Cleaning Up the Mississippi River in Minnesota

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:03:07
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:03:12 – 00:00:26:42
Mark Slavik
We’re very much like the whole state of Minnesota. We’re about a third rural, a third suburban and a third urban, which is pretty much the whole state of Minnesota. When you look at our overall population. We need the land of 10,000 lakes. We’re proud of all of our water, but we’re very proud of the, Mississippi River in Minnesota.

00:00:26:47 – 00:00:35:29
Mark Slavik
About two thirds of the country have their water eventually end up in the Mississippi River.

00:00:35:34 – 00:00:44:39
Mark Slavik
Our volunteers do about $1 million worth of things that the county would have had to pay for.

00:00:44:44 – 00:00:56:17
Mark Slavik
If you don’t go and show up and all you do is spend your time on social media complaining, you’re not going to feel better and it’s not going to get better.

00:00:56:22 – 00:01:01:55
Mark Slavik
But the world can be changed by one individual or by a small group of individuals.

00:01:02:00 – 00:01:20:33
David Martin
The Mississippi River might be the most important river in the United States. The river both defined the nation and helped us grow. And yet it’s still an endangered river. On today’s show, I talk with one county commissioner who’s working to make sure his section of the river is better. It’s local, good government and action. Welcome to the Good government show.

00:01:20:35 – 00:01:38:58
David Martin
I’m Dave Martin. First, help us show the message of good government by liking us and showing us where we are. And all your favorite social media. Make sure to review us and send our show to everybody. We all need to talk about good government. Back in August, I talked with the county commissioner from Minneapolis about her efforts with a project called the Mighty Mississippi River cleanup.

00:01:39:03 – 00:01:57:06
David Martin
This is a project that started in a more rural part of Minnesota. But the project grew. And go back and listen to that show with Commissioner Debbie Cattell. Well, listen after this episode. So on this show, we’re going to go downriver to Dakota County and talk with Commissioner Mike Slavik. His county is part of the cleanup efforts to help do what they can to keep the river.

00:01:57:07 – 00:02:21:20
David Martin
Well, just a little bit cleaner. Volunteers. And I was impressed by the number of volunteers they assembled. They waded into the Mississippi River and pulled out trash, car parts, garbage. As you’ll hear, they made the river a little cleaner. As this show is airing now, this year’s challenge is on again. It runs from April to May. Last year, over 3000 volunteers collected over 21,000 pounds of trash as part of the entire cleanup challenge.

00:02:21:25 – 00:02:31:14
David Martin
Listen to the impressive numbers. Just in Dakota County that’s coming up with Commissioner Mike Slavik. After this.

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David Martin
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00:03:16:52 – 00:03:41:10
David Martin
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00:03:41:25 – 00:03:52:57
David Martin
Other people in government are really trying to do the right thing. That’s good news for lefties. Listen, we’re listening now. Welcome to the Good Government show a half way through Mike Slavik. Mike, where are you from?

00:03:52:59 – 00:03:54:52
Mark Slavik
I am from Dakota County, Minnesota.

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David Martin
Minnesota? Yes. Which is on the Mississippi.

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Mark Slavik
We are right on the Mississippi. Yes. Right on the Minnesota Wisconsin border.

00:04:00:39 – 00:04:05:09
David Martin
So tell me, what’s, what’s happening in Dakota County, Minnesota? What’s where where are you?

00:04:05:11 – 00:04:22:50
Mark Slavik
So we are about 25 minutes south of the capital city of Saint Paul. We’re the third largest county, about 470,000 people. We’re very much like the whole state of Minnesota. We’re about a third rural, a third suburban, and a third urban, which is pretty much the whole state of Minnesota. When you look at our overall population.

00:04:23:02 – 00:04:24:27
David Martin
And what’s the biggest city in Dakota?

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Mark Slavik
Our biggest city in Dakota County is a city called Lakeville. So it’s a suburban county towards the southern part of the county.

00:04:29:52 – 00:04:31:11
David Martin
And that’s where that’s where you are.

00:04:31:22 – 00:04:40:05
Mark Slavik
So I am I have actually about half of the county geographically. So I have all the rural areas and two of the older communities. So I’m from the city of Hastings, right on the Mississippi River.

00:04:40:14 – 00:04:48:05
David Martin
Now, the reason why we’re talking is because we just you just completed something called the Mighty Mississippi Cleanup Challenge. Correct?

00:04:48:06 – 00:04:48:57
Mark Slavik
That is correct. Yes.

00:04:48:58 – 00:05:03:55
David Martin
Right. So first, let’s talk about the Mississippi River. I mean, this is a you could argue the the river that made America famous, one of the most important waterways in the history of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was a flatboat captain on on the Mississippi River. Tell me.

00:05:03:55 – 00:05:24:09
Mark Slavik
About it. Well, in Minnesota loves its water. And, you know, the headwaters, the start of the Mississippi River is in, Itasca, Minnesota. So, literally, you can walk across, the Mississippi River up in northern Minnesota, and it’s just a little trickle of a you literally walk across it. It’s 3 or 4in deep at most. And you can walk across the river.

00:05:24:16 – 00:05:42:15
Mark Slavik
I have done it yesterday. It’s part of one of our state parks. And, so up in northern Minnesota and then as it winds through and goes through the state of Minnesota, and then all the way down to, Louisiana. But the headwaters in the start of the Mississippi River starts, in Minnesota. And we’re very proud of, you know, the land of 10,000 lakes.

00:05:42:15 – 00:05:46:18
Mark Slavik
We’re proud of all of our water, but we’re very proud of the, Mississippi River in Minnesota.

00:05:46:18 – 00:05:48:13
David Martin
And you can walk across the Mississippi River.

