Jim Putnam of Scanlon announces he is filing for the new District 11A as a republican. He is seeking the Republican endorsement for the House of Representatives.
Putnam has lived in Carlton County and the Cloquet area all his life and raised his three sons here. His wife, Kathi, has worked at Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet for over 25 years.
Putnam is in his second term as the mayor of Scanlon and ran his campaign on the promise that he would listen to what residents had to say and serve as the voice of the people. He has pushed to have Scanlon join with other local communities on purchases and sharing costs of labor to keep expenses down. He has also helped Scanlon maintain its own identity. Putnam was a part of Scanlon joining the Cloquet Area Fire District, which as been a huge success, benefitting both the former Scanlon volunteer firefighters and Scanlon residents. In his years as mayor, Putnam has fought to keep costs down. When many cities were increasing the levy, Scanlon has been able to lower many costs and keep increases to a bare minimum. He believes in an open door policy and has been known to go out to residents' homes and meet with them one-on-one to resolve issues.
Putnam is the current president of the Cloquet Eagles. He has been and is currently involved in numerous fund-raising campaigns which support local business, families and charities throughout the area.
Putnam takes his role as mayor and community worker seriously and is looking to take his passion for standing up and being a voice of the people to the next level in his bid for the open seat in the House. He believes in people working together.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We need to keep our schools and education system in high standards, and help our youth get the best possible educations," he said. "We need to work to improve our health care, keep taxes from increasing, work on our energy programs and take care of our aging population."
