| BOOS AND BRAVOS |
Boo to Mayor Kelly for his attempt to open the Short Line [Ayd Mill] Road to traffic from I-35E before figuring out what cars leaving the road at the north end will do. This is road is poorly designed and connects nothing and opening it will only cause traffic problems in the Merriam Park and Snelling-Hamline areas as Dakota County commuters overrun their neighborhoods. There will also be and increased accidents at the poorly-designed Grand Avenue and St. Clair Avenue intesections. [However, some of us from the East Side do get a perverse snicker at finding people on theh western side of the city being told by an East Side mayor that they must sacrifice their nieghborhood for the common good. While we cannot agree that there is any common good here, we do acknowedge the snicker.] Bravo to Joe Soucheray for his insightful column on the poinsettias in the City Hall published in the Pioneer Press, December 9. [Cf. the item below.] [12-10-01] Boo to Ramsey County authorities for banning red poinsettias [and red poinsettias only] from the City Hall/Court House because they are perceived to be religious symbols. Some people who are Christian are offended by the use of evergreen trees, reindeer, and fat men in red-and-white suits as symbols for the Christian holiday which comes up in late December and find themselves surprised when they learn that non-Christians also [albeit for different reasons] find these things offensive. Other Christians [seemingly a large majority] do not have this perception of these symbols and use them enthusiastically. Many of the Christians in the first group understand that most of these items came to be associated with the season from non-Christian faiths. While nobody cares about their sensitivities when it comes to establishing the criteria for what can be diplayed in a public, their rights should be valued as much as those of athiests and non-Christians. They are not, but we don't think it is possible to satisy everybody. However, while there is really no place in a public setting for any of these decorations, drawing the line at the color of poinsettias is really ridiculous. Bravo to Councilmembers Benanav, Bostrom, and Lantry for feeling that Saint Paul needs viable local businesses and that the public is entitiled to the services of a local taxicab industry. Boo to Councilmembers Coleman and Harris and lame-duck Councilmember Blakey for deciding that local business and workers should become impoverished. [more coverage on Taxicab issues page.] Boo to lame-duck Councilmember Jerry Blakey for playing [in rapid succession] both politics and chicken with his proposed moratorium on community residential faclities while teh Planning Commission studied matters related to the concentration of such facilities.. After introducing the measure [which as some merit despite who initiated it], he abandons it when he sees a large group of protesters [possible 50 people well organized by social workers] sitting in Council Chambers. If the matter indeed had merit, he should have stuck to his position Boo to our entire City Council, the Mayor, and PED staff for kow-towing to the allegedly charitable and non-profit Minnesota Public Radio as MPR plans to extend its grip on downtown. In addition to making all of the residents of both the Naomi Family Center and the City Walk condominia residents of a dead-end street, the proposal will transfer an awful lot of money to an organization has to be the biggest [with the possible exception of some of our health care concerns] money-making non-profit Minnesota has ever seen. It seems that all MPR has to do to soak the public some more is to send former Saint Paul resident Garrison Keillor to give the City Council [sitting as the HRA board] a special, little routine and nobody is left with enough backbone to oppose the grab. Boo to our mayor. He has made it a high priority to bring forth budgets which have called for a zero property tax increase. We applaud his efforts to make city government more efficient and note that they seem to have been largely successful. But we cannot believe that we had so much inefficiency in our city to allow for eight straight years of zero increase. We suspect that this obsession is colored by His Honor's attempt to have crowing matter for his Senate campaign. We think that a record of eight straight years cannot help but put our new mayor in an impossible position and we think that any of the people presently being suggested for mayor deserve better. Boo to City Attorney Clayton Robinson for his cavalierlexclusion of the duly elected city leaders [in particular the City Council, people who were duly elected and who might be expected to provide leadership and who might find it easier to do if consulted and well-informed, particularly the duly elected representative of the West Seventh Street area Chris (don't call me "Norm" or "Nick") Coleman] in his purported resolution of Gopher State Ethanol matters. [Hold off the Civics 101 allusions in your mail, although frequently our mail volume is so low that even a misguided missive is sometimes appreciated. We realize that separation of powers and the conflicts it can bring about are an integral part of our Republic.] [8-13-01] Bravo to Councilmember Jim Reiter for taking an unnamed [read: Barbara Carlson] radio talk show host to task for the unprofessional and unwarranted manner in which she treated Councilmember Benanav on her show Wednesday morning [July 18]. We do think that how Mr. Benanav earns his money might be a reasonable subject for interest and raise a couple of questions, but the way the matter has been raised and handled [parenthetic Boos to Mr. Dornfled and the Pioneer Press, also] looks more like the lazy media looking for easy stories with a touch of sensationalism than it resembles an objective or honest search for facts to help the electorate make