DUNN COUNTY — Challenger Patrick Breslin will face Dunn County Board incumbent and chair of the county board, David Bartlett, in the April 5 election for the District 2 supervisory position.
Breslin’s family has owned land in Dunn County since 1921 and farmed the land until 1967.
He grew up in the Twin cities and spent his summers in Dunn County on the family farm.
Several years ago, he and his wife moved from Rogers, Minnesota, back to Dunn County, and they plan to retire here.
Breslin says he and his wife and best friend, Carol, have five grown children, four boys and a girl. Of the boys, two served in the United States Marines, one served in the United States Navy, and one served in the United States Army.
The Breslins have one granddaughter “and are ever pushing to expand the ranks.”
Breslin has an associates degree in computer technology.
He works for the Association of American Railroad as a senior Manager of Damage Prevention and Loading Services. His duties include being the staff manager to five industry committees dealing with the shipping of new vehicles by rail.
In addition, he heads up a team of auditors who perform quality and transportation audits across the USA, Canada and Mexico at all vehicle assembly plants and destination facilities.
Breslin said the committee work has given him a strong understanding of parliamentary rules of order and that he also is very adept at filling the role of mediator between different groups to establish win/win solutions for all concerned.
The Tribune Press Reporter sent out questionnaires to the candidates.
Here are Breslin’s answers to the questions.
1. Why did you decide to run for the Dunn County Board?
The reason I am running for office is to ensure that all our children and our children’s children continue to have a Free, Constitutional Republic. For the last two years, I have become increasingly concerned about the direction that our County is moving. Increased debt, increased taxes, increased government overreach, decreased services and an almost non-existent desire to hear the voice of the voters (tax-payers). I have attended via Zoom the last several County Board of Supervisors meetings, where public input is not heard unless it is in the form of written email read aloud by someone else. Public input should be the main source of concern for our elected officials, but clearly it is not. Many of our County officials have been in office for so long that they have simply forgotten who they were elected to serve. It is my belief that this can and must be remedied by refreshing the board. It is my pledge to work toward opening these meetings back up to the public and to listen to and serve my constituents to the very best of my ability.
2. What do you believe to be the two biggest issues facing Dunn County?
Accountability and debt.
3. How would you go about addressing those issues?
As a resident of Dunn County, I have been watching County Board meetings that affect our citizenry being held by Zoom, with little to no public input. I am shocked at the level of debt that our small rural county is in. This is a problem that will not be solved with “Covid Money.” The root of the problem will still exist. As a County Supervisor, I will uncover and bring to light how our county got into debt and work to establish a path to get out. I will work with my colleagues to introduce balanced budget guidelines to ensure that the future of Dunn County remains solvent and bright! I will also resolve to make County Board meetings a place where Dunn County Residents feel both welcome and heard, because as a board we should be speaking Of, By and For The People.
4. Anything else you would like voters to know?
I have spent much of the past two years studying our founding fathers and the founding documents, and I believe that the following excerpt from the Declaration of Independence applies in this situation:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
