Looking for road, bridge, and school money? Look no further than the Shubert theater

$12 million in state bonding money to do what, complete a 10 year old revitalization of a vacant building that got moved down the street. What a waste of money. We continually hear complaints of the “elected” from Minneapolis that there is a lack of funding for bridges and roads. Maybe the money should have come from the Shubert fund! There has to be a reprioritization of funding so that the basics are covered and taxpayer's money isn’t funneled into projects that aren’t needed. I’m not against funding the arts, but the funding should come from sources other than the taxpayers.

The September Crime Report .. Going up!!???

With crime statistics such as Homicides matching last September’s level, an increase in Rape over last month, and Burglary up 10% over last month; I expect the Minneapolis “elected” to be celebrating in the days to come stating that crime is down. I would rather poll my neighbors and get their reactions to police warnings such as the ones stating that we lock our doors and windows because of the crime wave currently affecting a number of areas of the city. Maybe I should talk with “U” students to see if they are feeling safe on campus with the recent rapes and murders. I could talk with people in the Somali community who have experienced the recent attacks on their friends and neighbors. Huh… sounds like a safe city to me!!!!

In Minneapolis it’s “Crime to the left of me…Crime to the Right..Here I am stuck in the city with you”

Undeniably the headlines are not good coming out from Minneapolis.
Pedestrians in five neighborhoods robbed at gunpoint
Six Somali men shot to death since December
Women raped at the “U”
Slaying of an Augsburg student
Mentally illness woman raped in ally
Man found on railway tracks dead
Cyclist dies after run over by a truck.

What is the city council focusing on?
WiFi
Green Technology
Replacing the goodie money for the NRP
Continued digging into the treatment of the “protesters” at the RNC
Making the city walkable.

All I have to say is ….priorities, priorities, priorities.

Addressing a crisis … McCain v Obama and a local perspective

Senator McCain calls for a sensation of campaign activities and a return to Washington to lead in the discussions on the economic situation.
Senator Obama calls for continuing campaign activities and will help when told his help is needed.

I ask you… who is displaying leadership?

A few points here…..
Barry Obama obviously doesn’t understand what is required in leadership. It takes a presence to drive discussion and solutions. That means be present!

It is frankly apparent that Barry Obama is lacking the experience and understanding of what it takes to get things done. You can’t simply sit around and wait for people to ask for your opinion.
Barry Obama’s response to Senator McCain’s decision to stop campaign activities and return to Washington demonstrates that he has nothing to offer towards getting to the solution. If he did, he’d be returning to Washington as well.

The local perspective on all of this….
The “elected” from the city of Minneapolis all seem to have the same approach to a problem as Senator Obama. A wait until asked for input approach towards fixing and addressing issues isn’t leadership.
He is what I ask of you the reader of this posting… please send me in the comments form provided an example of local Minneapolis leadership. Be specific as to whom and what was done to display leadership on a critical issue.

Space … Hennepin County’s Frontier… These are the Voyages of the starship throwing good money after bad

Budgets and economic situation be dammed, the Hennepin County taxpayers are going to put together the planetarium committed to by the city of Minneapolis after bailing out the library. When does it end? Hennepin County isn’t required to act on this. What is wrong with leaving the space planned for the planetarium vacant until all the funds can be raised and other obligations met? Whatever happen to the commitment to the taxpayers? Here Hennepin County is laying off people, but they continue to soak the taxpayers for non-essentials. What is wrong with these Commissioners, why don’t they get it? Times are tough and it’s time to cut Government.

Don’t read too much into Minneapolis Public Schools enrollment numbers

....being fewer losses than expected. If there were a good non-basis news source in this town we would find out if the decrease in the number of decreases is due to people unable to afford sending their kids somewhere else. I highly doubt that the declining enrollment figures will be calculated into the asking price of the referendum this fall. Instead of setting a fixed price onto the referendum they should set a fixed price per student. This way if the enrollment goes down it can be reflected in the price tag, but that would make too much sense. Heaven forbid the school system do anything that made sense.

Hard economic times … Hold on to guns and religion

Or some leader wannabes believe is the mantra of a lot of us, or dare I say the majority of America. I do believe that this comment by Senator Obama, the Messiah as some like to call him, is way out of line and a slap in the face of us who are of a religious belief. In hard times and in good times we true believers of a faith, which ever faith we may believe in, use our believe in a lot of cases to celebrate and hope in a bright future for ourselves and the world around us. Especially in hard times do we turn to the God we believe in, and place our trust that the future will be bright. What is wrong with that? It’s better than turning to a government and believing in that as if it was a religion. I can see where the good Senator can make this mistake, because a lot of the people from his party can get government and religion mixed up. Not saying that the other side doesn’t get it wrong by any means, but the basic concept of our government being founded on a certain set of religious beliefs is vastly different than making a religion of government. The very reason we face the hard economic times today is because we have gotten away from the core principles of our founding in the first place. Over taxation and over regulation with a mama government mentality is what has driven us to the place that we are currently at. Our economic system was never meant to be handled by an over burdensome government. An economic system that has produced the largest and fastest world wide reaching growth in human history, and we have figured out how to screw it up. When we get back to the basics of a free and thoughtful society our economy will return to full strength once again. We must get back to having the government provide only what the people cannot provide for themselves, and then we can get back to enjoying the strong economy that we are meant to have. As far as the guns, that’s a whole other tirade.

Rise in bicyclist accidents … and they want to change the laws to allow them to brake the current ones

Here is yet another example of how the wrongheaded thinking of the “elected” from the City Of Minneapolis can endanger peoples lives. As most of you have either heard or seen the increase in the number of recent meet and greets between bikes and cars. Yet we have our glorious “elected” officials at the state and city levels wanting a change in the laws to allow bicycles to blow thru lighted intersections and stop signs. This is a reckless disregard for the lives of people who use the self-propelled mode of two-wheeled transit. Too often have I been witness to bicyclists disregarding the rules and laws of the road and ending up almost getting turned into hood ordainments. On the other hand the argument of putting up bike paths everywhere to get bikes off the road doesn’t wash either. Common sense and a respect for the rules and laws of the road will go a long way to keep people safe. Changing the rules will get people killed.

Government is to blame for the financial mess

Maybe it is a good thing that the federal government is bailing out the banks from under the financial mess. After all it is the collective efforts of the government at all levels that is really to blame here. Thought out the numerous postings on this blog I’ve raved on about government staying within it initial mission, to provide for the things that the citizens themselves cannot. Over taxation and a government over stepping its bounds have led us into this mess, and it’s past time to right the ship. An over reaching, manipulative, far too intrusive government doesn’t work within our economic system. Look at the facts. Government has continued to raise taxes at rates that are far and beyond the rate of inflation, prices on everything continue to rise, families having to layout huge amounts money to compensate for a failed education system for their children, and job creation and wage increases are stifled because of over regulation and taxation. All of this adds up to middle class families getting the squeeze put on them, which leads to the financial mess that we are in today. Time to press the reset button and get back to everyone doing their jobs and not overreaching.

Stop the press: Congratulations from the Minneapolis Shadow to Minneapolis City Council

As much as I, the Minneapolis Shadow, will condemn the Minneapolis City Council when they do something dumb and crazy, which is most of the time, I’ll also give them a “that a boy/girl” when they do something right and in the best interest of the public. Council Member Paul Ostrow, who has been out front on the issue noting that there is no need for an investigation into the police conduct regarding the RNC, deserves a pat on the back. The police followed all the proper procedures, acted in the best interest of the public, and went to great extra-ordinary lengths to do the right things. Kudos to the police, chief, and the council members who voted down Cam Gordon’s attempt to cost the city unneeded expense. Bravo!

Cam Gordon is once again wasting government time and money tilting at windmills

For political reasons “silly” councilman Cam Gordon is asking for an accounting (short of calling for an investigation, but really lets call a spade a spade here) of a house raid in regards to committing crimes during the RNC convention. What’s up Cam? Calling into question the cops, the judge who approved the action, or just again tilting at windmills? I would think that the police wouldn’t have requested and taken action if they didn’t think there was a good chance of preventing something of happening. I think you are just trying to blow smoke here in order to be chummy with a bunch of protesters and look as if you are a champion of freedom of speech. Well Cam, you look like nothing more than a fool. Stop wasting everyone’s time and money and get back to the real work, and there is lots of it to do. Go and put on your Superfool cape on your own time!

Income Redistribution v Tax Relief

This is a more national topic than a local topic but it is important on the local level. Let’s layout our definitions here so that there isn’t any misconceptions.

Income Redistribution is the collection of money from generally income taxes that is used in the funding of programs to supply money to lower income people thru tax credits or cash payments. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_redistribution.

Tax Relief is the lowering of tax rates in order to stimulate economic growth thru encouraging business investment and relieving the tax burden on a targeted group. The opposite of this is reflected in China’s economic and taxation system. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_system_in_China.


The US economic system is based mostly on capitalism, but we keep marching more towards a mixed system that includes socialism. The results of this march are appearing in our markets today, hence the real problem with our current economy. Higher taxation and more Government control and regulation lead to the problems that we see today in the financial markets.

The local flavor in all of this…Government has the responsibility to provide the citizens for which they can’t provide for themselves. Be it building roads and bridges, police protection, national defense, public works (water/sewer/trash), etc. That doesn’t include sports stadiums, crafting public behavior (self protection laws like smoking bans and idling cars), and such. As Government goes further and further into areas that it isn’t really responsible for then Government will continue to grow to meet the demand, the more expensive it will get, and the more freedoms will be lost. This trend will also result in a deepening of the economic troubles and the increasing difficulty of the capitalist system to function. Minneapolis is a microcosm of the problem. Even if our regional economy is stronger than a lot of metro areas, Minneapolis continues to be a place not to do business because of the taxes and fees that are imposed on the citizens and business community. Most of the strongest regional economy isn’t driven by Minneapolis, but increasingly becomes the greatest expense. The “elected” officials that come from Minneapolis need to realize this fact and start to turn things around before there isn’t any turning back from the economic grave.

