Quit paying so much attention to labels

Many of you online have been criticizing me for pretending I'm not a Republican. Once again, people are extracting from Brandon Stahl's story one line to mean a whole lot more.
Here's the section:
"But that doesn’t necessarily make her a Republican, she says.
'I’m very disappointed with both parties,' she said. 'I don’t think they have us, the people, first and foremost in mind.'"

The question was not, are you a Republican? The question was whether I automatically fell in line with Republicans. And though I certainly fall far more in line with the Republican party than the Democrats on my beliefs, I stand by my statement  that I am frustrated with both parties. Neither party seems to care about limited government any more. Government – even during the Bush administrations – kept growing and growing. And that is why I am getting so frustrated with the Republican Party. Sure, I'm more of an Republican than I am Democrat, but the way things are moving, I hesitate to put any labels on myself anymore, simply because often they increasingly don't apply. If you want to call me a Republican, feel free. Obviously it's more accurate than calling me a Democrat. But if you you really want to be accurate, call me a candidate in favor of smaller, more limited government, by the people and for the people. That's a moniker I'll gladly embrace.

Oh, one more thing, many of you have also stuck it to me for Brandon's initial opening lines.

"If there is a myth about Becky Hall, she said, it’s that 'people think I’m a well-to-do stay-at-home mom.'
Instead, she said, she’s the daughter of a radiator repair shop owner and a court reporter who worked several jobs to pay her way through college. She once hitchhiked across Europe on about a dollar a day, sleeping in tents, bus stations and once 'on a bed of hay,' because that’s all she could afford.
'Throughout my life I’ve learned how to survive,' she said. 'I’ve always had a lot of faith and optimism when I didn’t have any money.'"

Perhaps I should have said that the myth is that I've had everything handed to me. The myth is that I didn't have to work to get to where I am today. Yes, I do have a beautiful house, and yes, my husband is a doctor, allowing me the luxury of staying home with my kids – and volunteering in a dozen different ways to help this community – but it's a myth to pretend that I didn't work hard my whole life to get here.

For many years I held down a full-time job with the state, and worked far harder growing up and through college than many kids my age. That's all I was getting at. Obviously you can learn a whole lot more about me by reading blog posts below, and by visiting my web site:  I've talked in more depth about my past at http://www.beckyhall4duluth.com/, if you want to read more.

Do you speak Russian?

Do you speak Russian?

  In a previous post I talked a bit about growing up blue collar, patching potholes, and selling hotdogs at the Metrodome, in an effort to work my way through school. I even lived off campus, figuring it would help me stay focused on studying and working if I wasn’t around a lot of partying students. I was very disciplined and strategic then, and pride myself in still being a very focused person.

So perhaps your reaction is, so what? Many people can boast similar upbringings and work ethic, and don’t make good city councilors. Fair enough.

On top of all that though, I had a real passion for getting into foreign service, in hopes of perhaps one day being a diplomat in Russia. So I scrimped financially, and managed to save enough money to take part in a couple student exchange programs, and ended up studying for a semester in Denmark and Norway.

In order to save some cash and have an awesome cultural experience, I even managed to stay with relatives in a Norwegian community, while working on an independent study project detaling the history of a little known WWII concentration camps in Norway.

I also got to spend some time in Russia, both before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. During this time I also managed to learn Russian as well. And still speak it fluently. After graduating with a minor in Russian language and literature, and a major in International Studies with a focus on Soviet Studies, I managed to get a job working for former U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz.

So after a lot of great overseas experience, including a stretch in Japan while my husband Pat was in the Navy, we returned to Minnesota. In the meantime though, along came my five kids, who are now between ages 8 and 16.

What does all this have to do with the city council? A lot, I feel. I believe I’m well rounded, both professionally in my own career and work experience, and as a mother, I know what it’s like to run a household full of little ones. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how much more I could have experienced at my age to prepare me for sitting on the city council. Not that other candidates aren’t good people, but I think my experiences and accomplishments really make me seem like an intellectual and political heavyweight, compared with my competitors.

Perhaps that’s what scares these unions so much. They know that I am not simply going to keep awarding them great contracts full of goodies the city can’t afford. As long as they continually keep stacking the council with campaigns they bankroll, there’s no real chance of Duluth progressing past our image as a difficult place to do business.  Sad, but true.

At-Large City Council candidate: Becky Hall | Duluth News Tribune | Duluth, Minnesota

Hope everyone had a chance to glance at Sunday's DNT. Brandon Stahl did a nice job with my profile overall. I'm glad to see he noticed that I worked hard to get where I am. Contrary to perhaps popular belief, I didn't coast on fluffy pillows into the family and home we own on London Road.

Even though perhaps there aren't that many tangible economic issues councilors can address, I believe my wealth of experience bringing economic development to towns across Minnesota would undoubtedly benefit the city over the long haul. I think in reading profiles of the other candidates, it was obvious that among newcomers, I was by far the most experienced for the post. To read the whole story click below.

