HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 11-11 Maplewood voters elect two new faces for city council MAPLEWOOD REVIEW3/14/2016 Maplewood voters elect two new faces for city council I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LI IIIeNews.com
Maplewood voters elect two
new faces for city council
Submitted by admin1 on Wed, 11/04/2015 - 5:23pm
By: Erin Hinrichs
Bryan Smith
Bryan Smith and 7 ou Xiong (front)
join ed up with Rep, I le ter Fischer, Sen,
Chuck W47er and Sen, Susan Kent
during a joint door -knocking event in
(submitted photo)
Tou Xiong,Bryan Smith oust two former mayors1 1
Longrie
As election officials tallied up votes for the two open Maplewood City Council seats, Tou Xiong, 25, and his supports tracked
the results at Stargate Nightclub, off Rice Street near Larpenteur Avenue. Across town, Bryan Smith, 40, gathered with
friends, family and his campaign team at Jake's City Grille.
The two new candidates struck up a partnership months ago, even pausing to lend each other support during the final hours
on Nov. 3 when Smith dropped by Xiong's get-together.
"We were certainly running our own campaigns, but I think we both believed in each other early on and thought we could
help bring some fresh ideas to Maplewood," Smith says.
It's a synergy they'll soon bring to council chambers.
Xiong and Smith won the election with 3,153 (30 percent) and 2,729 votes (26 percent), respectively. Incumbent council
member and former mayor Bob Cardinal trailed closely behind Smith with 2,584 votes (24 percent) and former mayor Diana
Longrie came in last with 2,053 votes (19 percent).
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Bryn Smith stopped y 7 o Xiong's election n47ht event at
Stargate N47htclub in Maplewood, (submitted photo)
It's a historic election for Maplewood, as Xiong will serve as the city's first Hmon g council member— an accomplishmentthat
he largely attributes to having run a positive campaign.
"I think the community saw the energy that our campaign had; the effortthatwe put in," Xiong says. "We tried to make the
campaign fun, make it a positive campaign. I think the community saw that; and we're very excited."
'New, fresh voices'
Mayor Nora Slawik says Maplewood will benefit from the diverse perspectives Xiong and Smith will bring to the table. The
council will certainly be looking to Xiong for cultural insight as the city continues to work with its large Hmong population, she
says.
Slawik highlighted their youth and professional backgrounds as additional assets.
"I think the combination of hard work and a positive campaign helped the voters see that Tou and Bryan are the best
candidates to serve the city," she says. "I think that the voters of Maplewood were ready for new, fresh voices."
The two ran active campaigns — knocking on doors, mailing out letters and seeking endorsements.
Campaign finance records show Xiong raised $24,300 for the general election, nearly double the amount he raised for the
primary. He spent $17,607, largely on print materials, postage, food for volunteers, and events.
Smith raised $3,121 for the general election, citing multiple endorsements from labor and business organizations
representing a wide range of supporters. He spent $3,956 on advertising, postage, print materials and other campaign
resources.
Longrie and Cardinal, combined, raised roughly $3,000 for the general election.
Wide-ranging appeal
Xiong, an urban planning organizer for Harrison Neighborhood Association and a Maplewood resident of 12 years, says he
only got four hours of sleep the two days leading up to Election Day because he and his volunteers were toiling over last-
minute literature drops and additional door-to-door visits.
With a council seat now secured — for a four-year term that begins in January — he's already turning his attention toward
three key issues: encouraging more civic engagement, building the local economy and addressing infrastructure needs "all
the way from the north end to the south end" of the city.
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While he's grateful for the support of Hmong voters, he's focused on serving all taxpayers.
"I'm not the Hmong candidate," says Xiong. "I'm the Maplewood candidate. I'm hereto support the entire city."
Likewise, Smith, a marketing manager at Tennant Company who has lived in Maplewood for five years with his wife and 7 -
year -old son, says he sought a wide range of supporters with the promise of focusing on marketing the city to business
owners and developers, improving code enforcement and maintaining a path of reasonable government.
"I think our method of wanting to continue the trajectory of reasonable government— creating a functional environment for
citizens to work with the city — that resonates with people," he says.
A sticky subject
The issue of home ownership stood out as a hot topic during the campaign season. Xiong shares a rental home with his
parents, and Smith rents with his family.
Longrie and Cardinal distributed separate campaign materials that brought their opponents' credentials into questions, based
on their lack of home ownership.
The move didn'tsitwell with state Rep. Peter Fischer, DFL -Maplewood, who posted a commentto his Facebook page Oct. 27
calling such tactics "bigoted, elitist and racist" because they "imply that if you don't own property and/or pay property taxes,
you don't belong on the Maplewood City Council."
In a follow up phone interview, Fischer told the Review "on the surface, those comments don't appear racist, but it leads to
classism and institutionalized racism" because it discredits many minority and elderly citizens who rent.
"We're trying to improve race relations in our community," Fischer adds. "These are not the types of statements we should be
making. They did more harm than good."
Xiong says a number of his supporters took offense to the remarks attacking his status as a renter.
"Many Hmong families came here poor. They were trying to work their way up. They do wantto be homeowners, buttheyjust
can't [afford it]," he says, noting the remarks made his supporters even more determined to get him in office.
"It's a cultural thing too," he explains. "If you're a mother or daughter and you're not married yet, it looks bad if you move out to
live on your own and don't come back to take care of your parents."
Both Longrie and Cardinal deny Fischer's allegations, claiming there were no racial undertones in any of the campaign
materials they sent out.
Longrie, who points out some of her closest friends are racial minorities, says the growing financial demands of running for
city office is more concerning. For the primary and general elections combined, Xiong raised a total of $37,594; Smith raised
$9,234.
"It's unfortunate that candidates have to raise anywhere from $9,000 to $38,000 in a municipal election to win a campaign,"
she says.
The spike in campaign finances also caught the attention of citizen services director Karen Haag during the primary election.
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In the general election, she was most impressed with the 27 percent voter turnout, up from just 8 percent during the primary in
August. Typically, she says, the city would see a turnout at that rate when the mayor's seat is on the ballot as well.
With election season in the rearview mirror, everyone will begin to prepare for the upcoming transition.
We will do everything we can on the staffing level to bring Tou and Bryan up to speed so we can get on with the business of
the city," Haag says.
Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrich sp_lillienews.com. Follow her at twitter.com/EHinrichsNews.
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