Minneapolis streets are very dangerous

Never in my 36 years of living in Minneapolis do I recall a time that there has been so many reports of crimes on such a regular basis. Again, on Saturday we experienced a report of three stabbings that occurred on Lake Street. We have a crime alert on a rapist on the loose, and what has become a regular reporting of either arson, rape, or shooting. I hear from my neighbors about reports of prostitution activity in areas that haven’t experienced that before. No matter what the “elected” say it seems that there is a crime problem in Minneapolis, and they are either unable or unwilling to do what it takes to solve the issues. The “elected” seem to just bury their heads in the sand and imagine that everything is getting better, but I don’t buy this line of snake oil. For all of the investment in new technologies to solve and track crimes, there is no good replacement for boots on the streets. Minneapolis is long overdue for a influx of police hirings to place cops on the streets. Long overdue!

“The Elected” need to get reeducated on economics

Hennepin County is looking to cap property tax increase at 7% is the big news. Wow, thank you Commissioners! You are the greatest! The inflation rate so far this year has only risen by an average of 3.86%, and the lowest inflation rate increase over the last three occurred in the final four months of the year. BTW, that would bring down the average if that trend continues this year. The inflation increases over the last three years were 2.85%, 3.24%, and 3.39%. Why does Government need to grow way over the rate of inflation? Who do you know has had an increase in income of over 7% this past year? This only represents the county potion of the property tax increase. It doesn’t represent the increase in state and city property, school, park, sales, user fee, and other misc funding mechanisms. Why is the cap of 7% something to celebrate? The isn’t a cut in the rate we are paying it’s only a cut in the increase we are paying. Is that really the way to help working families out? Minneapolis and Hennepin County officials are trying to “paint lipstick on a pig” here and say they are trying to help families out. What happen to tax cuts?

Minneapolis Public Schools are at it again…another Program of the Day

This time they are creating a special agreement with the African American community. Now I agree with family involvement, which is key to a child knowing that his or her parents place importance on getting a good education. However, creating a culturally responsive curriculum doesn’t make sense. Culture, what culture. You mean to tell me the school system doesn’t have a curriculum that doesn’t appeal to American sensitivities? I thought this was an American school system. What special curriculum needs to be put into place to feed the needs of someone that is an American? I understand language barriers and new Americans or immigrants getting adjusted, but members of a community that have been here for generations needing a whole different program doesn’t make sense. I come from a Swedish, French, and Dutch background. So where is my special curriculum? Isn’t this really about taking responsibility? Why should the school system need to compensate for parental irresponsibility? Maybe the school system just needs to take a different approach towards discipline instead of changing it’s programming. Maybe an agreement between parents, students, and teachers outlining expectations is needed. There are better ways of closing the achievement gap then creating another special program.

Homicides have doubled in Minneapolis over the last month

Welcome to crime time all you citizens. The August Homicide total doubled over July, Robberies increased 16%, and Aggravated Assaults are up. Can “the elected” continue to say crime is down? Fortunately as we get away from the summer months crime will decrease, maybe.

A city that doesn’t work

According to the Mayor crime is worse that it has been. Whew..talking out of two sides of your face. Straight from the Mayor’s web site.
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Closing the Gaps
Closing the gaps between the haves and have-nots is the most important value for our city because the story of this period in Minneapolis cannot be a tale of two cities. While billions of dollars of investment are lifting most of this city, parts of Minneapolis are falling further behind. Crime is worse, unemployment is higher, heath and education disparities are growing. I believe that the role of government is more about leveling the playing field than about treating everyone equally. Where there is disproportionate need, we need to make disproportionate investment. We have proven in the Phillips neighborhood, where a once-distressed area is now creating more jobs than any other part of the state, that investment in areas in need pays off tenfold. We need to reproduce the success of Phillips to north Minneapolis and the entire city.
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The biggest problem that the Mayor nor the council really seem to properly address is the high taxes that the city has. Be it taxes on business, property, sales, user, or amount heavy handed fees, Minneapolis faces some of the highest around. The education system is a complete failure, and the city keeps getting whacked by lawsuits for things that are avoidable or the results of their overreaching authority. One of the most distressing parts of being low income is being able to meet the basic needs.
- If you want to own a home.. you need to pay high property taxes … to pay the city.
- If you want electrical, water, sewer, and trash service for your home… you have high fees and taxes to pay..the city.
- If you want to educate your kids… you have to pay high school taxes … to the city… and get failed results… so you need to go to some alternative … which costs less but you still have to pay the high school taxes .. to the city in addition to your choice.

Whew… what a crazy cycle of tax and spend .. and for what?

Public Education – Death Knell or Strengthen – the two party view

Ok folks … we have heard from both parties’ candidates for the big chair. What do you think? One of the most key livability in the city is education and it is currently ruled here by the public system. A system that is proven, come on now and be straight here, not to work. We have wondered off the path of common sense and the basics of education and cornered into the world of covering our you know whats. I will not get into a political debate here based on a party viewpoint, but look at this from purely logical standpoint. Massive amounts of data has been captured to prove that the state of the public education system in the US is appalling, especially in the inner cities. All one needs to do is to compare testing results between us and the rest of the industrialized world and even an public educated sixth grader can see the problems we face in a ever expanding worldwide economic system. The US is the most highly adaptive society in history and we the people are capable of anything we put our minds to. However, our government has grown to a point that it stands in our way of getting onto the path towards the journey that we all know we must take. Be it education reform, business development, tax reform, economic growth, health reform, etc… it is all held back because of government intrusion and control. Regardless of what problems need to be addressed nothing is going to get accomplished if we are uneducated. Senator McCain was absolutely correct when he stated education is our number one civil rights issue of today. Our entire ability to continue enjoying our freedom and way of life depends on a properly educated population. We must lift the education bar in order to compete in the world market. No amount of extra funds into the existing system is going to fix the problems public education faces. This is way I tend to lean towards the McCain plan instead of the Obama plan.
As I have stated on this blog in the past the major steps that need to be taken are:

Control of each school site needs to rest in the hands of the principal.

No more programs of the month. Stick to meat and potatoes basics.

Focus on areas of math, science, technology, writing, and reading.

Promote life long learning.

Teach health lifestyles thru physical education and health.

Focus on citizenship thru history and civics, but don’t cram doctrine. Be true to historical events and don’t give just a perspective.

Most important… encourage good teachers and weed out the bad ones. They are there for the kids.

No degree of tweaking the current system is going to get the job done, it calls for a complete and immediate overhaul. We not only have to lift up the failing schools, but raise the bar on the more successful ones. It’s a huge undertaking, but it is required. Government must get out of the way and allow it to take place. As example, the Minneapolis Schools referendum this November doesn’t address any of the problems that the education system faces. It is just a band-aid to allow the schools to stay open. This is why it must not pass, and the education board challenged to draw up a detail plan to bring the system around before any funding questions are placed in front of the voters. Unless they do this the taxpayers would be better off flushing the money down the toilet, because at least the school system wouldn’t have the chance to do it.

MPS Principal Academy may be a step in the right direction

Any changes to be successful in the Minneapolis Public Schools will require Principals to be highly skilled and trained for the office of commander and chief of their school. The administration at 807 needs to get out of the mindset of micro-managing each school site and allow the academic leadership of the school to take over. Enough with all the programs of the month and shell games played with budgets and get back to meat and potatoes education. Of course this will require cooperation with the other levels of government such as the federal and state levels. Most urban schools do have needs that are not as prevalent in suburban and rural schools and funding does need to reflect that. Specialized training and collaboration among peers is necessary and is a good step towards improving the quality of education. The only thing is … why did it take so long to get to this point?

Citizen Government

Here comes the Minneapolis Shadow’s national tie to the local political scene. Being a FORMER Republican and now a non-partisan agenda driver I like the pick of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States of America. Here we have a person that is a real slice of America. She embodies everything that is good about our country. She is a fighter, a rugged frontier individualist, a family valued person, without deep dark scandal riddled background, and someone that seems like you could sit down and enjoy a cold one with. She doesn’t seem to come from a rich background and seems very genuine. She has been a business person, a mayor, and a Governor. She faces down big interest folks and isn’t afraid to do what she thinks is the right thing to do. Now for the local link……
The Minneapolis political establishment is made up of a bunch of people that came from the ranks of the politician want-a-bes that seem to only answer to a political special interest bent. None of them seem to be interested in doing what is best for the city, but what is best for their own special interest bent and political career. No one with any guts or motivation to do things for the right reason. No one to stand up for anything important. No one that is willing to stick their neck out and be counted. We have gone too far down the trail of career politician regardless of what party you are from. Who can dare say that what we get from the Minneapolis-politcalpoparotzi is working? Just look at the non-specifics we keep getting from Obama, and what he does give us is either misled or not feasible.
In the coming weeks we will find out what Sarah Palin stands for (I like what I’ve heard so far), and see if her ideas she brings to the table reflect good old American meat and potatoes values and common sense. We will see if this hockey mother of five, mother of a soldier, mayor, governor, and hunter; has the handle on the major issues of the day enough to be a beat away from the President’s office. After all, it seems to me that she is just what the founders had in mind for the position and just what is needed to give us a governmental renaissance.