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Mark Slavik
You can? Yeah.

00:05:49:05 – 00:05:50:26
David Martin
I just I did not know that.

00:05:50:26 – 00:05:51:45
Mark Slavik
Something everyone should try.

00:05:51:47 – 00:05:52:44
David Martin
It’s amazing.

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Mark Slavik
Yes.

00:05:53:11 – 00:05:55:15
David Martin
It’s probably, like, steady into four corners.

00:05:55:28 – 00:05:56:18
Mark Slavik
Very much so. Yeah.

00:05:56:20 – 00:06:09:52
David Martin
No, like, hey, look at me. So I did not know this until recently, but the reason why you started this Mississippi River cleanup is because the Mississippi River needs to be cleaned up. What happened? Why? How did it get so bad?

00:06:09:57 – 00:06:37:20
Mark Slavik
Well, you know, I think just as, industry and people and population, over the years, if you like, sort of. You start at the beginning. It’s crystal clear in a couple inches, and it gets, pretty mucky and murky, very, very quickly. And, we have just from garbage and pollution and, industry that hits the, the river as well as, you may or may not be aware, but there are hundreds of rivers and watersheds that all flow into the Mississippi River.

00:06:37:20 – 00:06:39:18
Mark Slavik
So it might not even be the most severe river.

00:06:39:19 – 00:06:41:42
David Martin
It’s the Mississippi River sort of collects.

00:06:41:49 – 00:06:54:30
Mark Slavik
It collects all sorts of, rivers across in about two thirds of the of the country, have their water eventually end up in the Mississippi River. And so it may not even be the Mississippi River that was polluted. But one of the other rivers that flows into there flows.

00:06:54:30 – 00:06:55:10
David Martin
In and flows.

00:06:55:10 – 00:06:55:39
Mark Slavik
Downstream.

00:06:55:51 – 00:07:00:25
David Martin
Downstream, if we go. How is the river in your in your county in your area?

00:07:00:26 – 00:07:22:05
Mark Slavik
You know, it’s improving, you know. So I actually have where I live is the confluence of the Saint Croix River, which is the river that basically is the border of, Minnesota and Wisconsin to the north. And, you see, we actually see it when you’re on a boat and you can see a drastic difference of being a mucky brown, Mississippi River and a pretty clear, Saint Croix River.

00:07:22:05 – 00:07:31:42
Mark Slavik
So that’s one of the things that, you can you can see the impacts of when all of the water flows from the Mississippi. It’s improving from what it was when I was a kid, but it still has a long ways to go.

00:07:31:44 – 00:07:34:15
David Martin
When you were a kid, did you swim in it? Did you.

00:07:34:20 – 00:07:50:37
Mark Slavik
Swim in? Bought it in? We’d go boating, but, didn’t do much swimming in the Mississippi River there. Not too, no. Yeah. We’d go to Saint Croix, which was only ten minutes away. But, one of the things is there was a couple different, pretty significant rivers that flowed through Minnesota that ended up in there.

00:07:50:38 – 00:08:12:28
Mark Slavik
And those were, a lot of agriculture, a lot of industry. And heavily polluted. And they would, they would had Minneapolis, Saint Paul. And so by the time they went there, it wasn’t a great place to swim. And we also have a lot of barge traffic, a lot of, traffic. It’s a it’s a navigation channel from really parts of Saint Louis, New Orleans, all the way up to Saint Paul, Minneapolis.

00:08:12:28 – 00:08:13:39
Mark Slavik
That so you’d.

00:08:13:39 – 00:08:15:44
David Martin
Be. There’s traffic, commercial, commercial traffic.

00:08:15:44 – 00:08:17:40
Mark Slavik
You wouldn’t waste time getting swimming through there, too.

00:08:17:40 – 00:08:27:47
David Martin
Was it just the fact that, you know, there were not environmental laws and people didn’t pay attention? And so it just, you know, slowly and steadily got worse? I mean, yeah.

00:08:27:52 – 00:08:44:12
Mark Slavik
You know, I think that that played a big role in it. A lot of the stuff is, you know, buffers. You were farming right up to other river, watersheds and rivers and, and so the chemicals could run off right in there. And now you now you have some, some in-between space, some buffers that have gone in and, and helped with that.

00:08:44:12 – 00:08:53:25
Mark Slavik
But then also, just as population grows, you add a lot more garbage and, and that and that’s what we really spend our time trying to at least do that part, to not make the river worse.

00:08:53:26 – 00:08:58:58
David Martin
When did people become aware of the, you know, the conditions in the Mississippi River that a cleanup was needed?

00:08:58:58 – 00:09:15:04
Mark Slavik
So I think it was about the 70s and 1970s is when I know. So the Minnesota River, which goes right through farm country and and was one of the contributors to that, that was in like the 1970s when the Minnesota River basin, groups really started saying, we have to do something to improve this.

00:09:15:04 – 00:09:21:46
David Martin
And this is about the time that the EPA was created, created as awareness became an issue and, and all that.

00:09:21:50 – 00:09:26:28
Mark Slavik
And it has ebbed and flowed over the years, depending on who was in leadership and such.

00:09:26:33 – 00:09:31:31
David Martin
Okay. And there is something called the Mississippi River challenge. Tell me about this. How did this get started?

00:09:31:38 – 00:09:52:01
Mark Slavik
So one of the county commissioners, to actually the county south of of Dakota went and I think she was at a National Association of Counties conference, at the legislative in Washington, DC, and she was seeing this in a different river as part of a cleanup. And she said, you know, we should go in and make an initiative to go from from the start to the bottom.

