Dear Linda:
Thank you for your response. The fact is that
every transportation district in the State of Minnesota will get it's formulated
allotment. That will mean significant increases within our district and
county for highway improvements. Yes the Metro will get it's share, but we
will not in any way be excluded. Actually, out state is appropriated more
total transportation dollars because we have more total road
miles.
Also, I have been working with an organization
called "Midwest High Speed Rail Association" out of Chicago. They are
supporting and promoting the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative for passenger rail
expansion. Minnesota is a part of this Regional Midwest Rail
Initiative. This will help us to retain Amtrak or another innovative
passenger rail service. I have been very vocal to keep passenger services
alive for Winona and our local economy. Can you just imagine how many more
cars we would have in Winona if all of our college students from Chicago for
example could no longer use the Amtrak service? This is a real plus for
the Universities and our community.
May I remind the folks who don't live in Winona
that you also use our infrastructure and services and therefore share
equally in the responsibility to support those services that you are using,
like our roads etc.. By the same token, I go to Minneapolis and St.
Paul several times a year and use their highways and roads, thus I
should not feel begrudging of the improvements they make. I hate
being stalled in traffic just on visits, I can't imagine having to deal with it
on a daily basis.
Leone
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 2:00
PM
Subject: Re: [Winona]
Transportation
[Winona Online Democracy]
I do not think it is right that those of us who
live near Winona and do almost all our shopping in Winona are not allowed to
vote on this tax increase.
I respect your opinion but I am not allowed to
vote on the Winona sales tax and I am voting NO on the State
Amendment. St. Paul will see new roads and improvements if it passes
tomorrow but I doubt Winona county will see a dime.
Linda Fort
[Winona Online Democracy]
VOTE YES FOR TRANSPORTATION
I was disappointed at John Edstroms editorial on the ½ cent sales tax!
Without this dedicated tax, we will be strapped and stalled for years on
making needed safety improvements in the City of Winona. This sales tax
unlike the other 6.5% sales tax we pay into will STAY completely in Winona.
The list of projects are like your wish list for home improvements. The
priorities are set by the most outstanding needs over the period of time,
and by the Citys abilities to find MATCHING FEDERAL, STATE and PRIVATE
GRANTS! They want our dollars to go as far as possible on as many projects
as we can do with the limited amount of money that we can collect. That is
what I call good conservative government. I served on three comprehensive
planning task forces for the City this past year and can assure you that the
City does want to do what the citizens are asking for to improve our City.
If we do not pass this tax, your property taxes may be the next
alternative or risk a lower bond rating because some of these projects must
be done at some point to protect our citizens, therefore we may need to bond
for them. Our dikes protect us from the Mississippi River. Without good
pumps our City could once again flood like New Orleans! Does anyone remember
the 1965 flood? The CP railroad will see an average growth of about 1 to 2
additional trains per year projected for their increase growth in world
trade without any DM&E expansion, which incidentally I do not feel will
add that many more trains because of alternate routes. Remember the CP
Railroad is a Canadian Railroad wanting to do more business with Mexico. We
need to wake up to the fact that we are in a WORLD GLOBAL economy and Winona
is just one little part of this bigger world. The fact is, without the
REQUIRED matching funds for road and overpass improvements, we will be short
changed in all federal and state available funds for transportation. So our
federal and state taxes that we pay into the system will go to other
communities that are smart enough to raise and budget matching money for
infrastructure improvements.
Negative attitudes in this city are killing our progress. We may envy
Rochester, but they have a city sales tax to take advantage of the federal
and state transportation dollars. I hope this community understands how the
system works and just what this ½ cent tax will do for Winona.
People who want to purchase clothing are not going to rush off to La
Crosse because of this ½ cent sales tax because Wisconsin has sales tax on
clothing and Minnesota does not! That is one reason you see Penneys,
K-Mart, Maggies, Wall-Mart, Target etc. full of Wisconsin license plates in
Winona. Actually, some small businesses have benefited from the additional
traffic into the city created by Wall-Mart and Menards, etc.. While they are
here they stop to eat, pick up other specialty things not offered in the big
boxes. Incidentally, there was a desire for more retail when the last ½ cent
tax was levied and the rest of the land is being developed for industrial
development. We-No-Nah Canoe, Inc. is just one example and others are making
plans when the infrastructure is completed.
VOTE YES FOR TRANSPORTATION! Also Vote Yes for the State Amendment. All
of those dollars collected were intended for transportation and at one time
Minnesota had some of the best roads in the nation. Now we are at least
twenty years behind with bridges that are needing to be constantly repaired
and routinely checked because they are nearing condemnation status. We as
voters now have the opportunity to take leadership for our future. Do not
let the bickering special interest groups fight over half of our
transportation taxes collected. Yes the 40% for transit can be used in
Winona! We have a bus service to maintain and we could add bus shelters at
more designated stops to keep riders out of the rain and cold winds. We most
likely would be able to use the money for overpasses or underpasses at
railroad crossings since Amtrak is a passenger transit service
through the city of Winona. In addition, currently we are in a very
precarious situation with having no other access to the northern part of the
City of Winona off of Hwy. 61 from the west bound lane coming from La Crosse
other than the Hwy. 61/43 Mankato Avenue intersection, unless you want to
count going through Fleet Farms private property appropriate access. If
that Hwy. 61/43 intersection were disabled (example - truck hazardous
spill), we would not be able to get fire and emergency vehicles or Hwy. 61
traffic into or around this intersection. We may actually be in violation of
the States fire safety and evacuation codes. Now with the new middle school
on the south side of Hwy. 61, we need to be even more concerned about the
safety of children and the growing population to the south of Hwy. 61.
VOTE YES FOR TRANSPORTATION AMENDMENT AND THE ½ CENT SALES TAX
Leone J. Mauszycki
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_______________________________________________
This message was
posted to Winona Online Democracy
All messages must be signed by the
senders actual name.
No commercial solicitations are allowed on this
list.
To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please
visit
http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona
Any problems or
suggestions can be directed to
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
If you
want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page
at
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