Mama Minneapolis micro-managing our lives

It’s illegal to leave keys in your car and you can’t even leave your car running. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/airquality/AntiIdling_home.aspWhat is next? I can see the headlines now… Population in Minneapolis growing too large, couples only allowed to have two children. Sound familiar? Communist China perhaps. Sound silly? Well only a few short years ago most people would have thought laws against idling cars and leaving keys in a car would be silly also. This is a slippery slope we are falling down, and if it’s not stopped here and now we will find ourselves with very unthinkable laws. We continue to allow these types of crimes (and it is a crime to pass laws like this) to be committed by the government against the citizens, then it is all over for us. We should just pack it in now and turn all of our lives over to the government. Maybe we should change our currency slogan to “In Rybak We Trust”, or “In Pawlenty We Trust”, or “In Obama We Trust” since he is already trying that, or “In McCain We Trust”. The very thought of any of these scares the HELL OUT OF ME, some more than others! I’ve got a better idea … “In The Minneapolis Shadow We Trust”.

Serial Rapist spree in North Minneapolis… and they brag about crime being down

Five women are attacked over a 10 day span, so how can you say crime is down in Minneapolis. From June to July rapes went up 15%. Over the previous month they increase 29%. Of course this is the same gang that support a candidate for US Senate, Al Franken, who thinks abuse against woman and children makes for good satire.

You have an arsonist repeatedly attacking the Cardinal Bar in South Minneapolis and Arson is up 5% from June to July. Compare June 07 to June 08 and Arson had increased 21%. Compare May 08 to April 08 and you have an increase of 33%.

Homicides have doubled from July 07 compared to July 08 and from May 08 to June 08 doubled. Compare April 07 and April 08 and you’ll find an increase of 40%.
These numbers don’t represent a decrease in crime! Keep dreaming “Silly Council” and Mayor Socks!

Even the Mayor agrees that Minneapolis officials haven’t been focusing on their responsibilities

The Mayor has stated in delivering his budget proposal that the infrastructure in Minneapolis has been neglected and is in disrepair. He announced his 27.5 million package to repave or repair more than 1/3 of the city’s heavily traveled streets and parkways maintained by the city. Of course he blames the state and federal government for the problem. Let’s take an accounting of the facts here. This is the same gang (Mayor and City Council) whom most are in at least in their second four-year term. Roll call please:
Rybak : 2001
Ostrow : 1997
Gordon : 2005
Hofstede : 2005
Johnson : 1997
Samuels: 2003
Lilligren: 2001
Goodman 1997
Glidden : 2005
Schiff : 2001
Remmington : 2005
Benson : 2001
Colvin Roy : 1997
Hodges : 2005

You mean to tell me this group hasn’t had the ability to address the problem until now. It is the responsibility of the city officials to take care of these things, it’s what they are elected to do. They have to look no further than a mirror in front of them to find someone to blame for the crumbling infrastructure. Here is a short list of things they have been focusing on.
Green roof tops
Water fountains
Bike path projects
Payoffs of lawsuits for bad policy
New Community Engagement Department
Redesigning perfectly good streets for no good reason (example: Hennepin)
Making the city more “walkable”
Global warming handouts

Whew…this is just the tip of the iceberg. None of these things are going to catapult the city into the annals of Better Homes and Infrastructure. Isn’t about time these folks get to the business of conducting city business, or maybe it’s time to give them the business.

Declining cities .. and Minneapolis is next

A recent report, http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Article_forbes.aspx?cp-documentid=9579218&GT1=35000, by Forbes magazine underlines the decline of several cities along what is know as the ‘rust belt”. The article shows how declines in housing value and lack of jobs can lead citizens to abandon once prosperous urban areas. Some may see this as the nature order of things, but it doesn’t have to be this way. The combination of high taxes, lack of quality education, and burdensome laws lead us into situations such as the one being experienced by these cities. Many more urban areas are in danger of falling prey to the same fate, and more than we would care to admit.
One of the factors that the article mentions that stems this tide is the influx of immigrant population. This only stems the tide of population decline, and doesn’t necessarily add to the economic growth of the area.
The flip side of the equation is the attraction of higher income single or dual income no kid families. These folks add to the tax roles, but aren’t taken with the idea of really putting down roots in a given area.
That leaves the majority of the people left in an urban setting being in the poor or low-income variety who don’t add but subtract from the area’s tax generating potential. Of course these facts are generalities, but that are facts. Cities such as Minneapolis are building themselves towards this three-tiered population and ignoring the fourth class, middle income with children. One can come to this conclusion by simply watching the actions of the government identities at work here. If they were truly trying to attract middle-income families to this city they would lower taxes, improve the schools, spur business development and growth, and get serious about crime. Without a serious, well thought-out agenda on the table; Minneapolis will go the way of Canton, Youngstown, Flint, Scranton, and Dayton.

Fight crime by doing something that isn’t window dressing

The Minneapolis Shadow is continuously irked by people who are a position to make a difference and really solve an issue who end up only doing something that amounts to window dressing. Now we have a bunch on posters from a Minneapolis chat group that are putting together a block party in North Minneapolis to draw attention to the hood. Good grief! Join hands and have another candlelight service why don’t you! These events do nothing to solve the issues! Where is the banding together to address the lack of the number of cops on the streets? Where is the group to increase sentencing terms for killers? Where is the city council protests against misappropriating public funds? Where are these groups against the do nothing incumbents? Well, I guess, if they solve problems they wouldn’t have a need for their forum now would they. Stop wasting everybody’s time!

Mayor Rybak increases taxes to pay for necessities while still spending on non-essentials

Otherwise known as having your cake and eating it too. The Minneapolis Shadow has had it up to my keyboard with the irresponsible spending habits of the Mayor and “silly council”. They think that having a lower increase is something to cheer about. My God, in this period when people are experiencing increases in just about every essential known to man, and they are cheering about increases in taxes. Time to switch to a different brand of Cool-Aid. This isn’t even the only increase “the gang” is proposing. Increase in business taxes to pay for their pet downtown projects, which will result in further driving the business climate down, is just one example. If the bikeway projects are approved they will need to come back and ask for more from the taxpayers. Increases in your state and federal taxes will be coming because of continued spending sprees driven by cities crazies such as Minneapolis. The “elected” officials such as Rybak, Ostrow, Colvin Roy, and Goodman who are cheering on these budget proposals need to be held to account for their insanity. Where are the budget cuts? There are none in Minneapolis! Only budget increase cuts! Just once, once, I’d like to hear some “elected” official say “due to the tight economy that everyone is feeling, we the elected representatives of you the people, are cutting our budgets and lowering taxes, to become good stewards of the taxpayer’s money. We will hold the line on spending, and look for ways to save the city money instead of increasing the tax burden on you the people. “ Does anyone have the “balls” to do that? I think not, because no one on the council has any!

Mayor Rybak grows city government to spend more taxpayer money

The Mayor wants to grow an already bloated government to spend taxpayer money. The Mayor wants to create a new city department that would manage the money and the projects. This is a double-edged sword, since the current NRP system has resulted in a multi-million dollar waste, fraud, and abuse scheme. The current system has allowed neighborhoods to spend the money on staff, offices, pet projects, and created a training ground for future elected officials. I’m all in favor of money being spent in neighborhoods the way the majority of the neighbors want it spent. I thought representing the needs, wants, and desires of the residents was the job of the city council members. However, creating a new city department to do this isn’t the answer either. The extra money, if it must be collected and handed out, should be done between the residents, the existing city planning department, and the council members. This plan doesn’t diminish the role of the community councils at all, and would hold generally elected city officials to account for the plans. We already have a government structure in place to create plans and handout money, USE IT!

For the 5th straight month crime is up in Minneapolis

Here are the numbers for the month of July.
Rape +15%
Robbery +7%
Aggravated Assaults +10%
Burglary +2
Larceny +5
Arson +5%
Overall crime totals +4%

Compared to last July
Homicide +100%
Burglary +9%
Larceny +10%
Overall crime totals +2%
And August is already not looking good in the Homicide department. Where is Mayor Rybak and the “silly council” on this? They must be hiding under their desks or ignoring the problem.

The War on Partisanship

We have had many wars; some militarily and some figuratively. We have had the War On Poverty, the War on Drugs, but where is the War on Partisanship? One of the biggest underlying problems with our political system today is the deepening divide between the political ideologies. Political discourse is the critical foundation of our Republic, however we have lost our ability to focus on solving the issues instead of the rhetoric. Many of my friends are steeped into the political process in one form or fashion in one party or the other. God love them for their beliefs and hard fought stances on issues. The problem is that too much of our policy-making has been compromised by money and pay back issues. Common sense and the good of the people has been replaced by political gamesmanship and partisan “got you one upsmanship”. These games are played on all levels of government.
On the national scene you see that America can’t produce the energy needed to fill the needs of its people. This is due to the silly notion that the oil companies can’t be responsible stewards of the environment.
On the state scene you see that Minnesota can’t provide much needed work on bridges and roads because the funding is misused or political games are being played out by oversized children (see article in the StarTribune http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/26818829.html?page=1&c=y).
On the local city scene you have the one party fiefdom that continually treats Minneapolis like a game of SimCity with the money cheat entered as many times as needed to fulfill it’s ever-loving need for spending.
For the very good of the county, state, and city; Stop the insanity and get to the real work of addressing real problems before we the people declare war on you!

