reversing, and supplying trains) of the Great Northern Railway and today stands as an important freight stop, particularly for agriculture-related products. The rail sub-division connects Minnesota to the great northwest ports of Seattle and Tacoma; and as far east as Ohio. Reps. Clardy and Baker learned about job opportunities and training for rail careers, and about the range of modern safety technologies BNSF has implemented along its rails for monitoring track conditions and the trains themselves.
Pictured from L to R: Jonathan Perman; MLE founder and consultant; Luna Allen-Bakerian, Citizens League Policy Director; Rep. Baker; Rep. Clardy; Jake Loesch, Citizens League Executive Director
The last stop in Willmar was a visit to Jennie-O’s enormous turkey processing plant, which makes a variety of products, from deli meats to whole turkeys. The plant has three shifts per day and processes 33,000 birds daily. Reps. Clardy and Baker donned protective clothing, helmets, glasses, and special boots to tour the plant and gained an appreciation for the mechanization as well as the hands-on work by the dedicated and diverse workforce. While seeing “how the sausage is made,” (or in this case, turkey products) may be challenging for some, our group was impressed by Jennie-O’s consistent attention to health, safety and cleanliness throughout the entire plant.
Pictured from L to R: Hunter Pagel; Maki Hussein; Rep. Baker; Rep. Clardy; Jonathan Perman; Jake Loesch; Luna Allen-Bakerian; Doug Muzik, Jennie-O Plant Manager
The long, rewarding day ended with a houseboat cruise around Green Lake, where Rep. Baker hosted friends and family to meet Rep. Clardy. Drifting through the placid waters of the lake at sunset was a felicitous ending to a special day where two members of the Minnesota State Legislature from very different communities and backgrounds were able to balance their mutual sorrow for the loss and serious injury of their legislative colleagues, with the new trust, friendship, and commitment they built together in rural Minnesota.
We are deeply grateful to Reps. Baker and Clardy for pioneering the Minnesota Legislative Exchange, and to all of the civic, business and community leaders for making time to host and meet with us on our visit to House District 16B.
We look forward to a reciprocal trip in Rep. Clardy’s district in the southeast metro later this summer.
> Learn more about Citizens League’s Minnesota Legislative Exchange