Howard Orenstein
In the 1992 reelection campaign, my “kitchen cabinet” (my campaign volunteers) came up with an idea to help young people pay for college educations by doing community service work. I talked about how I had been fortunate enough to have had my college education paid for by my parents, graduating without any student debt, and therefore able to pursue my idealism doing community work in a low-paying job. (See Voyage House Gang Tribute.) Talking about it with other legislators, I recalled President Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
One legislator who really got behind the idea was Howard Orenstein. Howard is one of my all-time favorite legislators, one of my all-time favorite – for caring about others – people. In the legislature he took the lead on gun safety issues and helped build the coalition now known as Protect Minnesota. He also passed the clinic access bill to protect Planned Parenthood clinics from violence. After serving with me in the legislature, he went to work for Hennepin County Attorneys Amy Klobuchar and Mike Freeman.
It was Howard’s savvy that got the Minnesota Youth Works Act passed with a $10 million appropriation. First, he asked if he could be second author. Then he suggested we tour the state enlisting high school and college students to be the bill’s lobbyists. In town after town the young people held media conferences and invited their local legislators to attend. Who could say “No” in the face of that? And in 1993 Minnesota Youth Works was enacted, eventually being the Minnesota component to the national AmeriCorps program President Clinton got started with the help of Minnesota Senators Paul Wellstone and Dave Durenberger (after Youth Works was enacted).
caption: Howard, to the left of easel, and some of our young lobbyists
1993 started with it looking like Howard was going to be Saint Paul’s next Mayor. Jim Scheibel had decided not to run again. Norm Coleman was campaigning, but most of us thought of him as a Republican in sheep’s clothing. (In fact, after he won the race that year, he did become a Republican.) Howard was going to be the true Democrats’ candidate. But on that tour of the state to get Youth Works enacted, right while Howard was driving, with me in the passenger seat, he got a call from his wife, Barb, saying she was pregnant. Immediately Howard turns to me, and says, “Looks like I’m not going to run.”
photo below: Jim Scheibel, Mayor of Saint Paul 1989-93, with wife Mary Pat Lee, former Director of Saint Paul Tenants Union.
I hadn’t much ever thought about being Mayor, I wanted to be the next US Congressman after Bruce Vento retired, but I knew that I had a “glass ceiling” to overcome – being thought of as an inner-city liberal, good at soapboxing but not so pragmatic. I thought the Mayor’s race might be a chance to demonstrate my record of success at actually getting things done – like the housing bill, the Youth Works bill, and various other successes in five years as a legislator – changes in family law, landlord/tenant law, tax law and eliminating racial bias in the court system. So I threw my hat in the ring, along with seven other Democrats, including the aforementioned Norm Coleman. The next Tribute is about Jane Prince and that campaign.
One more thing for this Tribute: Putting Howard Orenstein with JFK, Paul Wellstone, Dave Durenberger and Jim Scheibel – all in one Tribute – is fitting; and I bestow each a place of honor in my Politicians Hall of Fame.
photo : Paul & Shelia Wellstone at Dawkins-Anderson wedding
Paul was Ellen’s professor at Carleton, and Ellen was his Issues Coordinator in his successful 1992 campaign for the US Senate.
Paul was Andy’s roommate at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta – both were Jesse Jackson for President delegates. Earlier in 1988, Andy was part of the “campfire group” at the State DFL Convention in Rochester where we first discussed the idea of approaching Paul to run for the Senate in 4 years based on a grass-roots strategy.