Flapjacks and Flip-Flops..The Messiah Barack Obama is in St. Paul

Sorry for the Messiah title given to Senator Obama by other media figures, but his candidacy reminds me more of movement rather than a campaign. Doesn’t mean that a movement is a bad thing. The flapjacks reference is credited to the fact that he had pancakes at his breakfast fundraiser. I promise to make equal fun of Senator “Straighten up and talk” when he comes to town. The flip-flops reference is to the “all not so mighty’s” changing positions on issues such as oil drilling.
The Minneapolis Shadow focuses the subject matter regarding the Presidential race on areas as they relate to city policy and areas of concern on a local level. The fact that the presumptive Democrat nominate for President has presented us with his grace (or is that grace us with his presents) it gives me an opportunity to fire my first salvo in this war for the big chair.
One aspect that a city must focus on as a key livability factor is education. Looking at the two main presumptive candidates there are a number of differences that are key.

McCain talks about reform, innovate, responsibility, accountability and parental choice. These areas all are critical to fixing education mess that cities such as Minneapolis find themselves in.

Obama talks about overall increased funding, increased programs, providing daycare, and school and community partnerships. We have done all these things for years and have produced little results. He does talk about mentoring, tutoring, and extended learning time which I agree is critical to improving education.

I look forward to hearing more from these two on this issue as the season really heats up. Right now I think Senator McCain has the better plan.

For the latest string of murders - bring on the vigils

First and foremost my heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones in the ongoing murders occurring in Minneapolis. All life is precious and we should mourn when one is cut short. These vigils that happen after a murder has been committed maybe good for community healing, but do nothing towards eliminating the problem. The best time that can be done to honor the memories of those gone is to take action to solve the problem. No amount of hand holding and singing of hymns is going to solve anything. It takes action by the “elected” officials, police, and the community to rid ourselves of this reoccurring problem. Unless our city council members, Mayor, and other “elected” officials take the kind of action needed to solve this; we are going to continue to break out the hymn books and candles. It’s past time to demand action!

Avoiding Criminal Recidivism

One of the biggest problems in the criminal justice system is the repeat offender. There are many factors that make it difficult for a paroled individual to “get along” once released and to avoid repeat offences. Difficulty in finding jobs, housing, drug and alcohol treatment, and general reintegration into society issues contribute to the pressures of avoiding violations. The Urban Institute did a case study on the interaction with parole officers, which I found very interesting http://www.urban.org/publications/411744.html. It highlights the need to have parole officers take a more active role in leading ex-cons to jobs, housing, treatment programs, and other needed services. Taking this approach would go a long towards cutting the recidivism rate and be a very good investment of the taxpayer’s dollar.

Newsflash: Minneapolis has plenty of money to support its essentials

The city council members and mayor must have looked in the correct cookie jar because they have found $41 million dollars to spend on something that isn’t a necessity. I guess they now can afford more cops, to pay for their own park improvements and bike paths, can buy back their movie rental libraries, and can lower taxes. The project to change the traffic patterns on Marquette and second avenues, add art and landscaping, widen sidewalks, and change bus lines will cost $41 million dollars in a city that the officials claim they always need more money to fund their responsibilities. Next time the ‘silly council” and mayor claim they need more money from you, better hold on to your wallets and tell them to take a flying leap down Marquette avenue.

Council Committee passes cab fare increases without the Republican National Convention increase

For the record :
The Republican National Convention cab fare increase was proposed by Gary Schiff and backed by Cam Gordon. The proposal was rejected by Barbara Johnson, Paul Ostrow, and Diane Hofstede. The Minneapolis Shadow applauds the rejecters and jeers the supporters.

However, Minneapolis will now rank 5th highest among 20 cities in cab costs. Remember, public transportation costs are one of the livability factors of urban areas.

BTW, the increase will be in place before the convention. Screw the Republicans anyway.

Police Discrimination Settlement… No Vote..No Deal..Let the Trial Begin

The spineless rubberneckers on the “silly council” decided not to make a statement at all on the settlement offered regarding the police discrimination lawsuit. This equals an impasse so the trial will move forward.
Analysis:
This problem should have never gotten this far. If there are problems in the department it is the job of the “elected” to make sure the problems didn’t continue and get to this point. If there isn’t a problem then it should have been dealt with and never should have reached this point.
The council needed to take a position on this issue. Instead of being mute they needed to either back the officers or the police chief. Once again, politics is trumping the best interest of the city. You can’t tell me that nobody knows who is really right on this issue, because there has been plenty of time to investigate it. If no independent investigation has been done to find the truth, then that is another problem. If the city loses this, and it is decided that there has been wrongdoing by the department; the chief, the council members, and the Mayor SHOULD all those their jobs. If the city wins this, and it is found there was no wrongdoing by the department; the officers SHOULD pay for all the expenses related to the lawsuit and lose their jobs. The council members and the Mayor SHOULD be held to tough public rebuke for not having taken care of this problem sooner.

Minneapolis Police award winning embarrassment

The Minneapolis Police award the officers involved in the mistaken raid on the wrong home. See the details at http://www.startribune.com/local/26083024.html?location_refer=Minneapolis:highlightModules:4.
The Minneapolis Shadow believes that it is correct to award officers’ that get shot in the line of duty. I can’t imagine how tough it is to be a police officer and I have the utmost respect for the police, and thank God they are out there. However, this is a total and complete blunder by the administration, and a good example of one of the major problems facing Minneapolis. As the story goes Chief Dolan didn’t speak with the family, but did spoke with Hmong community leaders who were mostly understanding of the awards. Not speaking to the family before the awards were handed out is the wrong thing to do. He might not have been successful in getting the family to talk with him or getting them to understand, but it should have been attempted. Be it the Mayor, City Council, County Board, State Representatives, or whoever from Minneapolis; it seems that the idea of talking with certain community leaders is what they always do instead of talking directly to the people themselves. Most of the time I find that so called “community leaders” really don’t have the backing of the majority of a group of people to begin with. On the national scene people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are looked upon as “community leaders” and end up speaking for black people. I have found that most black people don't think the same way these two do, and therefore aren’t a true representation of their beliefs, needs, wants, and desires. The “elected” need to be more careful who they are putting in front of the line of communication, especially in a situation such as this. Why allow anyone else to speak for the people who are most directly concerned? Talking to just the “leaders” is either an attempt at putting forward just a token effort, or is just plain misguided.

Why not to do business with Minneapolis

All the “Silly Council” wants to do is soak you if you want to do business with or in Minneapolis. Here is a good example of the type of “stick it to them” business approach that the city takes, which you’ll never see unless someone is watching closely.
Take a look at the agenda for the Public Safety and Regulatory Committee Agenda item number one on taxicabs. The time period for the fare increases are during the Republican National Convention.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/2008-meetings/20080808/PSRS20080730agenda.asp#TopOfPageInstead of being happy to allow the increase in revenue from the activity that the convention brings, such as income from cab rides, they need to raise fares. I find this practice appalling. It is another example of how the city officials purposely go out of their way to discourage business growth, or are just plain stupid when it comes to long term thinking on economic development.

Another couple of KILLINGS in North Minneapolis

First of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family members who lost loved ones today. It is a very sad occurrence, and my heart goes out to you,
Second, to the community affected, my hope for you is that you are able to find a way to not feel the fear from these types of actions. We need to have a degree of security restored in the areas of our city that are ravaged with violence.
Our city leaders , “elected” politicians , and justice system have let us all down. The number one job of anyone elected to public office is to serve and protect the public, and to that I say the “elected” in Minneapolis are in dereliction of duty. While they celebrate an unearned victory in bring the crime rate down, which it really isn’t, they are actually ostriches with their collective heads in the sand (really I think they hide their heads somewhere else) and won’t deal with the reality of the situation. When are we going to get some real leadership on the crime issue, and get this under control?

Crime in Minneapolis is really up???!!!!

Don’t let the news people and “elected” fool you, crime is really going up in Minneapolis. When you compare June 2007 and June 2008 you find Homicide up 40%, Burglary is up 12%, Larceny is up 6%, and Arson is up 21%.When you compare June 2008 to May 2008 you find total crimes are up 16%, homicide is up 100%, Rape up 29%, Robbery up 9%, Aggravated Assaults up 8%, Burglary up 19%, Larceny up 20%, and Arson up 5%. When all the factors are reviewed they are not representative of a city with crime on the decrease. I can’t wait to see what July has in store for us.

Rape of two young girls nets you 24 years..not enough

When is our justice system going to sexual crimes, especially of children, seriously? This is not justice for the two young victims of Kenneth Atkinson, but there is no way to restore their innocence and easily regain their trust. This guy had multiple assault charges of children against him before now and he only gets 24 years. Just not enough! People like him will get out, live among us, and are likely to reoffend. Something more needs to be done here to restore the public trust.

Police and race Discrimination … it could be true.. maybe

First off.. Let me make this loud and clear… No matter how you cut it this is a complete and total mess by the company that runs this city. I tend to give the police chief the benefit of the doubt here, however if there is racial discrimination going on in the police department then we have the Mayor and the City Council to blame for it. After all, the buck stops with those in power to oversee these issues and that is the council and the Mayor. Racial discrimination should not be tolerated at all, and if it is occurring in the police department the city gets what it deserves. However, cash settlements and minor changes to procedures and oversight committees isn’t going to solve the problems. The city council and Mayor should never have let this problem get this point. Once the problem was uncovered they should have properly investigated and dealt with the people involved. Clear minded adults really trying to right a wrong shouldn’t be in need of taking the problem to this level. If there is any impact to the police chief for this matter then the council and the Mayor should be under the same microscope for allowing this to happen in the first place.

Fiddle while Rome burns with another 2 Million Dollars down the hole

The focus of the Mayor and the City Council isn’t on the priorities of the city, or maybe 2 million dollars means nothing to these people. We have the Mayor focusing on water fountains, city council members worrying about police treatment of protesters, while members of the police department will end up costing the city taxpayers 2 million dollars over something that should have been taken care of internally. It is irresponsible for the “elected” to just allow this type of waste of taxpayer money to occur. Just plain irresponsible and they need to be held to account for it!

