I must admit that I am disappointed in the behavior of many of our elected representatives, at the city, county, and state level. I find this continued talk of providing funding for a baseball stadium to be irksome considering that both the city and state are facing a revenue shortfall. I do not know how the revenue situation is for Hennepin County, but if they are not facing a revenue shortfall, I believe they ought be looking at how they can help the various cities within the county by supplying them with additional revenue. Instead, they are looking at ways to increase our taxes to pay for non-essential programs!
Yesterday, my wife called the Division of Solid Waste and Recycling to request a yard waste voucher. The woman on the other end rather abruptly told her that they were no longer available and to call NRG for more information *click*. So, after calling NRG, Inc., she learned that we now had to pay $9.00/cubic yard to dispose of yard waste. Considering that we are in a recession and that the government is experiencing a revenue shortfall, I can understand why they might start charging for services that were previously paid for by taxes and $9.00/cubic yard is not all that expensive, at least for me. However, we were irritated by the whole situation because of the following reasons: 1) The Division of Solid Waste and Recycling web page at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/public-works/solid-waste/yw.html has not yet been updated to reflect these changes. We usually consult the City of Minneapolis web site before making our calls so that we can be aware of pertinent changes. 2) I do not recall receiving a mailing regarding this fee change. The last mailing I recall receiving was regarding clearing away the snow from my trash container. 3) The woman who answered the phone at the Division of Solid Waste and Recycling was rude and abrupt (the man at NRG, Inc. was helpful) 4) The various levels of government are continuing to discuss ways to give money to billionaire owners and millionaire players while at the same time cutting basic services to the rest of us! I am particularly concerned about this voucher issue because I regularly discover illegally dumped garbage or refuse in the alley. I do not know if these additional fees will apply to solid waste disposal, but if they do, I suspose I can expect an increase of illegally dumped air conditioners, microwaves, tires, and whatnot in the alley from those attempting to avoid the disposal fees. Scott McGerik Hawthorne/Minneapolis http://www.mcgerik.com/scott/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