00:09:52:02 – 00:10:00:57
Mark Slavik
And so she started initially with just some of the, adjacent counties, adjacent to, Goodhue County. Linda Flanders is her name out of Goodhue County.

00:10:00:57 – 00:10:03:59
David Martin
And she said, let’s let’s mention Linda Slater. She brought us together. So she.

00:10:03:59 – 00:10:04:58
Mark Slavik
Brought us all together and.

00:10:04:58 – 00:10:05:52
David Martin
Whether we like it or not.

00:10:05:52 – 00:10:10:47
Mark Slavik
Yeah. And and she went in there and she just kind of kept poking the bear and,

00:10:10:52 – 00:10:11:41
David Martin
And that’s what you need.

00:10:11:50 – 00:10:12:26
Mark Slavik
That’s what you need.

00:10:12:26 – 00:10:17:57
David Martin
And that’s what you need in government. You need someone like a Linda Flanders to say, wait a minute. Yeah. And be relentless.

00:10:17:57 – 00:10:40:10
Mark Slavik
And, you know, so many of the things we were already doing, so the river cleanups and that we just never really came together in, in an acknowledgment. So my local community, living on the river, we always had, every Earth Day celebration clean up the river. But we never actually put that in, in conjunction with all of the other areas along the to be able to go and say, look at what we’re already doing and let’s challenge to make it even, even better.

00:10:40:14 – 00:10:41:35
Mark Slavik
And she was a driver of that.

00:10:41:46 – 00:10:58:33
David Martin
And when you’re talking about water. Yeah. Water does not know border. Yes. And water does not respect city boundaries. Yes. So it doesn’t matter if you’re doing an awesome job in Dakota County, if you know, a county up or a county south isn’t it’s, you know, well, that’s your pitch and stand against the tide almost.

00:10:58:33 – 00:11:03:53
Mark Slavik
That’s exactly as you know, you become a drop in the bucket unless you really decide to coalesce and work together.

00:11:03:53 – 00:11:07:52
David Martin
So how long has the Mississippi River cleanup been going on? I think she’s a coordinated effort.

00:11:08:03 – 00:11:12:08
Mark Slavik
Just just about three years. Our county, one of the first year, and then we actually, she.

00:11:12:13 – 00:11:17:58
David Martin
Oh, you buried the lead here? Oh. Our county. What is the first year? What did you use this. You won the competition.

00:11:17:58 – 00:11:30:25
Mark Slavik
Yeah. So? So there’s a little bit of a competition. And I think there was only 4 or 5, counties in Minnesota that had started that. And so, so, Linda went and worked out and she, you get a certificate of you win. But but it was.

00:11:30:30 – 00:11:31:23
David Martin
Out of the box.

00:11:31:28 – 00:11:44:44
Mark Slavik
But there’s, measurements on how many volunteers. So how many people did you get engaged to? Try to go and understand the value of that. We’re all in it together for, making the river better. And then also how many pounds of, garbage and debris did you get out?

00:11:44:48 – 00:11:48:47
David Martin
So the first year you won first, how many volunteers and how much garbage you you collect? You remember?

00:11:48:47 – 00:12:13:20
Mark Slavik
So I think we had, we were at about like 500 volunteers. Wow. That went out and, 500. Yeah. So we have, that’s a lot. Yeah, we have, we have three cities that are on the, Mississippi River, and the rest are either intermixed between farmland or, or that much of our population is elsewhere. So those three cities all work together, and, and got the volunteers and I don’t remember how many tons, but, we’ve actually improved every single year on how much we’ve done.

00:12:13:20 – 00:12:14:15
David Martin
And how much did you collect this.

00:12:14:15 – 00:12:19:36
Mark Slavik
Year. So I think we were, about 1300, pounds of garbage that we collect.

00:12:19:41 – 00:12:20:58
David Martin
Pounds. Yeah. So, yeah. And you’ve gone.

00:12:20:58 – 00:12:36:29
Mark Slavik
Up and we’ve gone every year and, but, one of our larger counties where Minneapolis is based, they’ve gone, they actually have a lot more communities that are on the river. And they but they stepped it up and, you know, gives us a little effort that we got to do a little more to. And.

00:12:36:33 – 00:12:45:17
David Martin
We need more people. We can, you know, how do you get time? So we we do have other county commissioners. And listen, how do you get 500 volunteers on a single day?

00:12:45:17 – 00:13:00:49
Mark Slavik
So it was over a couple different days depending on the community. So I volunteered with a group, that the, the county our volunteer coordinator had helped out. And then we have a couple environmental groups that worked. We had about, 120 that worked in my hometown of Hastings, that went and we lost.

00:13:00:50 – 00:13:01:29
David Martin
A lot of volunteers.

00:13:01:29 – 00:13:02:44
Mark Slavik
A lot, a lot of how do you.

00:13:02:49 – 00:13:07:52
David Martin
How tell me, how do you get 100, 100 volunteers? 500 volunteers? So we do.

00:13:07:52 – 00:13:18:47
Mark Slavik
So what we did is we, we’ve had a pretty well established, a volunteer, core group that we’ve, it got so much that we actually had to hire a staff person in our county to go in.

00:13:18:52 – 00:13:19:41
David Martin
And that’s a good problem.

00:13:19:41 – 00:13:22:50
Mark Slavik
It’s a very good problem. You know, this is good government. And, you know.

00:13:22:55 – 00:13:23:53
David Martin
Volunteer coordinator.

00:13:24:00 – 00:13:24:50
Mark Slavik
Volunteer need.

00:13:24:50 – 00:13:26:38
David Martin
Because there is a lot of people who want to help, you.