Republican National Convention demonstration police restrictions … what is Cam Gordon really up to?

Once again the Minneapolis Shadow is questioning the reasoning for Cam Gordon’s “town crying”. See his blog for details: www.secondward.blogspot.com.
I have two questions for Cm Gordon.
1. What are you afraid of happening … police abuse of power? Is that what you think of the Minneapolis Police department? I would think that the Police department would not take unnecessary and unconstitutional restraint of clearly constitutional demonstrations.

2. Would you be in favor of making your proposed police reaction to public assemblies and demonstrations a permanent policy? How would you feel about a taxpayer demonstration for lower taxes that would reach the same level of furor as that of the groups you are protecting for the convention? How about a pro gun rights group? How about a anti smoke ban group? Does your furor for the right to assemble apply equally to those who may run counter to you own beliefs?
Please clarify.

Why is a level 3 sex offender and kidnapper on the loose after only 8 years behind bars?

Southeast Minneapolis residents were treated to a level 3 sex offender on the loose in their neighborhood who is now captured as of Monday evening. Most likely to reoffend sexual predator, Christopher Don Boswell, was released from his three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of kidnapping 2000 conviction on May 27th and went missing July 7th. Why is this guy out after only eight years if he has 3 counts CSC, 2 counts kidnapping, and is level 3 offender? Of course he ends up in Southeast Minneapolis. At least he was found and hopefully hasn’t attacked anyone. This is the kind of person that needs to remain behind bars. He is a danger to society and government has the responsibility to keep us safe from him. This is another case of the justice system failing to serve in the public’s interest, and one of the reasons that we continue to have these types of attacks happening in our community.

Learning where to set priorities and work within our system

The city council has historically spent unprecedented amounts of taxpayers’ dollars on pet projects and bad brokered deals to the point they have successfully legalize unlawful use of the public money. This problem is rooted in a general mindset of most of the elected officials in this town that the taxpayers’ money is an unlimited pot to dip in for all their high ideals rather than look upon the money as a public TRUST. We as the owners of the government have a responsibility to pay for it, however the “elected” have the responsibility to spend the funds wisely. Most of the blame for this occurring falls on the majority of the general public for allowing it to occur. Shame on you voters for not being informed and educated enough to see what you are electing for what they really are, thieves.
The city council members, like Paul Ostrow, whine about situations like the one they are currently facing with the federal government not fully reimbursing the city for all of the costs related to the bridge collapse as they had requested. It will be interesting to hear the results from the hearings on this matter, and the reasons the full requested amount isn’t being reimbursed. Given the city’s habit of asking for more than it needs, spending control issues, and general lack of respect for the taxpayers; I would expect that the findings would fall into one of those categories. Instead of sucking it up and cutting back on spending they will either; fight it out until they get what they want or run into a brick wall, raise our taxes to cover the expense, or try to steal it from somewhere else. Here again, we the citizens get the government we ask for. We keep electing these people and promoting them to higher office. For example, Diane Loeffler gets elected to the state house of representatives after working in the financial office of the city of Minneapolis, which is riddled with financial problems costing the taxpayers millions. Way to elect someone we can trust with the state coffers! We have elected officials and citizens running around singing the praises of the James Oberstar (not even elected from Minneapolis) who is promising to use Federal Highway funds to build bike paths in Minneapolis. Do you think maybe we should use, or should have used, that money for bridge repair, inspection, and reconstruction? Does anyone think along these lines? NO! They want it both ways. This type of government mentally may work in other countries with other forms of government, but not here in the USA. Our government, regardless of party, have gotten away from basic principles that work for the way our government is setup. Like in football you need to play to your strengths. The strengths of this country is our freedom to pursue our personal goals, an economic system that allows for the feeding the basic human desire to achieve, and a government serves the people not the other way around. The government is setup to service the citizens for which they can’t do for themselves, and the government ceases to function properly when working outside of that charge. Clearly our government at all levels has gone beyond that charge and no longer functions properly. We the citizens need to recognize that fact and make the proper corrections.

Schools…an example of the solution

Thank the education gods they are coming to Minneapolis. We need more of this ASAP. This is an example of what to expect of the school system, instead of what we have to settle for www.startribune.com/local/25489944.html?page=1&c=y

A City ranking to be proud of!

Congrats to the city of Plymouth from The Minneapolis Shadow and the Urban Renaissance Coalition for ranking number one among cities with population between 50,000 and 300,000 according to Money magazine. See the StarTribune article for details http://www.startribune.com/local/west/25335494.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName.
Now this is a ranking one can put some stock into when choosing a place to live and a perfect place to begin our MICR effort. It is rooted in comprehensive analysis and based on the key livability factors of education quality, cost of living, business climate, and crime. A serious ranking regarding the quality of a city must be rooted in an honest assessment of factors such as these. The other rankings, some highlighted on our blog, are rooted in the more subjective factors and sold as “best places to live”. The more honest approach would be to label the lists based on the subjective nature. A list that covers green friendly factors should read “Best Cities to Live for the Earth-Friendly Minded” or such other title is appropriate. This is the problem with most of the “best city” rankings.

What is wrong with Minneapolis…A serious look

The main goal of the Urban Renaissance Coalition is to uncover issues, explore solutions, engage the public and elected officials on the issues, and advocate for the solutions. We bridge the gaps between the public, issues, government, and solid reform.
We are going to over the next week(s) explore the issues that are plaguing our fair city and the reasons why. We are going to explore options to address these issues and the characteristics that it takes to address them. I’m referring this series as the Minneapolis Initiative for City Reform (MICR). Some of the topics here will be specific to Minneapolis and some will be more national in scope.

I look forward to presenting these concepts, engaging you in the conversation, and blazing a trail towards what could ultimately be real sustainable change in policy and direction for Minneapolis.

Minneapolis budget busting Swamp Water…Yum Yum Give me some

Minneapolis has budgeted $200,000 to promote the swamp water that comes out of our tap. Pure propaganda. Not only that but the “rain tax”, otherwise known as the water runoff fee that you are forced to pay on your water bill, supposedly goes towards the sewer system in order to help keep a clean water supply. The water out of our tap smells bad, tastes bad, and is scary to look at. The only way to combat this is to buy a house filtration system, but I thought we didn’t need to do that because of all the extra money “mama Minneapolis” collects to freshen our water for us. Guess I was wrong to trust “mama Minneapolis”.
BTW, how many cops can you buy with $200,000?

The Mayor has the idea to build water fountains that cost $50,000 each, OMG (that’s “oh my gosh” for you non texting folks like me out there). He wants to have big gushing water fountains like the ones he remembers from years ago as a little mayor. Every time the Mayor gets to feeling nostalgic for the “good old days” we the tax payers get a bit liter in the pocket books. Remember he also thinks back to Hennepin avenue in downtown being a two way, wants to build Washington avenue into the Champs Elysees of Midwest, and he is fond of trolley cars. Maybe Mayor Rybak is more suited for paying the video game Sim City than the seriousness it takes to run the real thing. At least with the game you can enter a cheat code when you need more money to plant your dreams instead of fiscally raping the citzens.

The results are in ….more bad test scores

After reading this article all I have to say is that it takes more than “hope” and “luck” to fix these problems. Maybe that is the problem! All that MPS is doing is clinging to the hope they get lucky and the problem goes away, because they sure aren’t doing what it takes to fix it.
http://www.startribune.com/local/23928854.html?page=1&c=y

Whats the big deal? So some Minneapolis citizens are paying more in property taxes … so what

So some 20,000 properties in Minneapolis are being taxed higher than expected. Why is this a big deal? We’ve seen higher than expected tax increases for as long as I can remember. We face that all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s taxes on property, sales, or fees; these costs increase every year. Why is this so surprising? Who in Minneapolis gives a rat’s rear end anyway? We keep voting for the increases. Be it schools, libraries, parks, or politicians; the majority in Minneapolis keeps voting for the increases. I thought the Mayor and City Council liked tax increases. They keep giving them to us. I secretly think they are jealous because someone else is doing it this time. Hey, Ostrow, if you don’t like the increase maybe you should go to a meeting!!! At least that is what he always tells me to do every time I complain about this issue. I say the people whose taxes went up, it’s their fault; they didn’t show up to a meeting. Just like the Mayor told us a few years ago; crime happens to those who are looking for trouble. The only thing I have to say to those folks in the Nokomis and U neighborhoods is to sit down, shut up, and pay up. Besides, think of it as a down payment on a new bike path, movie rental from the library, a patch of grass on the roof of city hall, or maybe even a new cool looking light pole in front of someone else’s yard. If you seriously don’t like this situation then stop electing the boobs who keep doing it all the time that represent you in city hall. That is a good place to start.

Minneapolis one of the best places to build net worth…more Hogwash

Surveys such as this from Salary.com in an article from the StarTribune http://www.startribune.com/local/24034604.html?location_refer=Minneapolis:highlightModules:5 can be very deceiving. Given the fact that we are one of the highest taxed areas in the nation, the education results in Minneapolis are horrible, and the sprawl of the Twin Cities area; the conclusion can be drawn away from these survey results. Need I say more!

Can anyone succeed in the Minneapolis Schools?

