At the website for Minneapolis city government (www.ci.minneapolis.us), you can link to a page concerning the Minneapolis development plan (Focus Minneapolis). On that page, it says that the current processes came out of a McKinsey report and 20 stakeholder meetings. Having read what has been said here, I wonder just how many of our participants were involved in that process. Was that intentional or just lack of attention? Was it poor PR for the city? Anyway, the McKinsey report can be downloaded at the following address: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/news/communitydevelopment/docs/mckinsey-fullreport.pdf
As far as the "legal theft" that some people see in taxation, I think Alaska and Texas are two states where that doesn't happen. I suppose anyone who likes the tradeoff could move from Minneapolis to those states. But don't think you can escape it by moving either to the suburbs or to Greater Minnesota. Wherever you live in our great state, they will "legally steal" your money. There's the matter of paying for the expenses that every party agrees are necessary. Perhaps there's an opening for someone to found the Zero-tax Party? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The Citizens' Fair Attended the Fair tonight, and was glad I went. Makes me feel pretty good about the city when I see so MANY residents, in and out of government concerned about the city' s livability. Of course, I was re-introduced to the circus that is downtown traffic. I was unaware that parking meters are enforced till 10 pm, so I was way unprepared in terms of change. It occurred to me later that there are now stored-value cards that can be used in the new meters, but as a non-visitor, I didn't have one of those, anyway. I pulled into a surface lot that cost $2 after 5pm and went to see how you pay nowadays. To my DELIGHT, the machine that spits out the tag you leave in your car took VISA! I was saved, so my evening started out on a postive note. So I then went to the Convention Center and up to the second floor. Didnt really have expectations, so I just took in what was there. The e-democracy table was about the first thing I saw. I went over, but there weren't any name badges in view, so I don't know who I met. Then I proceeded down the line of tables, talking to as many people as possible. One guy (name?) gave me the spiel on special service districts, and I found out I have one by the Riverview Theater. I told him I thought the LENGTH of Lake Stree could use one. I spoke for a long time with the volunteer for the Park Board. We discussed taxes and insurance rates. I told her that I'd made the argument that what is REALLY going to sock people is their next homeowners premium. Taxes don't even compare. And that set off a long session of talk. I was the only one there, so I didn't inconvenience her. Later, I spoke to a frauhlein named Jenny at the booth for special development zones. I guess this was the first I heard about these, so that was a real education for me. Plus, since she works at City Hall, we also talked about downtown parking and she said she wouldnt even attempt it, she just takes transit. I moved down the other side, talked to Scott Vreeland of Seward community association (told him I voted for him for Park Board). He had a lot to say about riverfront development. And I had a good talk with the health department representative about public health and epidemiology, and she made a some humorous comments about our former state epidemiologist. I have a lot of thoughts about diseases being brought here by free trade, so that was a stimulating conversation. I really like fairs. You learn a lot, and you get to talk to people with enthusiasm for whatever they are there representing. RT came in near the end, and I expect him to be climbing the political ladder. He's a mainstream politician, but he doesnt have that "ward heeler" look I see in Norm Coleman, so I think he'll run into less resistance, especially if he does a creditable job here School Issues: After reading Dain Lyngstad on what the school board is doing to our children, I was left with some wonderment. Is Philips truly in Edina? Wow, you know, THAT certainly ought to offset any overdose of affordable housing that the city has imposed on Philips. Something about the discussion of educational reform loses me. What people adduce as relevant causes seem only tangentially related to education. I know something about teaching reading. My mother was, after all, a reading specialist. Now, if children don't learn to read, is the teacher aware that they are not progressing? If the awareness exists, what happens next? Does the teacher speak either to the principal or to the parents? In each case, what happens? Do the parents start helping the student more? I mean, ever since the first school was built thousands of years, some people picked up reading skills with little or no help. Others never did. My father said he taught himself before starting school with his brothers and sisters books. No teacher at all was required. I have a feeling that if we studied ten cases of children who fell through the cracks, we'd know much more than reading a thousand messages here. Doug, this is an area of great interest to you. Leave the generalities aside for a moment, what do you actually KNOW from direct contact with cases about what happens to children on the way to underachievement? I'm far more interested in reading THAT than statistics on rising or falling enrollment, than class sizes, than "competition". I feel, in the end, that is really tap-dancing around the subject as one would do in a campaign. ----------------------------- Jim Mork Cooper Neighborhood __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