00:13:26:38 – 00:13:43:14
Mark Slavik
Know, and it’s a really neat thing. So we have a lot of prairie, although along the, some of the stuff there and what we have actually these, these, volunteers have gone and collected the prairie seeds that we’ve then got in. They harvested them. Our master gardeners go in and grow them for the county, and then the volunteers plant them back in our prairie.

00:13:43:14 – 00:13:48:48
Mark Slavik
So we’ve been able to do some restoration. So we’ve got about 300 volunteers that just do that. And it’s amazing.

00:13:48:49 – 00:13:53:36
David Martin
You still haven’t answered the question. Yeah. Going back to this, how do you get 100, 500 volunteers?

00:13:53:36 – 00:14:09:03
Mark Slavik
Social media. Okay. Website. And then we’ve used, a lot of our, so we just have built a program up at word of mouth, but it’s, so, so but we do pretty significant by our, website and social media is how we’ve gone in there. And then we have.

00:14:09:03 – 00:14:10:20
David Martin
What’s the pitch? What do you what do you.

00:14:10:32 – 00:14:26:54
Mark Slavik
Want to say? Well, we’ve gone in and said, you know, what do you want to to make your community better? Okay. And then we also go and acknowledge our volunteers afterwards, and we do some appreciation. And that kind of gets people to do so after. So it’s about, so what we, we do a day at the zoo that for all of our volunteers that’s fun.

00:14:26:54 – 00:14:43:34
Mark Slavik
And it gets gets a little there. But but so many want to go in and say, well, it gives me something to do. I get to make my community a better place. And, it it has just been a program that took a few years. Our, peer in Hennepin County, they’ve been doing this for about 20 years, is a volunteer, coordinator.

00:14:43:34 – 00:14:53:36
Mark Slavik
We’ve had one for about six. So that was kind of when it came to that, when they jumped on to the the Mississippi cleanup. Okay. They had a little bit of advantage because they already had already out here.

00:14:53:47 – 00:15:00:28
David Martin
But but that’s do you find, you know, people are excited to jump in and help the county and then they’re like, oh.

00:15:00:35 – 00:15:06:30
Mark Slavik
We really have. And, you know, and we acknowledge about how you want to keep your taxes low. This is one of the ways to do it. You get in.

00:15:06:30 – 00:15:06:49
David Martin
There, you.

00:15:06:49 – 00:15:07:52
Mark Slavik
Go get involved there.

00:15:07:52 – 00:15:08:54
David Martin
You go.

00:15:08:59 – 00:15:13:34
Mark Slavik
Our volunteers do about $1 million worth of things that the county would have had to pay for.

00:15:13:36 – 00:15:16:29
David Martin
Our volunteers do $1 million worth of stuff.

00:15:16:29 – 00:15:25:20
Mark Slavik
Stuff? Yeah, of the things that we that we would have had to hire a consultant or hire staff to do that our volunteers do instead, it saves $1 million for the taxpayer a year.

00:15:25:24 – 00:15:26:17
David Martin
That’s not nothing.

00:15:26:27 – 00:15:27:25
Mark Slavik
No, not at all.

00:15:27:25 – 00:15:33:33
David Martin
You know, that’s that’s that makes a difference. Wow. Well well done on that. And this has been going on. You said three years now.

00:15:33:42 – 00:15:34:22
Mark Slavik
Yeah three years.

00:15:34:22 – 00:15:42:33
David Martin
So okay. And already plans for next year. What are you picking up. What are you at the cleanup day. What are you collecting? You said 1300 town appearances. Yeah.

00:15:42:33 – 00:15:54:54
Mark Slavik
So about a third of it is recyclable. So it’s cans and glass and plastic bottles and that. Okay. We have found everything from old rusted bicycles to, cars.

00:15:54:59 – 00:15:56:13
David Martin
All the cars, car parts.

00:15:56:13 – 00:16:05:40
Mark Slavik
Not a full car, but we did car part. A lot of car parts, right? We’ve had a lot of boat parts, or even some, some boat, motors that we’ve had the full,

00:16:05:45 – 00:16:08:10
David Martin
Are they dumped? Are they lost? Are they? Who knows?

00:16:08:14 – 00:16:27:01
Mark Slavik
It’s a little bit of both. You know, in some of the big ones that have been for us, a number of the things that we’ve found, I would say about 10% are items that are leaking contaminants into the river. So that’s been the great thing to be able to. We found that about 10% of what we get out are not just typical garbage, but are actually making the river worse.

00:16:27:01 – 00:16:31:05
Mark Slavik
So the fact of having volunteers pull that out, that’s a game changer.

00:16:31:10 – 00:16:34:09
David Martin
And, are we getting in the water or are we waiting in parts.

00:16:34:09 – 00:16:40:56
Mark Slavik
Of where we are not? Most of it is like right along the shoreline. Okay. So we’ve got the riprap and most of it is like stuff there that they’re able to pull out.

00:16:40:56 – 00:16:49:18
David Martin
And I know this is, you know, I’m 1300, 1,300 pounds of garbage. Is is something is it making a difference? Is it making a real difference?

00:16:49:28 – 00:17:03:47
Mark Slavik
I think particularly that 10% that I just talked about that changes the game. Okay. When you get something that’s leaking oil into the river, you know, you know, we look at just a couple drops of oil or a couple drops of salt can go in and contaminate, a major body of water.

00:17:03:51 – 00:17:05:52
David Martin
Wow. Okay. And you’re going to keep doing this?

00:17:05:52 – 00:17:06:58
Mark Slavik
We’re going to keep doing it. Yes. Have you.

00:17:06:58 – 00:17:10:55
David Martin
Expanded this? You know, beyond the Mississippi or and other places?