It doesn’t matter what color skin you happen to have the deck is stacked against a ‘yes’ to this question. It is even more so if you are black. Stats don’t lie! Last year 69% of black students failed state reading tests, and 78% failed the state math tests. That is completely unacceptable. Whose fault is it? The teachers? The students? The parents? The administration? The system? The academic plan? The answer is everyone and everything is a complete failure. It doesn’t matter what little successes that a board member might be able to point out, it still is a colossal failure worthy of a class action lawsuit by all parents that have had a student in a Minneapolis School over the last ten years. There are talks to create an agreement between members of the black community and the Minneapolis School system to affect some change in policy to address the poor results by black students. This is all wrong-headed. What really needs to occur is a wholesale change in the way MPS does business. Very simply put the following needs to occur.

Longer school days
Longer school week
Longer school year
Mentoring and Tutoring services for struggling students
Discipline policy that focuses on the root problems of behavior issues and is a signed agreement between parent, student, and teacher.
Get rid of specialized programs that are target specific in nature and create an all-inclusive approach (ie get rid of programs such as Welcoming Schools).

Realize that these suggestions alone are not an end all be all solution, but it’s a very good start. All residents of Minneapolis should require this to be part of the referendum agreement before the voters this November.

Looks as if Stinson Parkway maybe spared from bad citizen committee suggestion

It is pretty clear that the majority of the residents in and around Northeast Stinson Parkway want it preserved just the way it is now. The folks of savestinson.org get the Minneapolis Shadow’s community “Thumbs Up” award. Nothing is for sure, yet, but it looks as if the Park Board members are hearing the roar of citizen disapproval and are going to take the Stinson Parkway loop out of the Ground Rounds missing link completion plans. A few problems I see here with this whole story.
1. The complete stupidly of adding this loop into the proposal by the citizen’s council in the first place. There are a ton of reasons why this is a bad idea including safety, removal of trees, legitimacy of adding to the project, and waste of money.
2. This group was to be a citizen’s advisory board. One would think they would have been interested in the citizen’s point of view on this, but they made a bad suggestion and didn’t back off of it.
3. The Park Board staff’s arrogance and inability to be honest with the public is a huge issue. They have the attitude of “we are the Park Board and we can do what we want to” is unacceptable. The Park Board is a public service owned by the taxpayers. This attitude doesn’t serve the public and therefore those uttering such crap should be fired. The public should expect to get straight answers when a public service organization is questioned in regards to proposals and actions. The Park Board and staff have given the citizens the “Grand Run-A-Rounds” on this issue which is unacceptable.
4. The funding for this whole project is heavily dependant on state and federal money. I’m one all for completing the Grand Rounds and recognize the national treasure that it is. We are talking about using state and federal funds from pockets such as the highway fund and bonding. These sources are what is relied on for building and repairing bridges and roads. So the next time you hear of another bridge out, or road in disrepair, you can thank you luckily stars we at least have the Grand Rounds completed. The eastside of Minneapolis doesn’t have a lake or the type of niceties as the south side of town has. I’m all for getting those things put into place for the eastsiders to enjoy, but at what cost? Of course we have the state elected officials (Diane Loeffler) from this side of town telling the park board their plans aren’t grand enough (ie not spending enough) to past state muster. Good grief Charlie Brown why do we want to spend more money on non-essentials from essential funding sources in a suckey economy? People are certainly proud of Jim Oberstar for promising to secure federal money for this project. He is also the first to complain about the lack of funding for bridges. You can’t have it both ways Representative. Minneapolis is on the hook for 1 million a year for this project, but can’t seem to come up with the money for projects already committed to. Where is that going to come from, trees? I suppose you’ll print it from the trees you’ll cut down to get this project completed.

All in all this entire project is screwed up from the word go.

Minneapolis Public Schools..Complete and Utter Failure

All you need to do is look at the test results from the StarTribune at ww2.startribune.com/dynamic/no_child/district.php?dst=metpu. Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Richfield are the lowest in the entire state. Shameful! No plans to improve, no public announcement of responsibility, and there should be no more excuses. It is time for someone, or a group of someones, to take decisive action to improve upon these issues. A complete overhaul is in order at all levels of government on the issue of education. When the government you elect no longer serves the public’s interest, it is time for new representation. Ignoring the education crisis, especially in the cities, is irresponsible and it’s past time for change.

Minneapolis Community Engagement … Why is this so difficult

I now pronounce you resident and city official.. you may now kiss my butt. The Community Engagement plans coming from the city council is the very height of ignorance. It basically sounds like the council is telling the citizens that you can only talk with us if you’ve successfully navigated thru the huge bureaucracy that is Minneapolis city government. I thought the whole idea of an elected city council member was to have a point of contact to represent residents concerns. Whenever talking to the city council members about concerns they seem to redirect you to another meeting, department, or a neighborhood organization. Shouldn’t the city council member be dealing with the concerns of the residents? That is their job!

Minneapolis one of the most livable cities in the world..hogwash

Minneapolis officials maybe feeling their oats over this ranking, but not so fast. Take a look at the web site of the publication that issued the ranking www.monocle.com.
They seem to miss a number of key elements that make up the livability of a city. They mention crime rates, but Minneapolis total crime picture doesn’t look all that great when you dig into the numbers. They don’t mention schools, which isn’t one of the time proven key factors in the quality of a city. They fail to mention anything about cost of living in a city, and Minneapolis doesn’t have a good record on that account. They do mention business climate, but all you need to do is look around and see that is not so great in Minneapolis. The factors that Monocle uses are self-admittedly subjective and focused more on environmental and cultural issues rather than substantive factors. Over the last year Minneapolis has received a number of these rankings from different publications, but they all surround factors that are very subjective and lean towards environmental and cultural factors. It depends on what the editors and readers of the publications deem important. All these factors are nice and can contribute to the overall experience living in the city, but the foundation bedrock factors are seriously lacking. It’s like building a house with all of the beautiful windows, doors, siding, roof, but it is missing a solid slab and ends up sinking into the ground and falling apart. That describes Minneapolis.

Poor city Library management leads to unexpected higher costs

Like Gomer Pile would say “Surprise Surprise Surprise”. The Minneapolis Shadow isn’t surprised in the least at this revelation, however I’m surprise the County is surprise. What did you expect out of Minneapolis? They can’t find their budgetary butt with two hands for crying out loud! It is simply outrageous for the Twins Ballpark sales tax to be going to the expanded library hours, the fact that the county needed to bailout the city, and that we are now discovering higher costs in the take over. Government management at it’s very best! We should hold all parties involved accountable for this mess.

Crime and Violence: Who is to blame

The elected officials and news outlets like the StarTribune need to stop beating around the bush and address the violence and crime problems. In today’s edition of the StarTribune is a quote that the shooting that happen in 2006 that killed Brian Cole happen after Cole left the Juneteenth festival. In the previous articles, one dated May 28 on the Cole murder trial, mentions it having happen at the festival. Way to cover up for the festivals’ good name. We can’t have this festival be marred by violence now can we. Even if this is a minor detail in a very large issue, it points to a number of problems that are at the very heart of the reason why the violence continues…one major fact is that no one is willing to face this head on. The city council, mayor, and other elected officials aren’t crying out for this violence to stop. They are mute on the very issue. It is outrageous that this behavior is allowed to continue without a strong public stance and action plan by the very people who are responsible for stopping this madness. The press is as much to blame for not calling these folks into account for it. So the madness continues.

Juneteenth shooting .. Where is the outrage

We in Minneapolis have become way to use to this. Where is the outcry from the public and elected officials to address this issue of crime and violence?
One of the great things about Minneapolis is the fun outdoor activity that makes up life in the summertime. This sort of stuff really “kills” the joy of these types of events, and I choose my words here very carefully. What does it take for the “elected” in this town to become serious about this violence problem? Remember the Cole murder? Maybe this incident was another “I didn’t mean to cause any harm”. If these animals that did this on Saturday get caught they should be locked up and the key thrown away. It would not only stop them from ever doing again, but also prove to others thinking about doing the same that society doesn’t put up with this type of behavior. If this isn’t done we will continue to experience this over and over again.Consider this a calling out of Mayor Rybak, City Council members, County Board, State and Federal Representatives and Senators, and Judges. The Minneapolis Shadow challenges to take clear, decisive, and public action to properly address the problem of the violence that grips this city.

Murders, Robberies, Crime Alerts, and the City Council and Mayor are mute on crime

Where is the “elected” outrage and public rally to solve these problems? The “elected” are too busy building gardens on rooftops, laying down train tracks, tearing down 100 year old laws, building stadiums, handing out movies at libraries, building bikes paths, need I go on. What about focusing on the number one task that all elected officials are responsible for…protect the public interests? The number interest of the public is staying safe. Looks like these folks are more interested in building monuments to themselves that performing the duties for which they are elected. The general public is also to blame here for not holding these people accountable. Elected officials do have a lot to do, but there are basic things that they are responsible for at each level of government. If we, the public, continue to harp on them for our own “little pet projects and selfish interests” then they can’t be expected to stay focused on their clear areas of responsibility. Public safety is the number one concern for all city officials and is one of the top livable factors. A city can have all the bells and whistles it wants, but they all go to waste of the city isn’t safe to be in. Murderapolis has returned to the landscape, and if our elected officials don’t get a handle of this now we will be too far gone to solve it later.

