Posted: 9/15/06
Indpendence Party Attorney General candidate John James wants to be the people's lawyer
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Attorney General candidate John James believes state officials have broken a covenant with the people ó acting on impulse, closing their eyes to the results.
ìBoth parties have been fundamentally dishonest with the public about the financial crisis we were in,î said James, a former Commissioner of Revenue under the Perpich Administration.
James, 60, now wants to be ìthe peopleís lawyer.î
ìTo get someone to do this (run for office) takes a certain amount of emotion and a belief you can make things better,î he said.
And as attorney general, the Independence Party candidate believes he can help clean up the political mess he sees.
Some of this is financial.
JOBZ program unconstitutional
For instance, James argues that Gov. Tim Pawlentyís JOBZ program is unconstitutional ó it allows local officials to make tax decisions the state constitution reserves for the Legislature, he argues.
ìIf Iím Attorney General thereís going to be a war on subsidies,î he said.
As a private attorney, James is involved in a case testing the constitutionality of JOBZ.
The aim of JOBZ is to foster development in Greater Minnesota.
In another financial matter, James faults the Attorney Generalís Office for opining before the Minnesota Supreme Court last spring that the health care impact fee was actually a tax.
He viewed that as an attack on Legislative power.
ìI would have said a heck of a lot before it (the impact fee) ever got there (the Supreme Court),î said James. ìI think with me in the AGís Office they couldnít fog that stuff by me,î he said.
While James views consumer protection as a high priority for Attorney Generalí s Office, ìwe donít want a one-trick pony here,î he said.
In talking to law enforcement officials about the office, he senses they believe law enforcement has lost out to consumer protection. ìAnd Iím inclined to believe that,î said James.
Focused on issues
Although saying he wanted to keep the race focused on issues, James argued that DFL Attorney General candidate Lori Swanson ó no doubt someone who would make a crackerjack consumer protection attorney general, he opined ó represents the narrow scope of the office.
James sees Republican Attorney General candidate Rep. Jeff Johnson, R-Plymouth, as unlikely to challenge the government subsidy issues as he would.
In the area of public safety, James sees the role of the attorney general as defining problems, bringing people together, working out solutions.
He believes the office needs to increase its enforcement of child protection law. ìWe see too many stories about little kids turning up dead,î said James.
He also argues that environmental law ó wetland protection, for example ó has been overlooked by the office.
While explaining that the Attorney Generalís Office needs new horizons, James offered no specifics on whether it needed to grow in size.
But he did define his own political ambition. ìThe Attorney Generalís Office has become something of a holding tank for wannabe governors,î said James. ìI have no aspirations beyond the office,î he said.
Describing himself as Republican leaning when younger, James has been active in Democratic politics.
Worked for Roger Moe
He worked for former in Senate Majority Leader Roger Moeís 2002 gubernatorial campaign as a tax policy resource man.
It was the ideas left simmering from the campaign plus his fondness for Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinsonís team approach to governance that helped convince him to run for office.
He recently returned from a 1756-mile swing through Northwest Minnesota, visiting 40 towns.
ìTheyíre ready. Theyíve had it,î he said of peopleís willingness to take a new political direction.
James serves on the board of directors for the law firm of Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King and Stageberg.
During the first attorney generalís debate on Friday (Sept. 15), Republican Johnson and Democrat Swanson largely ignored James.
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