Candidate Essay: Glen “Tuffy” Fisher, Jr.
District III Candidate: Glen “Tuffy” Fisher, Jr.
Glen “Tuffy” Fisher, Jr.
(Aagitchia-Nung)
Ahneen, I am Glen “Tuffy” Fisher, Jr., together we can the help to the District III communities with their crucial issues. We need housing, jobs, more youth activities, hiring Band members at the Public Safety and other Leech Lake Divisions and Programs, funding restored for the Elders Program and Temporary Employment Program, and strongly support a Relief Package. If elected District III Representative, I am here to work on achieving our priorities and not just another empty promise. We need to fight for an even distribution of the resources when District III is three (3) times larger than District I and IL District III is expected to be successful with three times less than the financial resources to help the people. I want to make sure the needs of the People are addressed and that they have a voice to speak for them.
Biography: A father of six kids, three step kids, 35 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and raised as a loving father. A business owner for 33 years in construction as Tuff-Built and employed many Leech Lake Band members. A dedicated program manager for 6.5 years at the TEP program. My Ojibwe name is Aagitchia-Nung that means “A big star in the light.” A night tech at the Half-way House for 1.5 years. Always been a hard worker and I will be for you too.
Critical Issues:
- Housing Issues has two fronts; lack of housing and homelessness.
- Identify our Housing needs such as, homeless shelters, transitional and supportive housing, market rate that includes rentals apartments, and homeownership, etc.
- Wrap around services need to be developed at the Homeless Shelter and other Housing markets that will benefit the Leech Lake Families.
- Leech Lake Preference in all jobs will be enforced.
- Jobs & Employment, if anyone is going to get the jobs building the housing we need, it should be us. Prepare for that, and jobs and in general, we need job training programs, and give our people the skills needed to find jobs and improve their lives.
- Transportation system needs to be expanded to include rides to work and all day appointments.
- Investing in our Youth, we have to start with our children, who are the future.
- Relief Package-Leech Lake RBC had created $40 million Tribal Reserved Fund that must help our people because those funds had been created by the Covid-19 money.
- Protecting our environment with land stewardship and employing Leech Lakers to guard the resources from over cutting, saving the last of the old growth, sportsman over fishing, water quality, guarding the wild rice, and getting our people into careers protecting the homeland.
- In regard to Education overall, we need to promote, and support for the 7th
- Champion against the pipeline to prison for our juvenile children and adults that our stuck in the Court and Social Service Systems because of our extreme poverty.
- Advocate for relocating the Federal and State Indian liaison positions for the Tribal people in Northern Minnesota communities that they are paid to represent and provide those services.
Other Housing Opportunities:
Why do we need more housing opportunities on the Leech Lake Reservation? The only housing built has been low income and tax credit housing. We all know that we have a homeless problem and huge housing shortage. We all know that we have multiple families living in a home, and this housing crisis keeps growing. Here is what I’m proposing with the different types of other housing developments that relates to supportive housing, home ownership, rental housing, transitional housing, and market rate housing in this platform. The Leech Lake People have children that need housing without income guideline rules, we have families that want home ownership, housing that will be for the homeless, handicap, and low-income with subsidies, and Leech Lake invests in these home types because we can set the policy and rules for the tenants without federal or state funding rules.
Housing Spectrum includes:
- Emergency Shelter- Transitional Housing
- Permanent Supportive Housing- Affordable Rental
- Affordable Homeownership
- Market Rate Rental and Homeownership
Education, and Jobs Training, and Employment Creation:
We need to develop an education, jobs and employment training programs that specifically address our concerns and for our employment market. We need to build a workforce that will build our future.
Relief Package:
The RBC had published a $40 million Tribal Reserve Fund that should help the people with an economic stimulus package. I am supporting the $1,500 for adults and $500 for children in their trust accounts.
Working together, we will build Leech Lake’s future. We have a lot of issues that need to be identify and addressed so instead of trying to list them here, I will be campaigning at your home where we can personally identify those issues that are important to you and your family. I am seeking your support for the District III Representative.
“I GOT THIS”
a quote from Ed “Fresh” Fisher