Eden Prairie schools...at least someone gets it

Here is what seems to be a good approach to solving the achievement gap problems at least at one school. Are you listening MPS? Solid solutions make for good plans of action.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/19974154.html?page=1&c=y

Lurking ordinance and governmental responsibility

Robin Garwood, CM Gordon’s aid, posted the following comments to the posting on lurking. I wanted to focus on this and her comments below are in litials with the Minneapolis Shadows comments in bold.
Your assertion that the Lurking ordinance "is being applied to those that are breaking it no matter what race they are" is unproven. Why? Because only 19 of the 136 adults arrested for Lurking in '07 (or 14%) were convicted of committing the crime. That's the legal standard that defines "breaking the law" in this society: being convicted. Not being arrested.
In order for someone, regardless of race, to get arrested they have to be doing something against a law on the books. People get tickets for speeding but can appeal it based on evidence that they were not. People get arrested or ticketed for crimes they didn’t commit on a daily basis, and that is what the justice system allows you to do, fight the arrest.
This is the problem with crimes which rely on police and prosecutors to determine and prove "intent" to commit a crime. Other livability crimes have concrete, visible, provable behaviors: someone tagged a wall, urinated in public, had an open alcoholic beverage in public, etc. That's why the vast majority of these arrests result in convictions.
Hate crimes convictions work basically that same way. Shall we get rid of them also?
This is why your metaphors don't work. Shoplifting is a provable behavior: someone took something and tried to leave without paying for it. Perhaps you believe we should criminalize "intending" to shoplift, and allowing police officers to arrest people based on their subjective assessment of that "intent." CM Gordon does not.
The ideal of the thought police state is very scary..thank you George Orwell. However, how does this differ from laws proscribing drug possession with intent to distribute? So does CM Gordon want to repeal this law also?
In a racist society - and yes, any serious study of racial disparity in poverty, unemployment, arrest and incarceration makes clear that our society is still deeply racist - those on the receiving end of racism will look more "suspicious" than others. Their behavior will more likely be taken as indicative of "intent to commit a crime" than exactly the same behavior on the part of a member of the majority population.
The fact that there is a racial disparity in the factors mentioned doesn’t draw a direct correlation to them being motivated based on a racist mindset. Your conclusion isn’t logical.
This is why the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia is looking into whether the Lurking ordinance violates the International Covenant on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (to which the US is a signatory and which obligates all units of government to eliminate racially discriminatory laws).
All governments should get rid of racially discriminatory laws! Yes, by all means. The US leads in that area. Discrimination in every form must be eliminated. How about equal rights for woman in Muslim countries? Oh, and by the way, the UN, which you are looking towards for guidance on human rights puts some of the biggest abusers of human rights in charge of the areas covering human rights.
Wow, put the inmates in charge of the asylum.
You ask about CM Gordon's agenda, and it is simply this: to spend our precious public safety resources effectively and constructively, and to make our city a more just place for all. And I'll have to respectfully disagree with you: this IS the business of the Council.”
How precious! Yea a lot of time and effort put into a hundred year law on the books but what about spending sometime on issues like addressing the ongoing murders in the city, and fighting drug and human trafficking? Try managing the city for once and get away from grandiose issues. If you interested in do that, then go work for an organization that is directly in the business of making these sort of changes on a national or global scale. I’m all for one person making a difference where they are, but we have major issues in the management of this city and our government seems more interested in dealing with these bigger issues than dollars and manhole covers. Sorry to say, but right now we need focus on the dollars and manhole covers which is the job you are hired to do. So do it!

Another day, higher temps, and another death in Murderapolis

This time it was a knife, not a gun, that up and killed a dude. Maybe it’s time to ban knives. I can hear the silly council now…ban ‘hand knives”. Or maybe, shut down the city when temps are over 75 degrees because it causes murders.
It’s the fourth murder in 4 days and no longer can the city brag about the rate being down over last year as it is continuing to climb. It is extremely sad to see all of this death occurring around us. What is even more distributing is that the city council isn’t doing much about it. People we need to take this stuff seriously. Memorial walks, candlelight services, and hand holding sing-a-longs aren’t going to solve anything. Police boots on the streets patrolling neighbors is the most effective way to get a handle on this problem. The mayor and city council are unwilling to forego all of their pet projects to buy enough police protection to perform their number one duty… protect the public.

Why rural and suburban folks should pay attention to the city

The simple answer is what happen here today will happen there tomorrow. Minneapolis and Saint Paul make up a huge slice of the Minnesota population pie. Forever has there been a political tug of war going among the population centers and the suburban and rural areas, but the lines are blurring and the issues more muddled.
We at the Urban Renaissance Coalition, and the Minneapolis Shadow personally, are focused not on political bent, but on factors that improve life in the “big city”. Most of these ideals aren’t specific to the city, but what affects the largest population areas today filters out to the rest of the landscape tomorrow. Take crime for an example. As an area crime rate increases so does the rest of the area surrounding it sooner or later. The economic impact of an increase in crime mounds as the problem isn’t addressed. Take car jacking for example. As the rate of car jacking goes up, so does your insurance rates. The thieves start moving around the area more towards outside of the city, and now you have a car jacking increase in the suburbs as well. If a city policy wound have been put into place sooner to curb car jacking then the thieves would have been more likely to move on to another state altogether, instead of taking root locally. Most of the time criminals magnate towards the population centers and spread out of there no matter the type of crime you are talking about. Hence the need for all areas to focus on what happens in the cities. Does this mean that the cities should get all of the attention? NO! The biggest problem is that the “elected” who administer the funds in the city are irresponsible with the money they receive and can’t be trusted to take care of the serious problems that plague the citizens living in the cities. How can any suburban or rural citizen have any trust in the city officials to spend money wisely when the city officials go on spending sprees for things like garden rooftops, bike paths instead of roads and bridge repair, movie rental libraries, stadiums for multi-billionaires, and ‘little trains that think they can” fix traffic congestion problems. However you suburban folks should keep in mind, what happens here today will happen in your backyard tomorrow. So pay close attention!

Justice..what justice in the Killing Fields of Minneapolis

Last night we good citizens were treated to another set, yes, set of shootings in Minneapolis. On top of that we experience a sentence for the convicted murderer, Myron David Norcross, of 19 years. This man used a butcher knife on Sherri Lynn Schaumburger killing her, and only gets 19 years. How is that possible? Of course, the StarTribune trying to make the sentence sound lengthy puts it into number of months. Typical! If we continue to give cushy prison time we will never get on top of the crime problems in Minneapolis. Of course the temputure is starting to rise, so is the crime rate.

Light rail .. Transportation Planning or just a way to pay for Mayor’s visions

Light rail having any positive effect on relief of congestion has good solid evidence on both sides of the water cooler. However, the proof is in the putting. Just drive down Hwy 55 in south Minneapolis and you’ll realize it was a lot easier during the period between completion of the road improvements and the start of the choo-choo. I side on the relief of congestion is bunk crowd. The Minneapolis Shadow has been a supporter of the hub and spoke system of elevated rail transit for over a decade. That design would have taken care of all the issues on the transit table for many decades to come. But, of course, leave it to the political game players not to do the right and most logical thing. Instead we have a disjointed answer that is more about development around the transit corridors then it is about effectively moving people from point A to point B. Hence we are looking at getting a rail corridor down Washington Avenue. Remember it was the Mayor Speedie Rybak who has plans to turn Washington Avenue into a world-class tourist attraction. Of course the city budget wouldn’t allow that to occur, so he had to figure out how to get the state and federal government to contribute. Well here is how. I guess holding public office isn’t about serving the public’s interest, but building monuments to ones self. The Minneapolis Shadow isn’t against the idea of having a world-class attraction, however the city should pay for it on it’s own.

Lurking around every corner is a city council member with an agenda

Cam Gordon wants to repeal the lurking law on the basis that it is unfairly applied to minorities and doesn’t produce a high conviction rate. What is your real agenda here Cam, or are you just that crazy? The law is being applied to those that are breaking it no matter what race they are. Why repeal a law based on higher rate being committed by one type of person or another? Maybe we should repeal all shoplifting laws if we found that most of the arrests were of women. Let us repeal all of the speeding laws because we find that a great deal of them are dealt down to lesser charges (like unlawful acceleration). Stop wasting time Cam and get back down to the real business of the council. Maybe the real problem is that not enough of these cases get convictions, ever think of that? I would hate to see someone arrested for lurking who doesn’t get convicted and then attacks someone. Maybe, Cam, you don’t care about that?

Where is the War on Crime?

Minneapolis had its 15th homicide of the year and this figure is down from the same period last year. However, it is number 15 and as the temperature goes up so does the crime rate, according to statistics. This could mean Minneapolis has only Mother Nature to thank. Where is the effort to drive the crime rate down lower? You have troopers on the road and a media campaign against drunk driving, the war on drugs (successes and failures), and other assorted efforts. Why not crime? Minneapolis keeps putting forth a band-aid and bailing wire approach to drugs, gangs, killings, and thief; but nothing that is sustainable and effective. As an example, the idiotic idling law started out as an effort against vehicle thief. In the last few summers we had a increase in vehicle thief and the silly council’s answer was the idling law proposal. Now it’s turned into the “in” plan of the day against high gas prices and global warming. The silly council doesn’t address the root cause of problem, because it would require some real action on an issue instead of playing politics.

The number one rule to keep a free society free is to govern for what is needed and not rule by what is popular.

Minneapolis City Council not sitting Idle

Thanks to Sandy Colvin Roy the Minneapolis Silly Council, in the name of environ”mental”ism and saving us a few bucks at the pump and from ourselves, passed an ordinance disallowing cars to idle for more than 3 minutes. Doesn’t the council, police, and citizens have anything better to do than micro-manage car idling time? Now the already overworked 911 operators will get calls to the police to give tickets if I need to run into the house to get something and leave my car running.
This just points to the fact that this council doesn’t take its job seriously. The schools are crap, we are being taxed to death, people being murdered in their homes and streets, and they are worried about cars idling too long. Give me a stinkin’ break, their brains must be idling too long! This is one of the most ridiculous moves I’ve seen them make yet. What is next? People are farting too much? Oh I’m sorry I must have misunderstood … they are letting idle my car if the temp is below 0 degrees. What if it’s 1 degree above? Am I going to be fined? My God where is it that we live, Russia? I can’t even find a slice of rationale here, this is just plain crazy! You people are insane!
The sane people in Minneapolis should go park their cars in front of city hall and let them run for hours just to piss the mayor and council off! If gas wasn’t so dammed expensive I’d organize it in a heartbeat. You people are from another planet! Come the next election, citizens, let’s hire some earthlings to do this job because the ones there now are not from around here.

