Dear Lakeville Neighbors,
I hope you and your family had a fun Halloween! My daughters had a blast trick-or-treating, and received too much candy. Thanks to all of the friendly houses throughout Lakeville that our kids get to stop at each October. We have just an amazing, giving community!
Below are a few items to keep you updated on Tuesday’s elections and licensing.
Licensing Issue
If you’ve had to go to the DMV in the last couple months, you may have experienced any number of issues with titles, tabs, etc. That’s because the state recently rolled out the new licensing system, MNLARS, and it hasn’t quite gone according to plan. Just this week, there were a number of outages, including some that lasted hours.
We see now the system wasn’t ready for primetime. In the legislature, we’re holding hearings to find out more what citizens are experiencing, and what the state is doing to fix the problems. Last week, I visited with a local auto dealer and the local license registrar to hear first-hand the frustrations with the Department of Vehicles Services’ mismanagement of this software change and introduction. If you’ve experienced any difficulties because of the MNLARS rollout, please click here to share your story with us.
VOTE Tuesday Novemeber 7th / Education Update
Though it’s an off-year, we’re quickly approaching another chance for you to vote on important issues. On Tuesday, November 7, two of our local schools districts are holding important votes. Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools has a school board election, while Lakeville schools are requesting the renewal of a 2007 levy. No matter what side of these issues you’re on, it’s important to take part in this essential civic process.
Since it’s an off-year election, you may have to vote at a different polling place. Please click here to find out where you can vote on November 7.
In our area, and throughout the state, we’re very proud of our schools and the students. This session we again made education a top priority. We invested $1.35 billion of new money towards K-12 funding in the next two years. This will have a big impact at the local level as Lakeville schools will receive $4.4 million of new dollars to help our classrooms. We want to make sure our kids continue to receive the best education possible, and I believe our combination of funding and reforms this year put us on the right path.
Part of successful school systems are community participation and involvement, I strongly encourage you to participate in Tuesday’s local elections.
High School Page Program
The deadline to apply for the House High School Page Program is quickly approaching. If you know a high school junior interested in government, this is a great chance to gain experience at the state level. Pages spend a week at the Capitol helping in committees, meeting legislators, and assisting staff. The deadline for applying is December 1.
Meeting high school pages from Lakeville is one of my favorite parts of the legislative session. I think this is a perfect opportunity for high school juniors to gain valuable experience at the Capitol that can help them now and into the future.
Let me know if your high school junior - or a junior you know - is interested in the program. If you have questions about the program or the application process, please contact my office. You can also find more information here.
Local Sports and Activities
Good luck to all our local sports teams competing in their end-of-the-year playoffs. Between Lakeville North, South and the smaller parts of Farmington and Apple Valley High Schools I serve; we have a number of top teams and individuals who routinely make our community proud come playoff time. Good luck to our students!
As session nears we will have more updates on pre-session happenings. Have a great weekend,
Jon Koznick
State Representative, Lakeville, 58A