WASHINGTON — The one-year anniversary of the North Minneapolis tornado has turned political on the Star Tribune's opinion page, where U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and his Republican opponent, Chris Fields, have written dueling op-eds about the incumbent’s focus on Minneapolis issues.

On Tuesday, Fields hammered Ellison for what he calls a “continual lack of focus” that failed to secure federal funding for North Minneapolis residents after a tornado ravaged the area a year ago. He called it an indication of Ellison's priorities, claiming he too often focuses on international issues over those of the city he represents.

Fields wrote:

We must be clear about the conditions within our community. Our Twin Cities are home to the largest achievement gap in education between black and white students in the entire country.

Unemployment for blacks in Minneapolis hovers around 20 percent, but it's just 6 percent for whites — also the biggest gap in the entire country. As a black man, I say this is unacceptable.

How has this happened? Because of a lack of smart, selfless and focused leadership.

The tornado had a disproportionately harsh impact on the North Side's hurting residents. And the lack of assistance from federal agencies served as a later kick in the gut. The unstated policy from Washington bureaucrats is "we will decide who gets the services our tax dollars pay for."

A continual lack of focus by U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat representing the Fifth District, led to a failure in making the case for the North Side in Washington. Who else is there to make the case? Instead, Ellison focuses on issues in the Middle East concerning Palestinians, Syrians and Egyptians. They are not the 99 percent of constituents, are they?

Ellison responded on Wednesday by questioning what Fields would have done to get more disaster aid had he been in office. He offered up a list other federal funding he’s helped secure for Minneapolis, including a $28 million grant for an education initiative at a North Minneapolis high school.

“Mr. Fields, who moved to Minneapolis one month before last year's tornado, is using the natural disaster as a wedge to divide our communities. He claims to offer 'leadership' but offers little in terms of a vision for moving forward. What specifically would he have done differently? These questions remain unanswered,” Ellison wrote. “At the end of the day, smart leadership is about being part of the solution, not trying to tear others down. Smart leadership is offering a vision for how to move our communities forward.”

Fields' main point, that Ellison failed to secure federal assistance following last year’s tornado, is both right and wrong. President Obama declared a disaster in the area last June, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for 75 percent of recovery and repair efforts for public infrastructure, but not for individuals’ private property.

Ellison had joined Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken on a letter asking for  individual assistance, but that is significantly harder to secure than  funding for public property. The last time Minnesota won FEMA individual assistance aid was in 2009, after flooding in the Red River basin.

The Minneapolis tornado came the same weekend as the devastating storms in Joplin, Mo., and around the time Congress was debating what, exactly, to do with FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which had been nearly drained by a stronger-than-normal storm season.

Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dhenry