At-Large City Council candidate: Becky Hall | Duluth News Tribune | Duluth, Minnesota

I worked hard to get here.

I get the sense that many people view me as a political lightweight who has coasted into a life of comfort thanks to my husband Pat being a doctor.
The funny thing is, they come to this conclusion because they have driven by our house once, and probably heard through the grapevine that my husband works for St. Luke’s. Well, let me fill you in on a bit about how we got here.

While we are certainly living pretty well today – we were only recently able to create our dream home along Lake Superior – I’ve certainly paid my dues along the way. I grew up lower middle class in North Minneapolis.
My mom used to transcribe notes that court reporters brought in, while my dad had a car radiator and repair business.
My folks would work until 6 p.m. every night, while my brother and I would fix dinner and then do dishes. Daily  chores and helping run the house as a team were skills I learned by necessity in my early years, and they’re what I’ve taught my kids. When I was old enough, I’d drive my dad’s truck all over Minneapolis, unloading and loading radiators at repair shops. Though I had to pay my way through college, I felt lucky to be going at all. I'm the first one in my family to graduate from college.

So just about every hour I wasn’t in class, I was working. And I had just about every job, from patching potholes to selling hot dogs in the Metrodome. All I did was study and work.

I’ll continue this story in my next post, but hopefully you can already tell that my life and past is about more than a beautiful (if I do say myself) home along the loveliest lake in the world.

CFO of the Hall household

Thanks to all who came out to the forums and met me Wednesday!







Here's my latest blog post.

Many people don’t give moms enough credit when it comes to the financial skills necessary to run a household. Among my many jobs outside the home, one of my steady ones has been raising five children. But the job went way beyond changing diapers and kissing scraped knees. I also had to serve as Chief Financial Officer of the Hall household. I’ve been in charge of budgeting our daily living expenses, holding the line on spending, cutting back when necessary, accounting for depreciation of property, investing resources, and just generally making sure we don’t fritter away the money we’ve worked hard for. This is the kind of experience I’m proud to include as one more aspect that has prepared me to sit on the city council. I think it’s the kind of experience moms everywhere should consider worthy to include on their resumes when the time comes to head back into the workforce.

My role in the Tea Party and Northern Liberty Alliance

I've been reading some talk about my involvement in our little "Tea Party" and the Northern Liberty Alliance - and that I'm keeping my role a secret, which couldn't be further from the truth!  I am very proud of my role, although very limited at this point because I'm running for city council and my focus, time and energy for the last few months has been on city issues. 

I'm not hiding anything.  As a matter of fact, I've been on radio shows talking about it with pride!

Here are my thoughts, real simple...

 Police officer Pete Stauber and I both agreed way back in March that we wanted to throw a "tea party" alongside the Duluth Harbor as an opportunity for average, every day citizens (from all walks of life and all persuasions) to come out and voice their opinions on how well they see their elected representatives working for them in Washington, D.C. 

The day was for "the People" to speak, not the politicians (although we welcomed all politicians to come and LISTEN).  Some have it misconstrued, that we excluded politicians from the invite list.  That is incorrect. 

They were invited, we just excluded them from the speaker list. (We've heard enough from the politicians. We wanted the politicians to hear from us, "the People").  Some say I was a politician speaking at the event.  That is incorrect.  I was just an average mom/citizen allowing others to speak their minds and offering up a few quotes from our Founding Fathers.  My role was to remind the audience of the wonderful insight of our Founding Fathers, when they created the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.  How can you hate that?

The focus of our organization is to remind and educate our citizenry of our American roots, from which grew the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  The Northern Liberty Alliance came out of our little tea party and now boasts close to 500 members from all over Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Although we've talked about forming a PAC, it has been decided not to pursue that at this time.  The focus is on education.  We are a non-partisan group of citizens who are working to promote and preserve the liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.  And we share a strong belief, like our founding fathers, in the free market system, economic liberty, limited government and the principles espoused in the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. 

For me, simply put, it's about preserving our freedom.  And I have the right to speak out about it.  That's what makes this country so great!

Thanks,
Becky Hall

Digging into the details

I talked recently on this blog about why my background has made me an ideal candidate for city council. And here’s another example of that. I’ve been through the Economic Development Professional National Development Council training. It was the equivalent of a fiscal boot camp, designed to teach me how to dig through fiscal records, and to figure out the growth potential and viability of businesses. We studied profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and all sorts of other fiscal documents.

The goal was for me as a community development director, to see which businesses were worth helping a town pursue. I also worked to figure out how best the state could assist in helping certain businesses and towns seal a deal. That for example, at times meant setting up a tax-increment financing district. The class and experience taught me how to decipher whether a potential business looking to open in a town would end up being a bonanza or boondoggle for that community. If we would have had councilors who possessed a background like that, we might not be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the Great Lakes Aquarium afloat, for example. I believe that background would help me bring a critical eye to spending, so we can avoid future boondoggles.