Unfortunately "Negative Attacks" have become the new staple to political campaigns for many candidates.
Check here often to wade through the most recent mud.
Check here often to wade through the most recent mud.
Accusation of Death Threat
**UPDATE**
Police Investigation Concluded
case # 22-162359
Page 2: It states "Landry also stated that there was a post by Matt Look himself that encouraged these comments and stated " Good work everyone. This is a without a doubt a full contact sport. It's started early and will last until the elections. Thanks for your help and support. It is much appreciated"
Page 3: the investigator states: " It should be noted that comment by Matt Look was not related to this conversation and had been made days prior regarding a different topic"
Conclusion: Mr. Landry Lied to the Police. He took a comment made on June 15th and misrepresented the facts to the investigator. Thankfully the investigator was able to review all the information and SET THE STORY STRAIGHT. This effort by Mr. Landry to tie two different posts together to make it appear that I had anything to do with the alleged threats was WRONG and UNETHICAL.
Page 4: The investigator concluded the report by saying: " In reviewing the conversations, I did not find any criminal violations. "
Case Closed!
Unfortunately, the twisted efforts of my opponent to lie to media, to lie to the police and more importantly to lie to the public was EXPOSED. Significant public resources were spent to investigate a fabricated lie and expose him for being a liar!
I want to thank everyone involved that fought this wrongdoing on his part and exonerated me from these careless accusations.
He was wrong, the media was wrong (for jumping a story before the investigation concluded), and it is obvious that their devious plan to attack me and accuse me of something I had NOTHING TO DO WITH, backfired and was exposed. There were no DEATH THREATS! Why would he say that? DIRTY POLITICS
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Unfortunately, my opponent is back at it again, attacking me for something that I did not do.
Background
I was asked to join a PRIVATE messenger group called "Matt Look and His Friends". I did not set it up. The group consisted of 30+ supporters that could communicate about the ongoing attacks coming from my opponent's campaign team and supporters. As attacks would surface on Facebook, my supporters would go out and defend the truth and dispel the rumors and lies.
Timeline (exposes his lies)
On June 15th I wrote a post thanking my supporters....which read
"Good work everyone. This is without a doubt a full contact sport. It is starting early and will last until the elections. Thanks for your help and support. It is much appreciated"
From what I can tell...on July 20th to the 25, one of the 30 plus members accused my opponent of a Facebook post where his 4 year old daughter was pictured naked and called him a pedophile. I do not agree with what was said to my opponent. Following that another member posted a meme of "vaccines for pedophiles" showing a gun clip with bullets in it. Again, I do not think that was smart to do or appropriate.
One of the 30 members, who we have learned was a spy for my opponent...in the group, leaked this information to my opponent who then claimed he had a death threat against him.
He then took my "good work everyone" post and tried to say the post, (which happened a month earlier) was thanking them for threatening his life. THIS WAS A BLATANT LIE!
Police Investigation
The issue was sent to the Anoka City Police to investigate if I was implicated in the accusation. I received a telephone call on July 28th, from Investigator Youngquist stating that they fully investigated it and there were no charges as there was no criminal conduct. The case is closed. To this day, my opponent is still ACCUSING ME of threatening him.
Retraction?
I won't hold my breathe to see if the papers will print retractions for trying to implicate me in the comments of others. Their failure to cite the appropriate timelines gave the appearance that I was supportive of this.....which I was not, nor would I ever be. I have received 3 death threats during my 12 years as commissioner and it is very disconcerting.
Official Statement
I do not support or condone the statements that were made either about my opponent or associated with my opponent. I DID NOT make the statements, and I do not control what others choose to say. I will stand scrutiny for the statements that I make, not that others make. Personally, I do not agree with attacking opponent, as it is completely unnecessary. I stand on the good work that I have done for my community and the experience I have to lead the county for the next four years!
DEER Contract
Unfortunately, my opponent is being fed information to attack me with. The latest is a November 2017 lawsuit by a contractor that was hired to pick up road-kill deer. The contract in question, which was poorly written, was in force long before I even took office.
The contract was drafted in 1999. I took office in 2011!
Numerous times when the contract up for renewal, I suggested we go out for competitive bids and others on the board insisted he was the best. Finally, the County decided to collect the deer themselves and we were served with a lawsuit by the contractor. Essentially the lawsuit read that the contractor was to pick up ALL the deer. It had been common practice to have our Trustees (work release crew) pick up deer if they were in the vicinity. The contractor's claim was that he was shorted money because he was not able to pick up those specific deer. The Anoka County Judge hearing the case sided with the contractors unsubstantiated HUGE claim of deer that the Trustees picked up over MANY years. We knew the numbers were not correct, but the judge would not give credit to the County's position.
