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!