Rossbach, Nephew, Cave and Rokke proceed to primary
Katy Zillmer
staff writer
Just over 3,500 voters, of 22,473 registered Maplewood voters, filled out a ballot in the 2007 City Council primary and pushed four candidates, Rebecca Cave, John Nephew, DelRay Rokke and Will Rossbach on to the general election Nov. 6.
The turnout represents 16 percent of all voters, an increase from the 10 percent who turned out in the primary election of September 2005.
Eight candidates were on completed the ballot this year, which also included David Bartol, James Dykes, James Moreno Llanas and Jim Meehan, who did not get enough votes to win the primary.
Before the primary, Bartol announced he was not running in the election, and that he supported DelRay Rokke and Rebecca Cave.
The primary election results are as follows:
• David Bartol: 109 votes
• Rebecca Cave: 941 votes
• James Dykes: 116 votes
• James Moreno Llanas: 200 votes
• Jim Meehan: 183 votes
• John Nephew: 2,222 votes
• DelRay Rokke: 793 votes
• Will Rossbach: 2,340 votes
When asked his reaction to the results, Moreno Llanas said, "I think what it really talked about is certainly the importance of people getting out and voting, and they certainly did in record numbers ... Obviously, there was a cause to get people out."
That cause, in broad terms, is change in Maplewood which showed up somewhere in each candidate's campaign - whether it was about looking at the city's government and administrative practices, parks, open space and the environment or planning for future development.
Incumbents speak
Although he had not had much time, as of Wednesday, to analyze the election results, Rossbach did note that his votes and John Nephew's in each precinct were the highest. "It's very encouraging to see it's not little pockets of people here and there, but it's city-wide," Rossbach said.
"I think that the message that I am trying to get across ... my three main points ... will stay the same," Rossbach said. "I firmly believe that the more people that vote, the more votes that I will get because ... they're concerned about what is going on in Maplewood. The message I am giving out is I am concerned also."
Rossbach said his "three main points" are returning Maplewood to "sensible" government practices, the emphasis the city has on its park maintenance and planning for future development and redevelopment.
The second incumbent, Rebecca Cave, has a campaign partially focusing on conservation of parks and open space, an aspect she said is "in line" with DelRay Rokke's platform. "I think my campaign went great and I'm ecstatic to be one of the four running in the general election," she said. "I haven't looked at all the numbers with the breakdown, (but) the primaries are always lower turn-outs ... so I'm hoping people get out there for the general election."
Shared messages
Some support for their fellow candidates and agreement on various issues was indicated in the four City Council opponents' comments as well as somewhat in the voters' choice.
Rossbach and John Nephew both had more than 2,000 votes and Rebecca Cave and DelRay Rokke had 941 and 793, respectively.
"It seems going into the general election there are two tickets now, one is vote (for what) we've had for the past couple of years and one is (vote) for something else," Nephew said. "Will (Rossbach) and I have wound up doing a lot of cooperative things in campaigning and I think we will continue to do that. We are not clones, Will and I have our points of agreement and disagreement but in the big picture issues we agree on some things that need to be set right before we move on."
The 2005 primary did bring in fewer voters than the general election that year. David Bartol, although he is no longer a candidate, commented that votes for specific candidates from one election to the next can also change. "You never know until the final who actually makes it because it happened in the last election, people barely made it into the primaries and then they won," Bartol said.
In the September 2005 primary, the four candidates who made it to the general election were:
• Rebecca Cave: 796 votes
• Marvin Koppen: 972 votes
• Kathleen Juenemann: 1,047 votes
• Erik Hjelle: 742 votes
In the general election in November, those candidates votes were:
• Rebecca Cave: 2,474 votes
• Marvin Koppen: 2,229 votes
• Kathleen Juenemann: 2,523
• Erik Hjelle: 2,772
"The primaries aren't always indicative of who will win ... it's hard to say what will happen in the end," Bartol said.
Campaign lessons
But a lot has happened on the road to this halfway point, which has allowed the candidates to reflect on that time and their plans for the future.
"We did spend a great deal of time with the 'signs' part of it," said Moreno Llanas of his campaign. "What we learned about it is we need to spend more time in certain areas. Looking back we didn't have the man hours we needed (but) we really did take a complete approach to it. I thought we covered our bases pretty well," he said. "We didn't align ourselves with either incumbent and we did what I consider pretty well."
Moreno Llanas said he wants the message about parks and open spaces, which he found was important when campaigning, to continue with the elected City Council. He added, "More than anything there has to be some ability as a City Council to work together. In the event Rebecca loses her seat and Will and Kathy and John will be the three-two (majority), I think that does a real disservice to the people who voted. What I want to really be the focus in the next couple of years is not a three for two mentality, it should really be a five for all Maplewood mentality."
A candidate also not in the top four after the primary, James Meehan, has not ruled out future City Council elections or serving on one of Maplewood's commissions.
"Once I had my name on the ballot I was probably at every City Council meeting ... you'll probably see my name again," Meehan, a retired Maplewood police officer, said.
And after his first campaign process, Meehan described it as a "learning experience. I guess I learned I should have a little bit more of my ducks in a row, so to speak. I just wasn't aware of all of what was necessary," Meehan said.
Of the candidates who remain, Meehan said the response Rossbach and Nephew received was a positive for him. "I think (voters have) a good overall level of expertise to choose from. I think that both Rossbach and Nephew are going to be strong coming out of the gate today," he said Wednesday.
Votes, votes, votes
The increase in voter turnout from the primary two years ago is evident to all candidates in this race.
Nephew said he wouldn't have believed he would earn more than 2,000. "I wanted to get 750 votes. My wildest fantasies were to get something over 1,000," he said.
When asked about the voter turnout in the primary, Nephew said he expects the general election will bring more people to the polls. He also noted that both he and Will Rossbach earned more votes than Rebecca Cave when she was elected in the special election last year. Cave earned 1,690 votes.
"I think that says a great deal about the agenda that she has been supporting in office ... which has been looking out for the interest of smaller groups for no common good," Nephew said. "I'm really grateful to all of the voters and it seems so cliché to say I'm humbled, but I really am. I'm going to do my best to carry through with that faith that they're putting in me."
While her focus will be continuing to meet citizens and knocking on doors, Cave said the outlook about her competition and the general election is, "I think once the people find out what the candidates are really for and what they've proven and what their voting records have shown, I think they will have a clear choice of who to vote for."
All Maplewood election results are available online at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us or on the Ramsey County web site, www.ramsey.co.mn.us. The general election is Nov. 6.
Katy Zillmer can be reached at kzillmer@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7822.
Editor's note: This article includes comments from Maplewood City Council candidates who returned requests for interviews. Messages were left for those not quoted.
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