00:17:10:59 – 00:17:26:33
Mark Slavik
We haven’t, but that’s a discussion. So we’ve got a couple different other rivers and waterways that we’ve been looking at. We’ve expanded on, our county highway system on a cleanup that are there, but we’re actually looking at doing, some river and some watershed cleanups. In addition, that’s actually one of the next steps.

00:17:26:35 – 00:17:33:03
David Martin
All right. Well, before we switch over to our good government, your question there. Any other good government you’d like to talk about, going on in Dakota?

00:17:33:17 – 00:17:34:53
Mark Slavik
Well, I just, I want to tell.

00:17:35:07 – 00:17:35:35
David Martin
You this.

00:17:35:40 – 00:18:00:16
Mark Slavik
Of county, Minnesota that, you know, I just want to bring up the the fact that we’ve partnered with our, extension and for to be able to go in that prairie restoration has been amazing. We have over 6000 acres of prairie that are publicly owned. And to be able to use those volunteers and then go in and grow the our own prairie plants and then restore a prairie, that is just such you know, we actually we’re building our own greenhouse.

00:18:00:21 – 00:18:18:07
Mark Slavik
And with that, the return on investment of building our own, county owned greenhouse, we believe that we will have it, return it paid for in under four years because of what we used to go and pay, to go and buy the plugs and the plants for the prairie that we are now growing ourselves. We will have an entire greenhouse.

00:18:18:07 – 00:18:22:34
Mark Slavik
And this is a pretty this is a seven figure greenhouse that we will have paid off in about four years.

00:18:22:34 – 00:18:25:55
David Martin
I wish people could see you right now because you’re so excited to talk about this.

00:18:25:55 – 00:18:28:58
Mark Slavik
That’s that’s good. That saves money and that’s what we need to do. Yeah.

00:18:28:59 – 00:18:31:06
David Martin
So again, good government or government.

00:18:31:06 – 00:18:31:33
Mark Slavik
Right.

00:18:31:46 – 00:18:52:03
David Martin
We’re going to get to the hard part in just about all right. The Good Government Show is sponsored by our that’s oh you are for our community. Get involved. We hear that all the time from government leaders. Our co with your governments name and logo. Your staff and the people you serve are connected and part of your community.

00:18:52:16 – 00:19:18:24
David Martin
From any device your members provide reliable data and meaningful feedback. Ask a question like do we want more parkland or better homeless services? More engaged conversations come through the our app. Visit our Co that’s ou rco.com and book a demonstration. After you get done with this episode, hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City for mayors.

00:19:18:24 – 00:19:44:03
David Martin
Kasim Reid of Atlanta and Michael Nutter, a Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen. Dot org slash podcasts. So we have this thing called the Good Government Show Questionnaire.

00:19:44:03 – 00:19:50:15
David Martin
So I ask everyone these questions and, gives it a chance to get into your real philosophy of government. Yeah. How long have you been a county commissioner?

00:19:50:15 – 00:19:51:56
Mark Slavik
I’ve been a county commissioner for 13 years.

00:19:51:56 – 00:19:52:30
David Martin
And before that.

00:19:52:30 – 00:19:54:07
Mark Slavik
I was six years as a city council member.

00:19:54:07 – 00:19:55:17
David Martin
And now so.

00:19:55:17 – 00:19:55:51
Mark Slavik
So 19.

00:19:55:51 – 00:20:00:20
David Martin
Years. All right. 19 years, all together. Yeah. So 19 years. What is good government. Define it.

00:20:00:21 – 00:20:29:43
Mark Slavik
What is good government? I think that is being transparent. I think that is, communicating effectively amongst your paid staff, your elected colleagues and, and your, taxpayers and your citizens and businesses. So being able to communicate effectively. And then it’s also going and realizing I am a philosophy that you’re not going to necessarily be able to run like a business because there are things that, if you run exclusively like a business, you are not you are going to hurt people.

00:20:29:43 – 00:20:47:17
Mark Slavik
You are not going to be able to serve what you need to do. But you should always have a mindset that what you do and the work you do is still going in and being paid for by the taxpayers. So how do you go in and find that right balance of serving, the people that you represent, but also go in and watch out for, the dollar that, could be in their back pocket.

00:20:47:21 – 00:20:59:31
David Martin
Could you make a few phone calls and let them know that, that you can’t run, government like a business? I think I think there’s a couple of people who could use your advice. Yes. If people are frustrated by government, if they don’t like what they’re seeing, what should they do?

00:20:59:38 – 00:21:15:08
Mark Slavik
It’s hard to do this, but I still say you have to show up. You have to go and say that if you come in with a philosophy that not everything is going to be perfect, but if you don’t go and show up and all you do is spend your time on social media complaining, you’re not going to feel better and it’s not going to get better.

00:21:15:08 – 00:21:36:10
Mark Slavik
So I think, we’ve lost a lot of the society of willing to step up and volunteer. I grew up in a family where, if you don’t like how it’s done, you step up and you try to make it better. And I think that we need to go away. And if we’re going to make government better, we need to find that one hour a week where you can go in and actually take some of the time to go and make it better.

00:21:36:23 – 00:21:37:06
David Martin
That’s hard.

00:21:37:11 – 00:21:42:46
Mark Slavik
Very hard. Especially when your those conflicts are your family and your friends and and your professional job.

00:21:43:00 – 00:21:50:44
David Martin
I went to you tell someone who says, and I’m sure you’ve had these conversations like, oh yeah, but I can’t go to the meetings. Yeah, but I don’t have the time. What do you say to them?

00:21:50:51 – 00:22:09:42
Mark Slavik
I said, well, first and foremost, you can contact me, and I and I said, I because you do have a whole level of government that you can contact. You may not necessarily get what you want there, but you. But but I said that is the first and foremost that you do have elected officials throughout the process. But I’m like, if it’s not that, try to figure out what it might be, what there’s there’s got to be something.

