I want to preface this letter by saying that I have great respect for the Bemidji Pioneer and its editorial staff, but I have to take issue with a reference about a hospital dental clinic in Willmar made in Thursday's editorial on the Senate bonding bill. Your editorial made it seem as if the clinic was some kind of pork project included in the bill only because it happened to be located in the district of the Senate majority leader and as a result somehow less worthy than Bemidji's civic center proposal.
I think your readers deserve a better explanation of what the proposed dental clinic means, not just for Willmar or Senate District 13, but all of western Minnesota. The clinic is in fact a collaborative effort between the University of Minnesota Dental School and charities in west-central Minnesota. It is intended to help address a growing shortage of dental professionals in all rural parts of the state by providing training to dental students in a rural setting. The clinic will also offer free dental care for low-income and uninsured residents in the region. The state's share of the project is a rather modest $500,000, less than half of the $1.2 million cost of the project.
Now, that is not to say that this clinic is somehow more worthy than Bemidji's proposed civic center. I know that state Rep. Frank Moe has done a good job of explaining the regional significance of the project to members of the House. I only mention it because pitting projects against one another is the probably the surest way to make sure they fail.
I hope the community leaders remember this as they head down to St. Paul this week for Bemidji Day at the Capitol. By all means, lobby hard for the project important to your city. But also keep in mind that you attract a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
Al Juhnke
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DFL-Willmar
Minnesota House
