Post news and information from your neighborhood: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________ Mitch,
It's customary to check out a fact one believes to be erroneous before publicly calling it such. A simple google search of "Hubbard Bound to be Read" yields a page on the 1500 AM website (a fellow Hubbard broadcasting property) that plainly indicates Bound to Be Read is indeed a Hubbard broadcasting property. http://www.am1500.com/hubbard.htm , if you're curious. As far as big-box Wal-Marts, etc being good neighbors--we've been around that block already, though we can go around again, if you'd care to. We'll see if Wal-Mart will be a good neighbor; it would be a welcome break from their usual custom and practice. That's what the Hamline-Midway and UFCW folks are organizing to find out. Come to a meeting sometime; they're at the Hamline-Midway buildling. Chris Conry at UFCW is the contact to find out the next meeting date; I posted his address before, but can send it to you again. Agreed that it stinks that small, local businesses have a tough go of it. However, small local businesses are a big part of what makes the economy in this state go (and it makes living in St. Paul a whole lot better, too). Small businesses have a stake in the community. Small businesses don't pack up and move to Mexico. I still think it pays to help where it's feasible, especially if the business is successful in garnering support from neighbors, in not only sales but shares, like Ruminator has been. I think it's pretty darned ironic that the pet store example you champion was driven out of business by big box retail---and in the same breath, you crow the benefits of Wal-Mart to the community! I can't speak to the circumstances of those individual small businesses you named, but Mitch, let me ask you---would you have supported city funds for them, either? I doubt it. (It's worth noting here, too, that the coalition of folks working on this Wal-Mart deal actually expect Wal-Mart to require a great deal more vendor truck traffic than its predecessor, K-Mart, did---meaning more congestion, more pollution, and more noise in what's arguably already one of the more clogged intersections of the city (Snelling/University). In your 'hood, no less. I'll check on the exact stats for you.) Folks have made this point before, but it remains---Ruminator has gone through a great deal many more hoops for a much smaller chunk of dough. Of course, much of this is a dead issue because Ruminator isn't applying for that chunk anyway, but I'm still amazed that among all of the businesses this city gives considerably more money away to, this is the one that gets crucified. And, of course, Mitch, the "objectivity" issue works both ways---having an axe to grind with CM Benanav and/or Dave Unowsky hardly lends itself to a balanced critique of CM Benanav's actions, or Dave Unowsky's intentions in asking for city support. As far as I can tell, CM Benanav's support for Ruminator is an accurate reflection of the community's support for the business. erin stojan north end, ward 5 Oh, and PS--Suggestions of impropriety on the part of elected officials are pretty serious allegations. I would hope that you would have some solid evidence to them up. We're all ears. --- Mitch Berg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Suggest A Link For This Page: > http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/links.html > _________________________________________ > > > At 12:17 PM 1/27/04, erin stojan wrote: > > >Bob's point about Ruminator is well-taken. The > >Ruminator subject is getting almost as much > attention > >as the stadium proposal, which is ridiculous... > > Nothing ridiculous about it; it's an example of > sweetheart-dealing that the > average schmuck can actually affect. > > So what is the standard by which we will judge these > things (other than, of > course, my own fairly black and white standard)? > Pamela had a few good > points. > > Erin had a few of her own: > > >Ruminator has proven that it is a good neighbor to > St. > >Paul, > > If that's supposed to be the standard, then you can > hardly find better > candidates for government support than the people > who ran the pet shop on > Snelling at Minnehaha for many years. Wonderful > neighbors - great with > tips on how to take care of your pets, without > regard to your politics (are > you listening, David Unowsky?), virtually > veterinarians in their own > right. But they couldn't stay in business with a > "Pets Food Warehouse" > down the street, so out of business they went. Did > the city queue up to > bail them out? They had not spent the requisite > time licking the jam from > between Jay Benanav's toes, so - sorry, charlie. > > In fact, you can hardly find a shop that doesn't > strive to be good > neighbors, from the local coffee shop (like Ginkgo, > owned by relentless > DFLer Kathy Sundberg, who's benefitted greatly from > Benanav's favor) to Dan > Perkins (WONDERFUL neighbor, former owner of St. > Paul Firearms - who > unfortunately ran afoul the neighborhood PC Gestapo, > AKA District 11), to > even the dreaded WalMart and Target, which pump a > lot of discretionary > money into the community. All of them strive to > provide their communities > something they need, and to be good neighbors. > > Being a good neighbor isn't even unique, much less a > qualification for city > largesse. > > > the amount that it's asking for is petty > >compared to those given to other businesses, > > Depends on the kind of business you're running, > doesn't it? As I said in a > posting yesterday, $150,000 could help incubate a > LOT of small businesses > in Saint Paul. I know of one woman - an > afro-American single mother, as it > happsn - who started a cleaning company. Another I > know runs a craft > wholesaling company out of a garage. Want more > examples? I know > several. Think any one of them couldn't have > benefitted from a $5,000 > loan? Each of these businesses employs people - > Saint Paul people, > nonetheless, not transient college kids - would > benefit this city in the > long run much more than Unowsky's floundering > bookstore. > > >This is *exactly* the kind of > >business that the city should be lending support > to. > > This is exactly wrong! If the neighbors love the > place so much, why is it > sucking pond water after 35 years in business? > > If it's a neighborhood business, that's one thing - > but Ruminator has > national pretensions. Those pretensions have > basically sunk the store. > > >I think Erik asserted yesterday that the city's > >financial support of Bound to be Read, just down > the > >street, served as a similar example to the > Ruminator > >situation. > > Yes - a city subsidy that should never have been. > > > Actually, Bound to be Read is a Hubbard > >Broadcasting property > > Check your facts on that. I think it's owned by a > Hubbard, but not part of > HBI. > > >In contrast, Ruminator > >is truly an independent bookstore, not owned (or > >beholden) to any of the corporate news media > >conglomerates. > > No. It's even worse - it's beholden to a political > party. > > >We need more stores like Ruminator in > >St. Paul. > > And with Ruminator out of the way, we might be more. > More, healthier, > viable stores. > > Sentiment has no place in this discussion. > > Mitch Berg > Da Midway! > > Shot In The Dark > The thing REALLY putting St. Paul on the map > http://www.mitchberg.com/shotindark/ > > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your > password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > _____________________________________________ > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ===== ----------------------------------------- There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!--- Mario Savio ------------------------------------------ Erin Stojan North End, Ward 5 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
