Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ Mr. Swift and everyone:
I am frustrated with the discussion about the Metro Transit strike. I think that there is a lot of information that continues to confound and amaze many about the attitude on both sides of the strike. The observations that seem credible to me is that neither side is willing to give in to the other, and we know that one of the sides in question have never had a strong positive opinion on public transit, and I think you all know which side I am speaking of. The issue that appears to be the sticking point here is the rise in health care costs, which SHOULD cause the side of the Governor to be a little more observant to this issue. In fact, what would be the point of helping the public save a few dollars on prescriptive drug costs, which is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rising costs in health care. All businesses are affected by this issue. The teachers union in Saint Paul this year, had a rise in health care costs of between 20-40% over last year, and they ended up agreeing to the terms in spite of some teachers paying up $700.00 monthly for family coverage. I am stating that Metro Transit DOES need to understand that we have all been touched by rising health care costs, and like it or not they will continue to rise, until the Government decides to get involved in health care at the Federal level and begins to cap off the profits that can be made by the health care industry across the board. That being said, we are still left with the fact that public transit will never see the light of day again, unless the public takes their power to the voting booth in 2006. I resent the comments made about the rally at the capitol last week put on by the unions of the striking transit workers. Mr. Swift, I think that you need to realize that the public that is most affected by the strike were unable to attend due to lack of a ride. Those of us that do not ride, but DO care have made our feelings known to every elected official we know by now. So, there is another way of dealing with the strike, get to the negotiating table and work it through. Whether you are Governor Pawlenty/Commisioner Bell or the officials of the Union, get to the table and figure it out! That is what they get paid the big bucks to do. I also remember the first two weeks of the strike had comments from the Pawlenty Administration discussing the fact that " Traffic didn't appear to be a problem and things were moving smoothly. " Tell that to someone whose livelihood just went down the tube for lack of a ride to work. I think the problem of traffic will become self evident when we continue to go down the road and leave the idea of multi-modal transit behind. Houston, here we come. We are following your lead. More roads, more congestion, more pollution, more maintenance and more cars. Not really what I want to see Minnesota become in the next ten years. With college funding slashed and K-12 education on the chopping block, it slays me that there are students that depend on the rides with Metro Transit to get to school. Those workers that cannot afford a car or are disabled or cannot drive, are kept from their jobs. They cannot earn a wage because they cannot get to work. If they don't work, I guess they will need to apply for welfare services. I think the Pawlenty administration is acting in a penny wise, dollar foolish way. If you want more folks on the welfare rolls, just continue to take their transportation away from them and they will simply wait for a check from the state to come to their mailbox. I am greatly disturbed that this is the most vivid example I have seen in recent years of class warfare if there ever was one. Take the most vulnerable that rely on good transportation services, and let them stay home. It reminds me of another time in history an infamous monarch in French history, when confronted with the fact that their citizens were starving to death and could not afford bread, retorted with the line, "Let them eat cake". I believe we have taken so many steps back in our current society that we may exist in that time and place. I work at a public school where many students come from Minneapolis to go to school in Saint Paul. The open enrollment system that works rather well, when the transportation in the metro area works is a nightmare when it doesn't. I have poverty stricken students calling for a cab quite often, because the school district does not run school transportation from Minneapolis. Truancy will become more common when students lives are disrupted in a financial way they will not be able to deal with. Rather than pontificate on how to end the strike, I think it a more appropriate move to use the time that we would do that and send a letter by fax, email, snail mail and if you are like me, I do all three, to the officials that are in charge of moving us towards a solution. Pamela Ellison Como Park Saint Paul > > > >> There are three ways the bus strike can end: > >> 1. The union could surrender. > > 1a. The union could come to grips with reality > and give ground on an issue that is killing off any > chance of wide spread support. > >> 2. The business community could convince Pawlenty >> that the bus strike must end. > > 2a. They could also convince the union of the > same thing. > >> 3. Angry people could resort to illegal, >> disruptive, and possibly violent actions. This is >> almost inevitable if the strike drags on. Everybody >> knows that this is true. I think bus riders and > radicals are more likely to resort to illegal actions > than union members. > > > Really? I don't know that this is true, and I don't > know anyone other than Ed that has even brought this > possibility up publicly. > > If I had any input with the group of people that Ed is > referring to (not union members..oh no, never) I might > be tempted to advise them that news footage of people > (not union members..oh no, never) wilding in the > streets might not have the positive that these people > (not union members..oh no, never) think it will. > > I happened to be at the Capitol during the "massive" > union pep rally at the Capitol last week. If those 200 > or so participants were any indication of the level of > support the drivers union has among "other people", > only a "radical" would not realize that they are > fighting a lost cause. (For comparison's sake, there > were four times as many people up there the week > earlier supporting Indian gaming.) > > The fact of the matter is that in addition to being > paid very competitively, the drivers and mechanics are > enjoying a benefit that is completely unheard of > anywhere out here in the real world. > > TSwift > Cherokee Park > > "Let the working families of Saint Paul spend the > money they earn as they wish" > > ----Dennis Hill > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. > http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html > _____________________________________________ > SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 > Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ > _____________________________________________ > 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/ > ----------------------------------------- Join ISP.COM today - $8.95 internet , less than 1/2 the cost of AOL Try us out, http://www.isp.com/ _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ 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/
