David Brower writes: "As Terrell Brown noted [That is a big part of why Sharon Sayles Belton, Jackie Cherryhomes and Joan Campbell no longer have offices in City Hall], the 2001 election was a referendum on the actions of city leaders, and its probably fairer to judge the current crop with fresher data."
Vicky Heller replies: I'm sure that Governor Pawlenty and President Bush are happy you think so. Voting shysters out of office doesn't solve the problem -- you still have to pay for the damage that they did. Mayor Rybak's statement yesterday was truthful and classy: "We have dramatically fewer resources because of a number of factors, including long term debt, massive state aid cuts, rapidly rising health care, pension funds that are gobbling up huge chunks of the budget and a recession that has decreased the value of commercial property. While all this has happened, the state passed a property tax redistribution that shifted the burden from commercial property onto residential. This, plus the commercial value drop above, has meant big increases in property tax on homes, making it much harder to raise property taxes on already overburdened homeowners. The phase out of limited market value makes it even more difficult to raise property taxes." Minneapolis taxpayers should keep a copy of this statement handy when they vote for things like the new $100 million glass palace library. How much do you think it will cost to heat and cool this greenhouse? Where will the money come from? I maintain that if Minneapolis voters had been told the truth about the mountains of debt they faced, they would have lived with the old library for a while longer. Clear thinking people would never have funded the NRP with borrowed money. Most people have good sense - but that doesn't help if they are being lied to. Full disclosure is the goal - just ask the guys who are being sent to prison for "deceiving" the public. Vicky Heller North Oaks and Cedar-Riverside REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
