Environmental Concerns sways Decorah election
Date 11/4/1999 12:00 AM | Topic: Newsnvironmental Concerns, a student organization promoting environmental awareness, recruited 145 Luther College students to vote in the Tuesday Nov. 2 Decorah City Council Election.
Members of the organization were encouraged to vote for Steve Matter, at-large candidate, and Pat Running, fourth-ward candidate.
Two of the issues that Matter and Running promised to represent upon election to the council were protection of Decorah's natural environment and a "strong local business economy" wrote Alison Trotman ('00) in an e-mail sent out to members of Environmental Concerns encouraging members to vote in Tuesday night's election.
One of the issues most pressing to the organization has been the impending arrival of a Super WalMart.
Whereas the Super WalMart is an almost certain addition, the election of Matter and Running could insure that "they would regulate the impact WalMart will have on the community," said Trotman.
Involved with Environmental Concerns role in the Decorah City Council is Luther graduate and executive director of Citizens for Responsible Development (CRD) Thatcher Vagts ('98).
According to Vagts, he and Environmental Concerns have been working together for about nine months.
"We wanted information (about the candidates)," said Trotman. "We knew that Thatcher was a good resource for information."
Different members of the Decorah community have said that Vagts' involvement with Environmental Concerns is legally overstepping the bounds of the CRD's non-profit status.
According to Vagts, the CRD as a 501C4 organization can allocate funding to political campaigns.
Vagts says that his involvement in the 1999 elections for city council shouldn't be an issue.
Trotman stresses that Vagts' actions are separate from his position as executive director of the CRD.
Vagts stresses that the actions he took in registering Luther students are "perfectly legal and perfectly ethical."
Trotman is pleased with the actions of the Environmental Concerns. This election has been a great opportunity for the Luther organization to get involved in the
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Michelle S. Kubitz
Chips News Editor
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