00:22:09:42 – 00:22:18:07
Mark Slavik
There’s so many opportunities out there. And that’s what I always share is try to find something and maybe or something is just being in my ear. I want someone.

00:22:18:16 – 00:22:21:13
David Martin
Or show up and and and clean up the Mississippi.

00:22:21:14 – 00:22:21:54
Mark Slavik
Absolutely.

00:22:21:54 – 00:22:26:06
David Martin
What time during the year what drew you to public service 19 years in? What did you do before all this?

00:22:26:06 – 00:22:54:21
Mark Slavik
So, when I got elected when I was 24, so as I’ve been doing it for quite a while. Oh, yes. But, when I was a, high school student, the outdoor pool in my hometown was losing 10,000 gallons of water a day, and, it had a crack in it, so. So they had to go in and, close the pool down, and, and, I grew up a couple blocks away from the pool, and city tried to go and get a vote to go and build a new pool, and it didn’t, it was voted down.

00:22:54:32 – 00:23:10:59
Mark Slavik
So the mayor and council said, we’re going to go in and, create a subcommittee that’s going to go and try to figure out how to get a pool built in our hometown. And, so I was, one of the council members said, well, we should have a young person, a high school student, so. Oh, I was a sophomore in high school, and, was one of the seven people appointed.

00:23:10:59 – 00:23:13:25
Mark Slavik
And we worked through. We didn’t figure it out. Wait, how.

00:23:13:25 – 00:23:13:50
David Martin
Did they pick.

00:23:13:50 – 00:23:25:14
Mark Slavik
You? So I was on a student council, youth planning for high school, and, and, so the city council members showed up and said, anybody interested? So I said yes. Yes. And that was where I kind of went. And I’m like.

00:23:25:14 – 00:23:29:22
David Martin
Couldn’t they just go ahead and just spackle the pool or think, that could sounds like it could have been easy.

00:23:29:22 – 00:23:37:24
Mark Slavik
So that pool is now been open for 26 years. And it’s pretty. It’s I drive by it, it’s I, I represent that town and, and it’s been pretty neat.

00:23:37:25 – 00:23:38:57
David Martin
Is that the Mike Slavik pool?

00:23:38:57 – 00:23:48:36
Mark Slavik
It isn’t. My name is on a little plaque there, but I got it. But the fact is that I got to go and see where some dedicated citizens actually could go in and make a difference. And that was great.

00:23:48:36 – 00:23:49:43
David Martin
Experience for high school kids.

00:23:49:45 – 00:23:54:40
Mark Slavik
Absolutely. And, with that, I went to college, got a degree in political science, and.

00:23:54:45 – 00:23:55:08
David Martin
Here we are.

00:23:55:08 – 00:24:03:57
Mark Slavik
And here we are. So that was really my entry as a as a 16 year old saying, how do I make my community better? I saw and there’s a kid you.

00:24:04:02 – 00:24:05:36
David Martin
Thought about politics early. An awesome.

00:24:05:38 – 00:24:06:21
Mark Slavik
Idea.

00:24:06:26 – 00:24:07:25
David Martin
Who’s your political hero?

00:24:07:34 – 00:24:31:24
Mark Slavik
So I would say locally, one of my political heroes is, the guy I ended up serving with as, he was the mayor when I got elected on the city council. And, I’ve learned how to run a meeting from him. He was the local guy. Kind of graduated. Hastings kind of did a very similar track that I did, but he, he never got into the county world, but he, he just loved our hometown, as I do.

00:24:31:24 – 00:24:51:30
Mark Slavik
And, but he he never left. I went and experience a little bit of the world. Came back to my hometown. But I just saw on somebody who was just so committed to going and and, said, I want to make I want to make things better. And I would say he was he would be my political hero on, on a local level, I have a couple of good presidents.

00:24:51:31 – 00:24:53:14
Mark Slavik
I’m a big fan of his work, so.

00:24:53:19 – 00:24:53:41
David Martin
Yeah.

00:24:53:45 – 00:25:07:08
Mark Slavik
So. So, Yeah. Lincoln, Lincoln and LBJ are two of kind of my for very different reasons. But, but, but, at the end of the day, both Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln and president LBJ, they both went and found ways to get things done.

00:25:07:13 – 00:25:07:38
David Martin
Yes.

00:25:07:38 – 00:25:11:39
Mark Slavik
And, for that, not the same way. No, but I’m a big believer that the.

00:25:11:39 – 00:25:12:13
David Martin
Same way at all.

00:25:12:13 – 00:25:18:49
Mark Slavik
Yeah, not the same way at all. But I believe that we have a responsibility. We’re only on this earth for so long. Let’s get stuff done.

00:25:18:56 – 00:25:26:09
David Martin
You said that you were on the student council as a sophomore in high school. Yes. Did you want to be president when you were a kid? I mean, did you always see yourself running for office? You know.

00:25:26:09 – 00:25:47:35
Mark Slavik
And I didn’t I wasn’t even, like student council president or class officer. I was just there to do stuff. I would say that it was that pool experience that got me to say, oh, I can be the leader to actually. Okay, so that was you talk to my, middle school and elementary school teachers. Like, we would have never figured you as an elected official, but it was really my sophomore junior year that I’m like, well, somebody’s got to step up.

00:25:47:37 – 00:25:51:34
Mark Slavik
I was just a doer. Yeah. And then it was. Well, then that became from a doer to a leader.

00:25:51:36 – 00:25:59:43
David Martin
There you go with that. You know, that’s what you need in government. 19 years in, city council and county government. What would you like people to know about government?

