Should Minnesota Legion district lines be redrawn?

Commander forms ad hoc committee

ST. CLOUD ─ The Department Executive Committee on Oct. 23 approved forming an ad hoc committee to explore redistricting, mainly for the sake of merging the 4th and 5th districts of the Minnesota American Legion.

Commander Linda Dvorak appointed David “Chip” Manson of Spicer Post 545 as the chairman. Others on the committee are Lynne Nottage of Minneapolis Post 1, Donny Skow of Forest Lake Post 225, Joe Bayer of Minneapolis Wold-Chamberlain Post 99, Paul Edwards of Nisswa Post 627 and Dick Ward of Minneapolis Post 1 to the District Ad Hoc Committee.

The SAL representative is Dave Arend of Forest Lake Squadron 225, and the Auxiliary representative is Carol Kottom of Buffalo Unit 270.

The 4th District encompasses Ramsey County. The 5th District covers Minneapolis, Richfield and the unorganized territory in the airport and Fort Snelling area.

The committee’s charge is to answer: “Are the current district boundaries effective in carrying out the mission of the Department of Minnesota? Should the districts be realigned to make the districts more effective? How many districts should we have in the Department of Minnesota to carry out the mission of our department? Should the number of posts per district balance out for the officers of the district to visit easily, and make their districts function better, to promote and have active programs?”

Other department business

Dvorak reminded the DEC members of her theme, “Back the Basics: The Four Pillars.” Her Commander’s Project will raise funds for the Minnesota Veteran Assistance Fund and for benches and tables at the Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum.

She said she has put 7,600 miles on her car in her 15 weeks as commander.

Minnesota placed third nationally as of Oct. 21 in terms of membership joins and renewals, at 68.12 percent of the last Legion year. She said departments needed to be at 65 percent as of Nov. 13, so Minnesota is ahead of the goal. She called on members to avoid the typical slide in membership efforts that occurs in Minnesota in the spring.

“Let’s get out there and get our membership,” Dvorak said.

Candidates for department office in 2026-27 reminded committee members of their candidacies. Pam Krill of Fairmont Post 36 in the 2nd District and Garylee Davenport of Spicer Post 545 in the 7th District are vying for department commander.

Tom Behrends of Brewster Post 464 in the 2nd District, Frank Grittner of Zimmerman Post 560 in the 6th District and Matt Berens of Hopkins Post 320 in the 10th District are running for three of the five department vice commander spots.

Finance Committee Chairman Carl Moon announced the Finance Committee met Sept. 16 at Elk River Post 112. While the Department of Minnesota goes through an annual audit, this year it faces a full audit, which will incur an additional $20,000 expense.

Budgeted expenses are $1,439,925. Estimated income is $1,147,239, which leaves a deficit of $292,686. Moon said last year revenue exceeded expenses $237,835. A nearly similar overage happened the prior year. He said Comptroller Rachael Hill advised putting those overages toward the deficit.

The DEC approved the financial report.

Moon is the president of Legionville. He said the board of directors met Sept. 11 at Legionville and re-elected officers and went over the budget.

Legionville, he said, has lost money the last three years. In 2024-25, expenses exceeded revenue by $40,754. He said the board approved raising the registration fee to $550, up from $500.

“If each district increased by 10 campers, the budget would show revenue exceeding expenses,” Moon said. “Our camp still costs less than other camps.”

Moon stressed that members reach out to their posts and to police, fire, parent-teacher associations and home-school associations asking for campers. He wants districts to have posts give reports on Legionville registrations during mid-winter conferences.

“This is a still a registration for crossing guards training, one of the only ones in the nation that do this in cooperation with state troopers,” Moon said.

It also offers gun-safety training by using BB guns, along with first aid, swimming, school bus evacuation, driver assistance and other safety training. He said the camp is hoping to add four-wheeler safety. Owatonna Post 77 member Chuck Stone provided a four-wheeler. Bayport Post 491, he said, hopes to donate one. The 6th District is planning to have it as a commander/president project.

Camp Manager Adam Felter said the seven dorms need new flooring and replacement of sewer lines. A rider lawn mower needs repair. The camp has received just over $75,000 in donations as of Oct. 20, for the year that began July 1.

Ninth District Commander Dennis Henkemeyer stood and announced the 9th District will raise funds for Legionville improvements.

Minnesota American Legion Foundation Chairman Bruce Kottom described the foundation as having funds just over $2 million. He praised the Minnesota American Legion Riders for raising $63,000 for the Minnesota Veteran Assistance Fund. He said the adjutant and service officers have distributed $59,737 through third quarter of 2025 and almost $445,000 since the inception of the fund.

Legislative Chairman Paul Hassing said it is a nonbudget year at the Minnesota Legislature. The Minnesota Commanders’ Task Force, he said, has recommended the veteran service organizations have a single priority: Modernize the disabled veteran homestead market value exclusion.

“Assessed values have gone up so much, and this hasn’t changed in 13 years,” he said.

He and the Legislative Committee plans to speak with different politicians and get them on the record supporting the increased property-tax exemptions.

The CTF wants the $150,000 exemption to become $225,000 and the $300,000 one to become $450,000. There will be pass/fail scorecards for politicians this year.

As for property-tax exemptions for posts of veteran organizations, he said many posts ask their county board and county assessors for an abatement.

“Let the county board know what the Legion is doing, that it is giving back to the community. If the county says no, then you know where you stand. Consolidated Post Reports are important for letting cities and county what you are doing. Don’t let it get to the point where they don’t miss you until you’re gone, and then it’s too late,” Hassing said.

Adjutant Mike Maxa shared that the Minnesota CTF is exploring organizing as a 501(c)(19) nonprofit. It’s been a loosely structured group all these many years. Organizing, Maxa said, ought to help it apply for grants, do actual lobbying (as opposed to mere advocacy) and get legislation passed.

Maxa encouraged members to take a peek at the new department website at mnlegion.org. He praised the work of Jennifer Cole from Legion Social.