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