00:25:59:45 – 00:26:20:38
Mark Slavik
I would like to tell people that, especially in that local government, you can change things. You can go in and, it’s not about the ivory tower or the people who go and make decisions behind closed doors. The biggest change, and some of the things I am most proud of, were people who either brought an issue to me, or they were engaged and passionate and they helped, drive something.

00:26:20:49 – 00:26:24:53
Mark Slavik
But the world can be changed by one individual or by a small group of individuals.

00:26:24:57 – 00:26:27:32
David Martin
And you could get a pool and, you know, in your pool.

00:26:27:32 – 00:26:28:15
Mark Slavik
Exactly.

00:26:28:15 – 00:26:29:18
David Martin
What’s the best part of your job?

00:26:29:18 – 00:26:49:27
Mark Slavik
I would say the best part of my job is when you can, see something that you’ve been working on for longer than you want it to be. And I I’ll give you a quick example of that. And you can actually see it come to fruition. We’ve had a really bad intersection in the rural part of my county and accidents and, tragic deaths.

00:26:49:27 – 00:27:10:28
Mark Slavik
And we’ve tried flashing stop signs, and we’ve even had a, like, a, law enforcement sitting at the stop sign, and nothing has worked. And we’ve sat there and said, why don’t we just do rumble strips and, we have an interesting thing because of its proximity, that rumble strips will be loud and that’s up there. And, we worked out a deal and actually did us, worked with all the neighbors, and they all signed off.

00:27:10:33 – 00:27:18:28
Mark Slavik
We got rumble strips. We have had, no accidents since we’ve done a couple. Yeah. And we were on the, one every five days.

00:27:18:33 – 00:27:19:27
David Martin
And I did that work.

00:27:19:27 – 00:27:27:31
Mark Slavik
And we and the engineers, because they fought me for six years on this saying it shouldn’t work, but we’re like, we don’t know why this, but it,

00:27:27:36 – 00:27:28:39
David Martin
So is there, like, a speed bump?

00:27:28:39 – 00:27:45:13
Mark Slavik
That’s what it is, a very flat. The county is pretty rolling, but this is a very flat part in there. It’s where the glaciers stopped and they, So you’ll see cornfields on four sides and you just, it’s not really a sight line. It just doesn’t feel like a spot where you would stop. It’s a 60 mile an hour highway on both sides, both ways.

00:27:45:13 – 00:28:00:05
Mark Slavik
Okay. And you just end. You only stop on one of those so it doesn’t feel like it’s, It just feels like you’d be cruising down the road. But we fought that for years, and I’m like, we have to do something. We have to do something. And, and I was supporting the engineers because they’re far smarter than I am.

00:28:00:19 – 00:28:03:13
David Martin
But finally you thought I. So I.

00:28:03:17 – 00:28:14:50
Mark Slavik
So I thought, and so and so turns out. And so did they. And they’re like, well, this one defies our own logic. And it has worked. And that that’s a success story that makes me feel really proud.

00:28:14:55 – 00:28:16:41
David Martin
What are you concerned about? What keeps you up at night?

00:28:16:41 – 00:28:50:42
Mark Slavik
I think, some of our won on how to pay for the the services of government are very concerning. When when we, we rely a lot on, on state and federal dollars and we implement all the social services at the, at the county level, not at the state level. And with what’s happening at the federal level and at the state level, that’s very concerning, because the end result is either we we hurt the individuals who are paying for those services or the individuals who are receiving those services and and trying to find that balance of efficiency and showing compassion and care for others, as well as respect for the, tax dollars that keeps

00:28:50:42 – 00:28:51:18
Mark Slavik
me up at night.

00:28:51:18 – 00:29:03:14
David Martin
That keeps you up at night. Yes. So whole different topic. I’m coming to Hastings. I’m coming to Dakota County, Minnesota. Yeah. What’s the dish? I must try the dish. You must try what’s what’s what’s the favorite local food there?

00:29:03:14 – 00:29:14:04
Mark Slavik
So I would say, one of my favorite things is we’ve got, we’ve got a supper club there, and I don’t know if you heard much of these Wisconsin Minnesota supper clubs, but.

00:29:14:07 – 00:29:15:17
David Martin
Not not not much.

00:29:15:17 – 00:29:39:10
Mark Slavik
There is, you know, they’re they’re still old school. Welcome to the 1950s. And, and, we’ve got one just outside of town in there, that as, people drive hours to get to and it’s, it’s where you’re going to get your old fashions and your, your grasshopper frozen ice cream, look for drinks in that, and, their prime rib is something that, you will drive hours and hours for.

00:29:39:19 – 00:29:41:59
David Martin
Well, I listen to Garrison Keillor. Everything is held together with cream of mushroom.

00:29:41:59 – 00:29:43:57
Mark Slavik
Soup or mushroom soup. That’s exactly right.

00:29:43:57 – 00:29:45:31
David Martin
So prime rib.

00:29:45:35 – 00:29:46:05
Mark Slavik
Prime rib.

00:29:46:11 – 00:29:47:08
David Martin
A frozen grasshopper.

00:29:47:13 – 00:29:48:31
Mark Slavik
And a frozen grasshopper. Yeah.

00:29:48:43 – 00:29:50:14
David Martin
All right. What do you do for fun?

00:29:50:19 – 00:29:52:28
Mark Slavik
What do I do for fun when you’re not working? When I am.

00:29:52:28 – 00:29:53:45
David Martin
Not cleaning up the Mississippi.

00:29:53:45 – 00:29:57:38
Mark Slavik
So one of the. So I am a big roller coaster enthusiast. Okay.

