Memories – City Council Candidate – #2

My Life
Those Places Thursday
Coon Rapids, MN

By Don Taylor

In Part 1 of “My Life – City Council Candidate,” I mentioned I was a political science major and had been a member of the Coon Rapids Economic Development Committee. So, it seemed that being on the City Council was a continuation of my service to the community. So, I ran for City Council in 1981.

My newspaper clippings from the Coon Rapids Herald include the following:

• 25 Jun 81 – “Taylor tuns in two,” which included a photo of my (then) wife Pat, daughter Holly, and myself.
• 31 Jul 81 – “Green, Taylor file, set up ward two election,” which included a photo of me and my opposition candidate, Sue Green.
• 7 Aug 81 – “Four file for Mayor, set up primary.”
• 28 Aug 81 – “Taylor names committee.” Sadly, this clipping also includes information that the AFL-CIO supported my opponent.
• 16 Oct 81 – “City has ‘can do’ spirit – – Taylor” includes a photo of Senator Dave Durenberger and my meeting at a reception at Bob & Carolyn Voss’s home.
• 23 Oct 81 – “Meet the Candidates.
• 23 Oct 81 – “Aggressive leadership need.”
• 30 Oct 1981 – “Candidates respond to cutbacks question.”
• 30 Oct 1981 – “Voters to elect Mayor, councilmember,” includes my photo.

Dates Unknown.

Sadly, I didn’t capture the dates on all the articles. However, there are several more that I don’t know the exact date, but they all occurred between June and November 1981.

• “Council Action Follows mediation failure.”
• “Coon Rapids | Taylor….”
• “Taylor fundraiser” (held on 13 September).
• “Taylor backs crime prevention.”
• “Taylor – ‘quality growth.’”
• “Taylor backs housing issue.”
• “Convenience store go-ahead-with conditions.”
• “Council agenda.”

Newspapers.Com.

Newspapers.Com includes many newspapers from the Minneapolis papers. Some of those articles included:

• Minneapolis Star – 13 Aug 1981, Page 13 – “Coon Rapids, Blaine elections shaping up.”
• Minneapolis Star 29 Oct 1981, Community/North (2). Page 12 – “Brief biographies of candidates.”
• Star Tribune 5 Nov 1981, Page 24 – “Coon Rapids” (election results).

Note: Links to these clippings require a membership or other access (via library subscription, free access weekend, etc.) to Newspapers.Com.

Running for City Council was a fantastic experience. I met hundreds of people and learned what they considered important. It is an experience that I’m glad I had, but one I’d not care to repeat.

Endnotes:

A second copy of the clippings and a copy of the Newspapers.Com articles are available on my Google Drive, My Life directory