Township elections are usually ho-hum affairs. Not this month in Washington County.

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
Updated ·7 min read

Township elections generally aren’t that exciting. Incumbents are rarely challenged, and there aren’t usually write-in candidates mounting serious campaigns.

That’s not the case this year in May and West Lakeland townships.

In May Township, Mark Diessner, former vice president of the Square Lake Association and a vocal critic of Minnesota Catholic Youth Partnership’s plans to open a summer camp in Wilder Forest, filed to run against Town Board Supervisor Steve Magner, who has served on the board since 2021.

In West Lakeland Township, Chairman Dave Schultz decided late last year not to run for re-election after 15 years on the board, but did not make an official announcement; he later told the Pioneer Press that recent negative campaigns were the reason for his departure. One candidate, Vince Anderson, filed to run and his name appears on the ballot while Rachel Dana has mounted a write-in campaign.

The election is Tuesday. The four other Washington County townships — Baytown, Denmark, Grey Cloud Island and Stillwater — switched to holding elections on the first Tuesday in November, to coincide with the general election.

All of the townships will hold their annual meetings on Tuesday night.

May Township

Mark Diessner, 59, was one of many residents who started attending township board meetings after the Minnesota Catholic Youth Partnership announced plans to purchase Wilder Forest for a summer camp. Diessner and the Square Lake Association fought against the plan.

“During that experience, I saw that there were people on the board who didn’t appear to be listening to the residents,” Diessner said. “There was a tremendous amount of turnout to each one of those meetings and very passionate conversations, and I just felt like some of the board members weren’t listening, and they weren’t representing the constituents. I got the feeling that (Magner) was quoting chapter-and-verse from a code book and not really listening to the people he represents. That was an eye-opening experience for me. I think I could do a better job.”

Diessner grew up in Afton and has lived in May Township since 2015. He and his wife, Ashley, have three children. He is the co-owner of Total Mechanical Services Inc., a St. Paul Park-based commercial and industrial mechanical contracting company that specializes in large-scale water treatment, HVAC services and ice arenas. The Diessners also own the Aesthetiq Institute and Med Spa in Oakdale.

One of the main issues facing the township is what will happen with three large parcels — each more than 100 acres — that are currently for sale in the eastern part of the township. “People live in May because they want the rural small-town lifestyle,” he said. “I live in May for that reason. I would like for it to continue to have the rural character that it has. The town board plays a key role in ensuring that the future use of these parcels is consistent with the character of our area.”

At the same time, he said, the town board needs to protect the interest of the landowners to realize the value of their property.

“It’s important that the landowners can be made whole if they want to sell their property and make a profit,” he said. “Like everything, there is a balancing act to that. You need to find that sweet spot where everybody is happy.”

For more information, go to markformay.org.

Steve Magner, 58, served on the township’s planning commission for 17 years before being elected to the town board.

Magner said he is running for re-election because he still has things he wants to accomplish. “There are still some zoning changes that I would like to get done,” he said. “I want to keep taxes low. We’re trying to put a lid on how much we spend on the levy. Costs keep going up; costs for maintaining the roads keep going up.”

Magner said he pushed to keep this year’s levy increase capped at 5 percent. An original proposal was for more, but Magner said he couldn’t support that “because I know a lot of folks who live on fixed incomes.”

“I’m not going to be the guy — like in other bedroom communities or tourist communities — that forces them out because they can’t afford the house that they lived in their whole life, because the taxes were out of control,” he said. “I’m not doing that.”

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Magner grew up in St. Paul and is the code-enforcement manager for St. Paul. “I do believe that having 30-plus years of big government gives me insight,” he said. “I have a pretty wide band of understanding of how municipalities work, and the problems that face them.”

Magner and his wife, Lora, have four children. He said he likes being the go-to person when an issue arises in the township. He plows the Town Hall and septic field. “When we get the call at midnight about the tree that blows down, it’s usually me who is going to go out there first and triage it,” he said.

Magner said he knows that some residents were not happy with how he voted on issues regarding Wilder Forest and Warner Nature Center. “I have my detractors and people who don’t like my decisions, but I am a big believer that you are a steward of the public dollars,” he said. “These dollars have to be spent for the better good of the community, so we have to define that. That means I’m sometimes making decisions that some people do not like.”

West Lakeland Township

Vince Anderson, 77, is running on a platform that includes “a clearly defined comprehensive road plan for bonding,” he said.

“They are trying to pay cash for everything, and that’s not how you do it,” he said. “You can’t let it go forever, and then say, ‘Oh, we’re just going to save for it.’ You’ll never get them done. We need prudent management of road projects and town spending without extravagance. We do not need to waste money on a town hall addition.”

If elected, Anderson said he plans to push the town board to adopt even-year, November elections — like most of other townships in Washington County, he said. The switch would mean an increase in voter turnout and cost savings, he said.

Anderson, a former Stillwater Township board member and former vice president of the Carnelian-Marine-St Croix Watershed District, has a long history with the township. Three years ago, he requested an opinion from the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Administration about town board votes and meeting locations. The board was found to have violated the state’s open-meeting law, according to an advisory opinion issued in January 2021.

Anderson, who has three children and five grandchildren, moved to West Lakeland Township in 1999. He worked in systems management for most of his career at First Bank System (now U.S. Bank), Toro, National Car Rental and others. He retired in 2002 in financial management from Structural Wood in St. Paul.

For more information, go to vja2024.com.

Rachel Dana, 40, has lived in West Lakeland Township since 2017. She has served on the planning commission since 2021 and said she was tapped to mount a write-in campaign after residents realized Schultz had decided not to run for re-election.

“I never would have run against Dave,” she said. “Unfortunately, when I was informed (he wasn’t running), the filing window for candidacy was closed. When only Vince was running, I thought it was a public service to put my name in. … I reserved my website domain last July, so it was definitely in my future; I just didn’t think the timing would come so soon.”

Dana, who also serves on the township’s building committee, is a director of construction for Ryan Cos. in Minneapolis, where she leads the company’s national retail construction team. She said her real estate career helps with all of the issues facing the township: “roads, development, annexation, all these things an urban township is faced with.”

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The township’s biggest budget item is its roads, she said, and township residents on Tuesday night will discuss whether to bond for them. “Right now we’re faced with a bonding decision,” she said. “We all agree on the fundamentals: Our roads need to be fixed.”

Dana said she would support bonding for road repairs as long as it doesn’t “burden our residents with excessive costs.”

If elected, Dana said she would work on improving communication between residents and the township. “If the average resident is informed, the town board can make better decisions,” she said.

Dana is married to Tyler Christensen; she has three stepdaughters and twin daughters.

For more information, go to racheldanaforwestlakeland.com.