The psychodynamics underpinning the turmoil in Lake Elmo are bubbling to the surface as two clusters of candidates vie for supremacy in next month's city election.
The litmus-test question: Is Lake Elmo special?
Any campaign consultant would react to such a question with a fiercely whispered, "Say yes!" But the candidates have responded in revealing ways.
"I never use the term 'special,' " City Council Member Justin Bloyer said in a campaign debate this month.
Challenger Ben Roth pounced: "We don't have to build and develop the same way others do. We can choose to be a special place."
The election in this outpost of self-conscious rural charm is shaping up to be a referendum on the city's past and future — with each group of candidates suggesting the other could ruin everything.
Council member and mayoral challenger Julie Fliflet deployed the word "special" the moment she began her debate with incumbent Mayor Mike Pearson.
"We live here because it's different and special, because it's not Woodbury," she said. Lake Elmo has "rural character," "open space," "charm. … There aren't many cities like this left."