Amata's Pacific Island Notebook: "MIDDLE AMERICAN MAYOR"
August 13, 2007

by Aumua Amata
Reprinted from Samoa News


Last week I was in Minneapolis for the summer meeting of the Republican National Committee, on which I represent American Samoa as National Committeewoman. I am also on the Committee on Arrangements, which has responsibility for organizing the presidential nominating convention next year. We were in Minneapolis to look at the facilities and work on convention plans. This year I am on the five-member special events subcommittee, which has responsibility for organizing all the events that take place outside the convention hall. American Samoa will send nine delegates to the convention.

Needless to say, the collapse of the Interstate 35 Bridge made for a somber mood at our meetings, but it was quite impressive to see how quickly the community pulled together and how well coordinated the rescue operation was. We were at a reception atop a tall building in downtown Minneapolis when the bridge went down and, although we did not hear it, within moments we were told about the collapse and gathered at the huge windows to see what had happened less than a half mile away. Already we could see the flashing lights of the police cars, fire engines and ambulances as the rescue operation got under way. Before dinner got underway, we all prayed for the victims, which were thought at that point to be as many as 60. By the time we departed Saturday, the death toll was only five, for which we can be grateful to God.

Despite the somberness of the rest of the week, the people of Minnesota could not have been friendlier to us. We got a warm welcome wherever we went and had a chance to meet with the Governor (a Republican) and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul (both Democrats), although they had to cut short their time with us to stay on top of the bridge crisis. We also met a lot of other elected officials in the Twin Cities area but I want to tell you about one in particular.


Last week I wrote about Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, who has done a superbly effective job in Washington for her territory, where she is now a subcommittee chairman, even though she only is beginning her third term. In Minnesota, I had the opportunity to visit with another remarkable lady like Madeleine: the mayor of Burnsville, an outer suburb south of the city. The town is about 25 square miles in area, which is about half the size of American Samoa, but with no hills or mountains, the inhabitable land area is comparable with ours. With 60,000 people, Burnsville also is about the size of American Samoa in population. Without a sizable community of resident aliens, however, there are about twice as many voters in Burnsville than there are here.

The mayor, who is Republican, is extremely popular and has been elected and reelected to the job since 1994. Although she won with only 51 percent of the vote in her first election, in 2004 she was re-elected to her fifth term in 2004 with a whopping 70 percent of the vote. Clearly she is doing something right.

Although she has no responsibility for immigration, education or a major sea or airport, I was struck by how similar her other duties are to those of our governor. Like municipalities everywhere, the city is responsible for everything from trash pickup to public health and, unlike American Samoa, snow removal during Minnesota's famously long winters.

In addition, she oversees the Mayor's Task Force to Cure Youth Use of Tobacco and is city council liaison to the Planning Commission and THE GARAGE Committee. Besides the typical suburban hang-outs youth frequent, Burnsville is a regional leader in youth and teen activities. THE GARAGE Youth Center located near City Hall is a non-profit music club which has attracted music acts from as far away as Japan to play and is ingrained as a place in the Minneapolis Music Scene. The Burnsville Skate Park is a free facility during summer hours. The Burnsville Ice Center has two large professional ice rinks. The city also has a fully staffed Recreation department providing year round programs and activities for all ages.

The Mayor also is council liaison to the Heart of the City project. According to an on-line encyclopedia article "Burnsville leads the Twin Cities region in new smart growth policies which are being implemented in nearly every suburb.

Smart growth defies traditional suburban sprawl bedroom communities and instead moves towards defining community identity with sustainable design. Burnsville's Heart of the City project hopes to create an attractive, vibrant, pedestrian friendly neighborhood setting with economically viable local businesses." Burnsville also boasts a major regional mall, Burnsville Center, which consists of 1,275,703 square feet of shopping space.

Moreover, the Mayor represents Burnsville on the Cedar Avenue Corridor Advisory Committee, the Dakota Communication Center Board of Directors League of Minnesota Cities Policy Committee on Improving the Fiscal Future, the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, the Municipal Legislative Commission and the Suburban Transit Authority. She also co-chairs the Minnesota Regional Council of Mayors, and is on the U.S. Conference of Mayors Advisory Board of Directors and chairs the Membership Standing Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

I had a chance to see the town because the mayor invited me to have lunch with her there. It was striking how well everyone knows her and it is clear from the way their faces light up when she enters a room that she is very, very popular. She is a Republican mayor and Burnsville is in a Republican congressional district, so I would not be surprised to see her run for Congress some day. Why not? After all, Minnesota has a woman U.S. senator.

According to census figures from Burnsville's website, only 13% of the population is made up of minorities and detailed statistics from the 2000 census indicate only 46 people (0.08 percent) listed themselves as Pacific Islanders. Of those 46, only 10 are Samoans but I was surprised to find even that many, considering how cold Minnesota gets in the winter.

Now, why am I spending so much time telling you about Burnsville and its remarkable mayor, a lady named Elizabeth B. Kautz? Because, as some readers must have guessed by now, that lady just happens to one of those 10 Samoans and is better known to many people at home as one of my closest childhood friends: Malae Langkilde.

Well done, Your Honor. You are making our people very proud. See you at the convention!

As always, I would be glad to have your comments. E-mail me at aumuaamata@mail.com.

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