Letter: Drotos won't give up or in

To the Editor:

When I served on the Red Wing City Council, environmental officer Paul Drotos stood out as creative and intelligent in his reports. He had the ability to describe policy, identify problems and come up with workable solutions.

When Red Wing needed to generate attention to recycling needs, Paul Drotos came to the Philip S. Duff Jr. Endowment Committee to ask for help to get his idea for “Rubin the Blue Bin” off the ground. The board supported the idea and “Rubin” has been a resounding success.

In his will, Phil laid out the fund’s mission: Encouraging residents of the Red Wing area to participate in public affairs, to educate themselves about the role of the United States in the world and to be candidates for public office.

I nominated him to the board, saying that Phil would have identified Paul Drotos as a principled thinker who gets things done. The advisory committee accepted him as part of our committee. Paul has been hard-working, insightful and he has earned the esteem of his fellow Duff Endowment advisory committee members.

Paul shares two characteristics with Phil, courage and tenacity. He is involved with Veterans for Peace, a courageous group that advocates bringing our troops home, stopping our expenditures for war and the cost of lives.

Phil also stood up for what he believed was right in spite of any criticism it might generate.

Paul’s determination will serve us all well as Goodhue County deals with the problems of the possible mining of silica sand to be used for “frac” drilling of natural gas. Our future quality of life is at stake. Paul will stand up for us; he won’t give up or give in.

As a former officeholder, I know that communities benefit greatly from the vision of newly elected leaders.

I would be proud to have Paul Drotos as one of our county commissioners. Please vote for him.

Carol Duff

Red Wing

Tags: opinion, letters