Calvin Lee Carpenter, Minneapolis Ward 1 Candidate, Veterans Party of Minnesota
The Minneapolis Municipal Elections are on November 2, 2021. With the turmoil and constant violent crime in the City of Minneapolis Minnesota there ought to be some sort of turn over of leaders in the troubled city. If there isn’t, one can write Minneapolis off as another failed city much like the city it has often been modeled after, Portland Oregon.
The Mayor and all 13 Ward City Council Seats are up for election. Normally SaintPaulRepublicans.us doesn’t write about city governments outside of the City Limits of Saint Paul. The last time we did it was to promote the candidacy of Minneapolis Ward 7 Candidate Joe Kovacs in 2017.
This time we are intrigued with a candidate who ran in the Legislative House District 60A race last year who is running Minneapolis’ Ward 1, Calvin Lee Carpenter. I, Publius Jr, had a phone interview with him in early September after Labor Day. His party is of interest too, so I thought to write about them both in this article.
Calvin Lee Carpenter
A brief bio of Calvin will make you understand why he didn’t seek out an endorsement from the Republican Party in Minnesota but rather joined the Veterans’ Party of Minnesota instead. He is not a Veteran, but most of his family members, siblings and cousins are. He tried to enlist in the US Air Force but an injury from an accident kept him from doing so. His step-father is a Vietnam Veteran.
Calvin was born in the State of Mississippi and lived for some time in the State of Florida before coming to Minnesota where he has lived for the last 20 years. He is currently a security guard and lives near The Quarry Shopping Center in Northeast Minneapolis.
Calvin likes to fish when he isn’t at work.
Calvin’s Issues
Most Republicans I can actually fill out the Issues section before meeting the candidate, but with a Veterans Party of Minnesota Candidate I was unsure of what I’d hear.
Against Replacing the Minneapolis Police Department (No on Question 2)
Calvin addressed the unacceptable violence in Minneapolis. He said some people might think the violence is related to the George Floyd riots, but it is not. If it were there are more peaceful ways to protest the grievances of the people than to elevate it to violence. This is from the pro-US Constitution Veterans Party Platform.
He said he is against getting rid of the Minneapolis Police Department, but he would like to see some reforms in the department. He had some ideas in helping to change the relationship the Minneapolis Police have with Citizens of Minneapolis.
- Better Police Training. Officers need to develop better procedures when called into a situation. They need to make sure situations do not escalate into confrontations. This starts with better training.
- Police Officers Living in Minneapolis Neighborhoods. To earn Minneapolis Residents’ trust and mutual respect they need to know the neighborhoods they patrol. This means encouraging Police Officers to live in Minneapolis. What stops speeders faster than seeing a squad car parked on the street. Police Officers who live in the city they protect will know more of the feeling of a neighborhood than an officer who lives in the suburbs.
Promoting the Nuclear Family
Calvin talked about how children with a mother and father promote stability in a number of ways. A stable family doesn’t need a social worker, doesn’t need multiple calls by the Police Department to visit. Stable families anchor a neighborhood which attracts other stable families. They require good schools, and businesses will want to move into the neighborhood.
He is for Father’s Rights.
Business Climate Needs to Change
During the Pandemic Small Businesses were overlooked while Big Businesses were rewarded. The lockdown was brutal on small businesses. The majority of jobs created happen at small businesses. The Governor and Mayor Jacob Frey and City Government of Minneapolis ensured economic hardship for small business owners but seem to drive business toward Big Business.
Before the Pandemic it wasn’t much better. Misunderstanding how small businesses and the private sector can increase jobs and wages the City leaders killed jobs and the business climate by increasing the minimum wage in Minneapolis. This killed legacy businesses, and killed jobs as well.
Bringing back businesses destroyed in the protests of the George Floyd Riots may never happen with the anti-business climate and hostility towards the Minneapolis Police Department.
Pro Second Amendment
Self defense is from God. It is an inalienable right. Sometimes the Police are 10 minutes away from your house, but the threat is trying to get through your front door. Paying attention to firearm laws and the rules of using deadly force and universal gun rules and waiting for the Police to arrive one just needs to be able to defend yourself and your family if the Police don’t arrive in time.
Political Parties need to work for the People not their Party
Many people wish the two major parties would work for the people rather than playing games at the Legislature or in city government. Voices of people in parties that do not have elected leadership need to be heard because they might have great ideas that aren’t allowed to be heard because of party politics.
Calvin should be a great City Councilman. If you don’t vote for him on the 1st choice, vote for him on your second choice in the Ranked Choice Voting in Minneapolis Ward 1.
Vote for Positive Change Vote Calvin Lee Carpenter
Why the Veterans Party of Minnesota?
I asked Calvin Lee Carpenter why he joined the Veterans Party of Minnesota. Other than the family tradition of serving in the military he said he had met a couple of people at a rally at the Minnesota Capitol Grounds. Those people were Tony Nerios and Myron Wilson. Nerios ran in House District 43A, and Wilson ran in House District 15B in 2020. They encouraged Calvin to run for office in House District 60A in Northeast Minneapolis.
It’s an interesting concept of appealing to Veterans in America. Many Veterans feel that their oath of office never ended, despite their contracts being finite. The oath is to defend the US Constitution against Enemies Foreign and Domestic. I, Publius Jr, served in the US Army. I believe my oath never was rescinded, despite my 6 year contract ending some time ago.
So I’m looking at the Veterans Party of Minnesota and their Platform is pretty simple for those who like simple they have 3 goals which the Republican Party have never been close to addressing despite the donation advantage and leadership groups all over the state of Minnesota.
Veterans Party of Minnesota Platform
- Repeal REAL I.D.: Drivers Licenses should not be used as a passport. This is intended for Minnesota to retain our State Sovereignty.
- Dismantle the Met Council: MN DOT absorbs all responsibilities and distributes them accordingly to all the appropriate state agencies.
- 3rd Party Recognition: adjust the requirements of political parties & candidate recognition to allow for more competition and ideas.
National Platform of the Veterans Party of America
The national platform has 18 planks.
- The US Constitution is the Law of the Land.
- There is no such thing as a Separation of Church & State codified in the US Constitution.
- Job Creation.
- Border Security.
- National Defense and Security is the highest priority to keep citizens safe and secure.
- The Veterans Party has 10 parts to their Immigration policy.
- Education of our children is critical to the security of our nation.
- Foreign Policy should not extend to interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations.
- Foreign Aid can’t come before America’s needs. Aid must be looked at on a case by case basis.
- Having a Balanced Budget at the Federal level, which would require a Constitutional Amendment.
- Earned Benefits (see the link above).
- Tax Reform.
- Welfare Reform
- Election Reform (try to eliminate voter fraud) and eliminate unions and corporations from giving to political parties or candidates.
- Congressional Pay & Benefits.
- Term Limits (States could set term limits on their elected officials).
- Resource Sustainability (see link above).
- Eliminate Corporate Subsidies.
Like all platforms you do not have to agree with everything. I, Publius Jr, do not like limiting how many times I help re-elect an effective elected official. Term Limits often change the faces but not the policies of who is elected. Seeing actual rotation of elected officials on the St Paul Public Schools Board of Education despite a few serving multiple terms, has led to a body of elected officials that never change the policies of educating children. The culture has to change in order to flip a seat, term limits do not change the culture at all.
If you like what the Veterans Party of Minnesota profess and that they actually fielded a candidate in Minneapolis despite being a small party, feel free to follow them.