Goedker announces for House seat
Brainerd City Council President Kevin Goedker has announced his candidacy for the House District 12A seat currently held by Rep. John Ward, DFL-Brainerd.
He called for smaller government, less taxes and reduced spending. While he didn't list any particular state program or expenditure he'd favor cutting, Goedker said personnel cuts could be made in a variety of areas.
"I think with government there's parts of each department that could be trimmed," Goedker said. "I think there would be ways within each department that could be trimmed back."
Goedker, who is seeking the Republican endorsement, said he agreed with Gov. Tim Pawlenty's local government aid cuts, noting when that money was plentiful cities found new ways to spend it.
Kevin Goedker
"We're going to have to be able to provide more services with less money," he said.
Goedker also said he would have voted against the bonding bill, to avoid debt down the road. He said he'd prefer the state address unemployment by offering tax incentives or credits for firms that agree to hire a certain number of people.
"I think it's going to take the will of the people, asking the Legislature to hold the line on taxes," Goedker said. "Everybody has to pitch in." While advocating a reduction in state spending, Goedker said he was very supportive and is involved in schools.
Goedker, 38, said he would support no state tax or fee increase as the Legislature wrestles with a $1.2 billion shortfall this biennium and an anticipated $5.4 billion shortfall in the next biennium.
"I know there's waste in government and those are the things we need to find," Goedker said. "If we reduce the size of government then we'll reduce the expenses."
Candidates who have announced earlier for the Republican endorsement are Ryan Hartwig and Chrissy Nakonsky, both of Brainerd. Zachariah Jackson of rural Brainerd has said he plans to announce his candidacy.
The city council president said he will not run in the primary if he fails to win the endorsement. In 2006, he narrowly lost the Republican endorsement to Sen. Paul Koering and did mount an unsuccessful primary challenge to the endorsed candidate. He said the close endorsing convention contest, which took seven ballots, resulted in his decision to challenge Koering in the primary.
Goedker said he heard Jackson and Hartwig address county Republicans and thought there was not a great deal of confidence in their campaigns and thought he could give Republicans another option.
"People should have a choice," Goedker said. "I thought we needed someone with a little more familiarity with the process."
Born and raised in Brainerd, Goedker was first elected to the city council in 2004 and then re-elected in 2008. Goedker served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years.
He is a Realtor and is the managing broker for Goedker Realty. He has been licensed to sell real estate since 1989 and has earned numerous certifications in his profession. Goedker was secretary and president of the Niceville Exchange Club in Niceville, Fla., and was Sunday school superintendent for a church with more than 1,200 members. In 2000, he returned to Brainerd and was re-licensed as a Minnesota real estate broker. Goedker is the current president of the Greater Lakes Association Realtors. He has been on that association's multiple listing service board since 2002 and is currently the past president. He was appointed to represent Realtor interests and landowner rights on the DNR's Shoreland Ordinance Review Committee.
As a Brainerd City Council member he currently serves on the Brainerd Community Action Board and the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport Commission.
His civic activities have included work with the Brainerd School District Advisory Board, the Garfield School PTO, the Northeast Brainerd Residents' Association, the Brainerd Noon Sertoma Club, Junior Achievement and the Heartland Detachment of the Marine Corps League.
The House District 12A Republican endorsing convention will be March 27 at Tornstrom Auditorium in the Washington Educational Service Building in Brainerd.
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.