Great post by Mike. I strongly support Paul's proposal to eliminate these boards and encourage others to voice their support, too.
Shortly after getting elected I found out that I had an appointment to the board of dry wall installers. It's always nice to have an appointment, but my first reaction was: I don't think anyone elected me because of my knowledge of drywall. In fact my wife, who knows how little I know about any kind of home improvement, laughed for about three days when she heard I had this appointment. Eliminating these boards is an ethics issue because of the recent news. In addition, it's long term value is to cut regulation and make it easier for people to improve the city without getting hung up in a bunch of red tape. R.T. Rybak Don't know nothin' 'bout drywall. -----Original Message----- From: Michael Hohmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 9:08 AM To: Mpls list Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] Licensing Boards I applaud Paul Ostrow's efforts to eliminate city boards that certify (or refuse to certify) construction trades workers to work in the city. There is no reason these trades people shouldn't be allowed to take an objective test and/or meet other objective skills-based requirements to demonstrate competence. This issue may be the silver lining of the Biernat cloud currently floating over City Hall. Several years ago the city settled a suit brought by non-union gasfitters and HVAC workers that were being denied city licenses by union-controlled city licensing boards. Such restrictions only serve to raise costs for consumers by reducing the pool of qualified workers. According to today's STrib article, Mpls. and St. Paul are the only cities in the state that require such local certification of trades workers. I urge all members of the City Council to support this effort to reduce unnecessary regulations in our city. The Council's efforts will begin with the Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee (PS&RS). List members may contact PS&RS Committee members and your own CM to encourage their support in eliminating these city licensing boards and reducing costs for consumers in Minneapolis. Committee members include: Joe Biernat, chair; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dan Niziolek; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sandy Colvin Roy; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Barbara Johnson; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Paul Zerby; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dean Zimmermann; [EMAIL PROTECTED] A pertinent question-- Should Biernat participate in the discussion? What do you think? Full story in STrib regarding Ostrow seeking changes in city's licensing boards: http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/2245111.html Michael Hohmann Linden Hills _______________________________________ 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 _______________________________________ 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