00:29:57:38 – 00:29:57:58
David Martin

00:29:58:03 – 00:30:16:00
Mark Slavik
In fact, while we’re out here in, Pennsylvania, my family is flying in this week, and, we’re going to spend a couple days at Hershey, Hershey Park. And so we’re going to spend a, a couple days there. And, so that is one of the things my daughter and I we probably do 20 plus times at the local amusement park every summer.

00:30:16:02 – 00:30:21:41
Mark Slavik
Okay. With our season passes, so. Oh, boy. So so I’m excited to try some different roller coasters. While we’re out here.

00:30:21:50 – 00:30:23:28
David Martin
You might get some chocolate while you’re there.

00:30:23:33 – 00:30:29:58
Mark Slavik
My wife will be with. And she’s going to go to the zoo and the chocolate. And that’s going to be her time. So that would be one of the things we absolutely love to do for fun.

00:30:29:58 – 00:30:39:37
David Martin
So this is the good government show. We always bring it back to you, good government. Give me an example of a good government project that you you’re excited about. Yeah. Although I have to say the intersection with the rumble strips is pretty cool.

00:30:39:37 – 00:31:01:58
Mark Slavik
Yeah, I would say, one of the other ones that’s kind of, a sign of good government for us, is, we have a, trout stream that goes through the urban area in, in, Dakota County. And, I happen to live, basically on that right now. And when I was a kid, I thought it was wonderful.

00:31:01:58 – 00:31:30:46
Mark Slavik
And I’d go swimming that one there. What I know today, I would never go and, I would never, never have swam in it as a kid, knowing what I know what it was like in the 1980s. But however, however, one of the things that happened on there is we formed a joint powers, with the adjacent county where the headwaters of that said, we can’t do this by our our own, and we’ve been able to go in and, what we’ve been able to do on clean up on that river, it is the only natural reproducing brown trout stream in an urban area in the entire country.

00:31:30:46 – 00:31:39:37
Mark Slavik
And it’s been that way for the last, almost 20 years. So I’m very proud of, how clean that river has become compared to what it was when I was a kid in the 80s.

00:31:39:48 – 00:31:43:36
David Martin
So while your title is county commissioner, really? You’re just a garbage man?

00:31:43:36 – 00:31:57:37
Mark Slavik
I. Yes. And and that was. Yes. How how we go in and, and and and clean up the, the pesticides and all that stuff there. But, we now have a trout stream that actually is reproducing trout and not just putting in trout to fish, to.

00:31:57:37 – 00:31:59:07
David Martin
Fish, to fish for trout as well.

00:31:59:07 – 00:32:02:05
Mark Slavik
I fish on that river. And where I am, we can actually keep them.

00:32:02:05 – 00:32:03:56
David Martin
So, fly fish.

00:32:04:00 – 00:32:05:29
Mark Slavik
Not fly fish. I’m a real soul.

00:32:05:30 – 00:32:06:18
David Martin
Okay.

00:32:06:23 – 00:32:14:10
Mark Slavik
But the whole neighborhood goes in and does that. And so I’m really proud that, what I thought was good as a child wasn’t so great. And how much it is so much better today.

00:32:14:19 – 00:32:29:31
David Martin
Well, right. Well, you’re doing a good job cleaning up Mike Slavik. Dakota County, Minnesota, a commissioner and sanitation engineer. I had, good luck on the roller coasters, but, thank you for cleaning up the Mississippi on behalf of all Americans. And thanks for coming back.

00:32:29:31 – 00:32:32:02
Mark Slavik
Thank you so much.

00:32:32:07 – 00:32:51:42
David Martin
We want to hear more about good government. Check out another show I host leading Iowa, good Government in Iowa’s Cities. I host the show with Brad Cavanaugh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talk to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:32:51:47 – 00:33:13:02
David Martin
Join us right here. We listening now that’s leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa. Cities. It was called the War to End All Wars. But it didn’t. Three world cousins all kings, one from England, one from Germany and one from Russia blundered their way into a war. I completely avoided the war that left millions dead in the trenches across Europe.

00:33:13:07 – 00:33:36:59
David Martin
Good government show executive producer Jim Ludlow details the blunders, mistakes and bluster that started World War One that didn’t end all wars. The book The Royal Cousins details the events and creates an alternative history. Imagine a World War one never happened. It didn’t have to just read it yourself. Download the book today on Amazon. It’s just $0.99 and a timely look at history.

00:33:37:04 – 00:33:57:32
David Martin
Sounds like volunteering is off and running in Dakota County, Minnesota. And it’s not just the Mississippi River that’s being cleaned up. The number of volunteers have allowed the county to expand to other projects, and that’s good government. I hear this a lot from many government leaders. I talked to getting citizens involved. It helps at every level and volunteering, saving government $1 million.

00:33:57:45 – 00:34:17:25
David Martin
That’s impressive. Volunteering. One person can change the world. Mike Slavik said something to think about, so I really need to get up to Minnesota and just walk across the Mississippi. Now about that. Prime rib is a supper club and a frozen grasshopper. Wow. What’s not to love about an ice cream cocktail? That’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends and with us right here where you’re listening.

00:34:17:30 – 00:34:41:47
David Martin
And check out our website. Good government show.com for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government in action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here where you’re listening now. I’m Dave Martin, and this is the Good Government show. The Good Government Show is produced by the Good Government Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement and civic education.

00:34:41:52 – 00:35:12:39
David Martin
All donations to the show help promote trust in government. You can donate at Good Govt institute.org. That’s good govt institute.org. Executive producers are Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder. Jason Stershic is our editor and producer. Join us again to hear good stories about our government right here on a good government show.

00:35:12:44 – 00:35:14:24
David Martin
This podcast is part of.

00:35:14:24 – 00:35:15:22
Narratori
The democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.