Funny we haven't heard from my opponent until now, as it seems it is politically advantageous to try and blow this out of proportion. This was covered in the local news paper here: Deer-carcass hauler prevails in his $420K legal battle with Anoka County - StarTribune.com
My opponent simply does not understand how a contract that were written before you even take office can still hold you accountable long into the future. Yet he continues to try to convince the public that his is knowledgeable on the topic
Anoka County Jail Proposal
My opponent is accusing the county board of "pushing to build a new county jail at an estimated cost of almost a half a billion dollars"
In fairness, some on the county board are pushing to build a new jail. The proposal is estimated to come in at $164 million (just a little shy of almost a half a billion)
I am the most vocal Commissioner AGAINST this expenditure! Reasons for opposition are:
Our jail passes inspection by 98% when the Department of Corrections evaluates the facility.
Changes in law could reduce the population in our jail.
It is NOT our responsibility to house Federal Marshall inmates...regardless of how much they pay!
Very little money has been set aside for this project, the majority of which will be DEBT.
Refusal to expand our existing jail or consider that an option.
Everyone wants something brand new and shiny.
WE DO NOT NEED TO RAISE TAXES DURING DIFFICULT TIMES
I will continue to bring the facts to the conversation despite some trying to spread false information for political purposes!
My opponent is accusing the county board of "pushing to build a new county jail at an estimated cost of almost a half a billion dollars"
In fairness, some on the county board are pushing to build a new jail. The proposal is estimated to come in at $164 million (just a little shy of almost a half a billion)
I am the most vocal Commissioner AGAINST this expenditure! Reasons for opposition are:
Our jail passes inspection by 98% when the Department of Corrections evaluates the facility.
Changes in law could reduce the population in our jail.
It is NOT our responsibility to house Federal Marshall inmates...regardless of how much they pay!
Very little money has been set aside for this project, the majority of which will be DEBT.
Refusal to expand our existing jail or consider that an option.
Everyone wants something brand new and shiny.
WE DO NOT NEED TO RAISE TAXES DURING DIFFICULT TIMES
I will continue to bring the facts to the conversation despite some trying to spread false information for political purposes!
Hand Sanitizer Donation LIE!
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, I saw an opportunity to make and distribute "free" hand sanitizer.
Hand sanitizer was not available in stores. With the help of a local business and the donation of 660 gallons of alcohol, many hours putting together, we were able to fill a need in our community. Many will recall the long lines of people that came to the Anoka County Fairgrounds, with bottles in hand, to receive free hand sanitizer. It was a tremendous success of public and private coming together to solve a problem. Many people donated money for the purpose of covering our costs.
As a group we decided to donate the money to charity, instead of paying ourselves back. I was put in charge of finding a charity to donate to. Shortly thereafter the Star Tribune wrote an article implying that because I had not donated the funds yet (or in the timeframe they thought appropriate) that there was some misconduct. The article was a political hit piece.
The cash was ultimately donated to Family to Family, a nonprofit organization that donates Christmas gifts to needy families in Anoka County. They were chosen because they were NOT in my Anoka County district and there could be no conflict of interest. This is important because I was advised of the possible implication of trying to "buy votes" (That would have been the next Star Tribune article).
The timeframe was perfect for the holidays, the nonprofit specifically helped Anoka County families...
EVERY SINGLE CENT WAS DONATED.
Many thanks to everyone who donated a few dollars here and there (to cover our costs), Many thanks to those who donated the components to make the hand sanitizer. Many thanks to those who volunteered to help!
Our hope was that we were able to provide some peace of mind to those families that had no way to sanitize and kill the virus.
There will always be those that try to tear you down for doing good.
Those that were helped I still hear from and continue to be thankful for the free community service.
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, I saw an opportunity to make and distribute "free" hand sanitizer.
Hand sanitizer was not available in stores. With the help of a local business and the donation of 660 gallons of alcohol, many hours putting together, we were able to fill a need in our community. Many will recall the long lines of people that came to the Anoka County Fairgrounds, with bottles in hand, to receive free hand sanitizer. It was a tremendous success of public and private coming together to solve a problem. Many people donated money for the purpose of covering our costs.
As a group we decided to donate the money to charity, instead of paying ourselves back. I was put in charge of finding a charity to donate to. Shortly thereafter the Star Tribune wrote an article implying that because I had not donated the funds yet (or in the timeframe they thought appropriate) that there was some misconduct. The article was a political hit piece.
The cash was ultimately donated to Family to Family, a nonprofit organization that donates Christmas gifts to needy families in Anoka County. They were chosen because they were NOT in my Anoka County district and there could be no conflict of interest. This is important because I was advised of the possible implication of trying to "buy votes" (That would have been the next Star Tribune article).
The timeframe was perfect for the holidays, the nonprofit specifically helped Anoka County families...
EVERY SINGLE CENT WAS DONATED.
Many thanks to everyone who donated a few dollars here and there (to cover our costs), Many thanks to those who donated the components to make the hand sanitizer. Many thanks to those who volunteered to help!
Our hope was that we were able to provide some peace of mind to those families that had no way to sanitize and kill the virus.
There will always be those that try to tear you down for doing good.
Those that were helped I still hear from and continue to be thankful for the free community service.