I attended most of the 'Getting to the Bottom of the Ballot After the Election' budget seminar held last evening at SW High School. However, after listening to what I'd characterize as a monotone DFL promotional effort, I walked out-- as did many others in attendance. I recognized many friends/acquaintances in the audience of about 50-75 people, but after a point, I just decided that I'd heard enough. It was too one-sided. Upon entering the meeting, attendees were asked to write questions for the city-state politicians on the program; then questions were addressed to the elected folks... but members of the audience were not allowed to speak-- no comments or questions. Several speakers/elected officials said they were there to hear from us-- the voters, yet they did all the talking (at least while I was there). I stayed for over an hour, tried to speak more than once, and decided I had better things to do. Had I been able to speak, I'd have raised a few points:
As someone once said... 'It's the economy, stupid...' (might have been Vicky). The economy is the driver in this discussion, make no mistake. City budgets, state budgets; they're all the same in the sense they're all funded by taxpayers. And where do taxpayers get the money to pay taxes... what is the ultimate source of those tax revenues? Jobs and successful business is what drives the economy. Corporate earnings are DOWN. The markets have been down double-digits in recent years; major corporate bankruptcies abound, small businesses are disappearing, employees are being dismissed; people's wealth has been seriously eroded, retirement savings/ pensions are down across the board-- totally lost in many cases. Many people have lost their jobs, lost their health care benefits, or are experiencing dramatically reduced earnings; all while their local taxes, especially in Mpls., continue to increase dramatically. Yet it was the consensus among speakers last evening that taxes should be increased to maintain our 'quality of life.' There was no discussion of the pro's and con's of proposed cuts or any indication of what level of tax increase was needed. Everyday people have rent and mortgages to pay, food and clothing costs, medical expenses, school expenses for kids, parents in ill health, yada, yada. This is the condition of the general population, and it includes Mpls. residents. Those working on commission, receive nothing when a sale isn't made-- that's cars, houses, computers, home and office furniture, office space, real estate, commodities and investments in general. Many on salary are dismissed when sales decline. In many cases, if you're not carrying your weight, you're let go. It's not just the US economy that is sick... the world economy is in disarray-- and it's come home to MN... and Mpls. It's the economy that generates the wealth and earnings and jobs that make taxes possible. When the people must cut back, the government must cut back-- at the state and at the local level. All I heard last night was how these proposed cuts were going to hurt-- of course they are going to hurt. However, when our earnings decrease, our expenditures must decrease. Health care costs are touted as drivers of cost increases-- hello; welcome to the real world of non-union labor and competitive markets. Increased health care costs don't just affect government budgets and government workers. The private sector has been incurring increased health care costs and workers in the private sector have been hit hard with out-of-pocket increases in health care costs for decades now. I'm not saying this is wrong or that is wrong, or this is how it should be-- I'm saying this is how it is... reality. We hear that a freeze on public employee wages will impact people's retirement plans. When my earnings are down, my retirement plans are also impacted... along with my daily spending patterns-- where does the complaint-line form? Think about how a layoff will impact your retirement! There should be some nexus between the public and private sectors, some nexus regarding job security, wages and the competitive marketplace. If workers aren't happy with their employment contract, or more realistically in the wider workplace- their at-will jobs, they are free to seek other opportunities... the greener grass. Well, sometimes there isn't any greener grass; only drought and water shortages. State and local government in MN is in the middle of a big-time drought. Let's talk about wants and needs. Let's talk of duties and responsibilities-- of all parties, political and otherwise, to take this opportunity and use it to streamline the public service models we've depended on for decades. When I sat in a high school gymnasium and heard that President Kennedy was shot dead, there was no cadre of union-counselors brought in to help ease our minds; I washed, waxed and buffed the floors in my high school as a kid; now days parents can't even donate paint and volunteer to paint the peeling walls in their kids classrooms. The models are broken and in need of repair. Better service delivery and better customer service should be the goals; eliminate middleman/middleperson functions that are not necessary-- preservation of jobs is not the goal. A growing economy will provide the jobs. David asked about the local impact of LGA cuts on Mpls. Our elected leaders in Mpls. were to meet this morning to determine just that. I'm sure the proposed cuts will be devastating. Community development activities will likely become community maintenance services for the foreseeable future. We all await the gory details. There will be much compromise and negotiation in coming months, and I'm sure final budget details at the state level won't be reached until a special session is called. (btw- whatever happened to unicameral?) The discussion and compromise over city budget details can now resume, given that some of the state budget uncertainty has been reduced. I sure hope our elected officials in Mpls. don't have to take time out to run for re-election this fall, two years early, per Rep. Kahn's bill-- I think they have more important things to work on! And, I hope future 'Getting to the bottom of the ballot' sessions are better orchestrated than last evening's session-- they hold value only if done in a non-partisan manner that fosters dialogue. Michael Hohmann Linden Hills ps Any other list members attend last night's session and care to comment? I saw Vicky across the room, but left before I could say hi. Perhaps others viewed the session differently? TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. 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