Everyone: This just came across my desktop. What is going on? Why is the City of Saint Paul taking this up, when it has little to do with Saint Paul. It seems to me that we should be much involved in CITY issues that are pressing. Beefing up the police force, discussing our funding woes in education and seeing that the citizens of Saint Paul are taken care of.
Any comments? Pamela Ellison Como Park Saint Paul Save WCAL - Act NOW! by repost 18 Nov 2004 While there is a 30-day appeal period with the FCC, St. Olaf and MPR have announced that they will close the sale of WCAL within fewer than 10 days. Immediate action from SaveWCAL supporters is needed. Dear friends, While there is a 30-day appeal period with the FCC, St. Olaf and MPR have announced that they will close the sale of WCAL within fewer than 10 days. Immediate action from SaveWCAL supporters is needed. Today SaveWCAL is making public the information that a Committee of the St. Olaf Board of Regents has dismissed our proposal to keep WCAL at St. Olaf, a proposal that is superior to the MPR bid. This morning we sent a response to the Regents, refuting their review of our initial proposal and addressing erroneous assumptions that may have been made throughout the process of the sale. We again appealed to the Regents to consider fully the consequences of the sale that could close within days. One of the most significant consequences is the expected loss of contributions to St. Olaf College if the sale is finalized. Senior Regent and major benefactor Leonard Hoeft tells us that he is convinced St. Olaf will lose more than $10 million in contributions to the college if the sale goes through. Hoeft is adamantly opposed to the sale and thinks the process was flawed. He believes that the Regents were not accurately informed of important issues pertaining to the sale. Our proposal is fundamentally superior to the MPR proposal and we believe the Board of Regents should choose it. In order for this to happen, the Regents need to call a special meeting of the St. Olaf College Board of Regents to reconsider the sale. As we implored the Board of Regents, we now implore you to read these documents and consider what this sale will mean for the future of WCAL radio and St. Olaf College. We specifically request the following from SaveWCAL supporters: 1. Review the pertinent documents, particularly SaveWCAL's Response to the Regents at: PDF: http://www.saveWCAL.org/pdf/RPB03_ResponseToRegents.pdf WORD: http://www.saveWCAL.org/pdf/RPB03_ResponseToRegents.doc 2. Forward this e-mail TODAY to St. Olaf students, faculty, alumni, parents and friend you know who care about St. Olaf and WCAL. 3. Forward this e-mail TODAY to all WCAL members and listeners you know. 4. Contact members of the Board of Regents. Public contact information is found at: http://www.savewcal.org/stolaf.html . St. Olaf alumni will find further contact information for alumni Regents by searching the St. Olaf online alumni directory at: http;//www.stolaf.edu/alumni/ SaveWCAL's initial proposal, the response from the Regents' Committee and SaveWCAL's response documents can now be found on our web site in our Public Document Library at http://www.savewcal.org/library.html We have no time to lose. We must not allow the truth to be hidden. ACT NOW! Thank you for your continuing support and active involvement! Ruth Sylte '82 SaveWCAL President for the board and volunteers of SaveWCAL See also: http://www.savewcal.org http://www.savewcal.org/stolaf.html SaveWCAL delays MPRs financing of WCAL purchase by Ruth M. Sylte Email: SaveWCAL (at) hotmail.com 18 Nov 2004 Modified: 07:08:45 PM Did the St. Paul City council fund the purchase of independent radio station WCAL by Minnesota Public Radio? And was their process for doing so legal? Are they using revenue bonds to improve blighted areas to increase the blight on the radio dial? SaveWCAL has discovered that on October 27, 2004, the members of the St. Paul City Council, in their role as Commissioners of the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), gave preliminary approval for issuance of $22 Million in conduit revenue bonds for the MPR Project. MPR has designated $12 million of the bond proceeds specifically for the purchase of WCAL/KMSE. Revenue bonds would provide MPR a less expensive way of borrowing money to purchase WCAL. The interest rate on the bonds is less because the income payable to the bond holders is not subject to income taxation. State law authorizes an HRA to issue revenue bonds "for the purpose of preventing the emergence of blighted and marginal lands and areas of chronic unemployment." Minn. Stat. 469.152. There is no way that the purchase of a radio station in the City of Northfield (together with transmitter towers in Dakota County and Olmsted County) would prevent the emergence of blighted and marginal lands and areas of chronic unemployment in the City of St. Paul. The use of revenue bonds for the purchase of WCAL would violate state law. The lead underwriter for the bonds is Piper Jaffray. Note that of the seven Piper Jaffray board members, three are members of the MPR Board of Trustees (Addison Piper, Michael Francis, and Frank Sims) and two are members of the St. Olaf Board of Regents (Addison Piper and Kristine Johnson '73). The current HRA preliminary approval is in addition to previous HRA approvals including one in 2002 for the issuance of $10 million in conduit revenue bonds for the same project, a $3.3 million forgivable loan, conveyance of the "triangle site" to MPR, and the closure of a portion of 9th Street. At the last MPR Board of Trustees meeting, MPR indicated that this would bring MPR's total long-term debt to "about $32 million." The HRA staff report indicates MPR's stated intention to pay back the loans on the $22 million bond issue through the use of capital campaign funds. On November 16, SaveWCAL contacted the St. Paul HRA to inquire whether a draft copy of the proposed HRA application for the MPR project was available for public inspection prior the public hearing conducted by the HRA on October 27. State law requires that a copy of this application must be available for public inspection before the HRA conducts a public hearing on the project and prior to the submission of the application to the state Commissioner. On November 17, the St. Paul HRA informed us that, after speaking to their bond attorney, the HRA has decided to hold another public hearing on December 8. They apparently determined that the failure to have the proposed application available for public inspection prior to the hearing on October 27 would render the process vulnerable to effective challenge. The hearing on December 8 is open to the public, giving people an opportunity to address the HRA Commissioners. The HRA Commissioners will be especially interested in the comments of St. Paul residents. SaveWCAL is urgently seeking volunteers with experience in public funding issues. We are also seeking residents of St. Paul to testify at a public hearing. Please email SaveWCAL (at) hotmail.com if you can assist us. You can access copies of the St. Paul HRAs Report and the Resolution at: http://www.SaveWCAL.org/pdf/StPaulHRA_Resolution.pdf http://www.SaveWCAL.org/pdf/StPaulHRA_Report.pdf Ruth Sylte '82 SaveWCAL President for the board and volunteers of SaveWCAL _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ 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/