up their collective minds. [7-20-01] A qualified [qualified because nobody here spends a lot of time outdoors in the West Seventh Street area] Bravo to all who made the apparent resolution of the of the City of Saint Paul vs. Gopher State Ethanol odor happen. [7-20-01] NOTE: THIS BRAVO IS RESCINDED AFTER ONE OF OUR EDITORS DROVE BY THE BREWERY/ETHANOL PLANT SITE ON AUGUST 6 AND SMELLED THE AIR. [8-6-01] Bravo to anybody who can figure out what Jerry Blakey is thinking of. [6-11-01] Bravo to the print newsmedia, particularly the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, [Mpls.] Star-[Journal and] Tribune, and the East Side Review, for their unusually accurate coverage of the District Five Planning Council - Robert Greenberg - pie throwing - City Council overreaction mess. It is no secret that one of the editors of this site is a Director of the District Five council and was present at both of the meetings at which the matter was discussed. It is his opinion that the coverage that all have provided has been fair and, considering the subject matter, amazingly lacking in sensationalism. [Note: This is a page of opinion; we don't claim to be unbiased. You may wish to compare this paragraph with the one three paragraphs below.] Bravo to the people at the city schools who have managed to get their schools off of academic probation. A barking Bravo to the Parks Commission, the Division of Parks and Recreation, the Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council, ROMP, and others for their work in implementing the Arlington/Arkwright dog park. This project will take continuing monitoring and the cooperation of all involved and we hope we can give a further Bravo later. Boo to the vandals who have caused desctrution there. Boo to the seven directors of the Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council for authorizing the hiring of activist/anarchist Bob Greenberg to be its Exective Director. For an organization which depends extensively on government grants for its support, choosing somebody who was convicted of the attack of an elderly state senator with a pie in 1999, was -- at the least -- a foolhardy move. Mr. Greenberg indicated that it was bad judgment to do so, but did not indicate any repentence. Bravo to the six D5 Board members who voted against the idea. Another boo, however, goes to the City Council for its summarily suspending funds to the neighborhood organization without giving any notice or asking those involved for any explanation. Nothing in this hiring could be so catastrophic as to warrrant the step. The other time the City quit funding a District Council [Greater East Side (District 2) in 1985], they only did so after hearing the matter in committee and at the Council and giving all involved [including representatives of other District Councils] an opportunity to be heard. [5-24-01] Boo to the planners of President Bush's visit to District Energy for ignoring the mayor whose administration brought the system here. George Latimer received a late invite from the utility, but the White House and the mayor's office should both have invited him and invited him much sooner. Bravo to the winners of the 2001 Heritage Preservation Awards. We would cite particularly the preservation of the buildings at 444-448 St. Peter Street and 720 Payne Avenue, but think all of these [with the possible exception of the Lawson Software block which could only be built be destroying a dozen or so other builidings] need commendation. And a little boo to the Pioneer Press which identified the winners a full two days after the Mpls. paper did. [5-16-01] Boo to the folks at the RiverCentre[sic] Authority who seem to be so willing to become the super planning and licensing division of Saint Paul's government. Stadia and train depots might, under the right circumstances, be nice things to have, but they are far removed, both in geography and mission from what the Civic Center Authority should be doing. Bravo to all of those who have been reminding the City Council and the rest of us of the need for living wage rules in taxpayer-assisted developments. Bravo to all who have been fighting flooding in our city. These floods seem to be coming more frequently in recent years and the continuing efforts of all of our flood fighters needs even more commendation. Bravo to City Council President Dan Bostrom and Councilmember Jay Benanav for their votes against granting a living wage waiver to Target Corp's request for city money for its downsizing of its downtown Dayton's/ Field Marshall's store. We were particularly impressed with Mr. Bostrom's comments in opposition and wonder why other councilmembers who profess to support working people don't think the city should insist that those who receive city largesse pay living wages. Boo to city officials for even suggesting that the city needed to help a major corporation [Dayton-Hudson/Target/Marshall Field] downsize its downtown store. We are not always sure why public assistance is given in the ways it is given, but public assistance should be given for business expansions, not contractions. Boo to Mayor Coleman and those who are suggesting that a new West Side stadium be built for the Saints. We have always liked the Saints' presence and enjoyed attending their games, but we have a good stadium which is less than twenty years old and the Saints host fewer than fifty games each season. There must be a better use for the riverfront property being considered. Bravo to whoever has come up with the plan to return traffic to the one block of Seventh Place between St. Peter and Wabasha. It would have to be a big help for the residents of the Seventh Place Apartments, particularly the disabled ones, to have vehicular access to their residence. Allowing for west-bound traffic would provide right side of vehicle access for apartment residents. [1-13-01] |
 |
 |
 |