School out of control

Northeast Middle School in Northeast Minneapolis was the scene of a mob attack on a student from outside the school. One kid that was already out of school was outside NE Middle reportedly taunting some NE students after class was over for the day. A mob of NE students attacked the kid and broke his neck. The Minneapolis Shadow finds this incident appalling, however not surprising. As I have stated before the main problem with most Minneapolis Public Schools is one of discipline. When the kids run the schools nothing gets accomplished. The administrators take the discipline, or lack thereof, issue way too lightly. I’m not in favor of running a military camp, however some of these students may need that. NE Middle has had a history of problems with not only academics but one of discipline for years now, and the administrators have turned a blind eye to the problem. The current principal looks towards programs for answers, but the only program she needs is one to re-program the school system’s approach towards handling behavior in the classroom. Without a tougher stance on behavior in the classroom, and the school grounds, nothing will change on the academic side of the ledger and incidents such as this one will grow in frequency. What good is a school if the kids are under threat during and after the school day on or near school property? Remember the northside program “Safe Paths to School” or what ever they named it? The police standing guard as kids walk to school. This sickens me to no end, and the city and school board are as much to blame as the kids involved in this. Now you have a kid in the hospital with a broken neck because the school board refuses to take the steps needed to solve the behavior problems. Sickening, just plain sickening!

Where is the Minneapolis Shadow

Previously: West River Parkway looking at the Lake Street Bridge

Minneapolis School Reform Focus

The first step in reforming the Minneapolis education experience is to not tweak the system, but to overhaul it. In November the citizens in Minneapolis are going to be asked once again to pony up to the school referendum bar. They are being asked to order a $30 million per year cup of some toxic beverage to keep the current glass from becoming empty, and an additional $30 million per year toxic beverage to “make improvements” to the glass. However, as of right now they can’t, or won’t, tell you where that money will be spent to improve the glass. They better come up with something good because people aren’t feeling very charitable, especially for a school system that hasn’t produced any results. The old argument of we need to improve doesn’t wash anymore, and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) have been losing support among even it’s most hard nosed supporters. Lack of results and continued crying about lack of funding are the top reasons.
The school board keeps talking about trimming down, but the evidence just isn’t there. However, all the “trimming” in the world won’t produce better academic results. It’s time for a wholesale change of direction and programming. More classroom time, longer school year, more focus on bridge the knowledge gaps, more localized control, less administration, more parental and student “skin in the game”, and more discipline are what is required.

Without these improvements clearly spelled out THERE SHOULD BE NO MORE MONEY GIVEN TO MPS AT ALL! NO REINSTATEMENT OF THE FIRST $30 MILLION, OR INCREASE OF $30 MILLION UNTIL IT IS CLEAR WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING.

What do you think?

Sunday hours for the Library and Movie Rental thanks to the new ballpark

As part of the baseball stadium deal the library system is getting some Sunday hours. So it takes an effort like funding the baseball stadium to provide money for libraries. No wonder government funding is so messed up! Hennepin County has to bail out the city of Minneapolis Libraries, opens a new main library, extends hours, and can’t afford the planetarium that had already been planned. I fail to understand why basic planning is beyond these people. What is next? Shall we pay for schools by building the Vikings a new stadium? What happens when the ballpark is all paid for and the tax increase is no longer needed are we still going to have the money for the libraries? Wait a minute; we never get rid of tax increases, so we need not concern ourselves with that problem.

Kahn to Bikers .. Just go ahead and blow passed that stop sign

Senator Jim Carlson and Representative Phyllis Kahn are proposing to legalize bicyclists ignoring traffic laws such as stopping at red lights and stop signs. Kahn is the propagator of such things as the smoking ban and allowing 12-year-old kids to vote has added this to her list of bad ideas. The proposal is based on a statute pasted in Idaho. According to the bicycle accident statistics Idaho bicycle accidents have increased at a higher rate than the national average since that statute passage. Is this something that we want here? I think not! How about enforcement of the current laws on the books and handout tickets to those bikers blowing passed stop signs and red lights as all of us have seen. Laws are laws! If Phyllis gets her way, the law will be not more and we most likely will experience higher accident rates. Maybe she really doesn’t care about that!

Gang violence.. Shoot a gun into a crowd and someone dies .. sorry I didn’t intend on killing anyone

One of the reasons cities get crime ridden is because over zealous defense attorneys and weak judges allow it to happen. How on earth can you call a system “justice” when identified gang members get convicted on lesser charges for higher crimes based on a flimsy excuse? It is outrageous to accept that in the case of the Brian Cole killing that Kirk Harrison get convicted of only second-degree unintentional murder. He brought the 9 mm semi-automatic handgun to the festival (premeditated) and fired it into a crowd. What do you think is most likely going to happen? Myron Burrell was convicted of killing Tyesha Edwards after the stray bullet from his gun aimed at a rival gang member hit her as she was doing her homework. Thank God he is off the street, but why is this case any different than the Cole case? Did Harrison show remorse at killing Cole? Did Harrison have a better defense attorney than Burrell? Is the public not getting the whole story? Am I missing something here?? What???

The Minneapolis Shadow is all for protecting the rights of the accused, but it is about protecting the rights not giving a criminal a better argument! The justice system isn’t supposed to be a debating society where the better argument wins! It’s supposed to be about uncovering the truth and properly sentencing based on the laws established in this country and state. The justice system isn’t about giving someone leniency based upon upbringing, background, or status. Justice is supposed to be blind, and by God if it isn’t then the system, and the actors within it, no longer serve the greater good!

When it comes to the planetarium the Hennepin County Board (HCB) is watching the star “bucks”, but shows bad planning

The planetarium that was to be included with the new Downtown library and video rental go missing (maybe find it in area 51). The Hennepin County Board is looking to clarify the fiscal responsibility for it (ie they don’t want to pay for it). They have taken over the wallet for the library and the planetarium was part of the plans for it. Either the HCB is now having buyer’s remorse, is feeling the public pressure to watch the dollars, or laid out plans for something they shouldn’t have.

Condominium sales slow..Minneapolis Council to allow more time for development

Oh great, lock the barn after the horses have gotten loose. The current zone code requires work to begin on projects within a year of being approved. I’m assuming there was a good reason for that to begin with. Now the city council is considering extending that to allow the projects more time due to lack luster sales. Hello City Council! You allowed too many of these projects start to begin with! Where was the out cry for all of the condominium development in the first place? This isn’t city planning, it is city reengineering. Most of the rest of us have watched as condo project after condo project emerged in the city over the last few years and wondered how are all of these going to get filled. In areas of the city where there just doesn’t seem to be any call for a new condo, and then “pop” there goes another one. Now there is a down turn in the sales of condos and the city talks about changing the code. I think it’s just bad city planning.

Minneapolis Public Schools are going to a pay for service program

As part of a trial program Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) is going to start charging at Hale school for all day Kindergarten (ADK) at a rate of $3,000 per kid.
This is on top of the per kid charge on the taxpayers’ property taxes at a rate that is either as high if not higher than a lot of private schools showing better results.
The Minneapolis Shadow supports the idea of ADK, but it should be for all kids at no additional charge. What about looking to cut out programs to pay for ADK. Maybe look at getting rid of the “Welcoming Schools” program for example? How much is that going to cost balanced against the benefits! Bullying, if that is really what this is about, is a discipline issue that requires administrative action not a curriculum program. There are plenty of areas of waste, fraud, and abuse that can get cut in order to make room for something worthwhile.

Stick that is your referendum pipe and smoke it MPS!

Where is the Minneapolis Shadow

Last Week: Lake Calhoun - Lake of the Isles

Neighborhood Revitalization Plan (NRP) survives..sort of..kind of..maybe..not

If there was ever a definition for the term “cluster F—k” this is it. No matter which of the proposed options that the state “elected” took on this issue it was going to end up the wrong thing to do. Instead of a program that lends itself to waste, fraud, abuse, and government “hackery”; you now have a pot of gold handed to a governmental body that has proven itself very irresponsible and unable to make seriously tough decisions – The Minneapolis “Silly” Council.
Not only did the council use the citizen’s hard earned income to buyout the Target Center, not they are going to use this extended money to buyoff that loan and I bet you there will be a garden growing on the roof soon. Just what the cash strapped citizens required right now; grass, trees, and lovely blooming things high on top of the house of one of the worst NBA teams in the league. The city officials are even quoted as saying they want the money for other projects and help the city finances. Throwing good money after bad again!
We could have a much better system of governmental funding if the city council was more responsible. Instead of this state government capturing of special zone area tax dollars and reissuing the money back to the city; the city could just collect the tax revenue and pay for essentials. Maybe fund such things as much needed police protection, and better education without referendums. Maybe they could fix the potholed streets, provide water and sewer service without having to raise taxes. Gee whiz just think if the city properly funded it’s responsibilities it might even start to make money. In that case it could self fund bike paths, enhance the parks, replace trees, create great world class shopping experiences downtown, and even provide different transit options all on it’s own. What a concept! But, alas, our “silly” council can’t be trusted to spend the hard earned taxpayer money wisely enough to achieve such great things. They don’t have the ability to aspire to anything other than the next election and serving only small minorities of the population. However, they are given the pot of gold anyway because the state “elected” aren’t any better. How sad!