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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Final endorsement. City of Ramsey. Bob Ramsey for mayor. Jeff Wise for the open council at large seat.

The City of Ramsey website lists in a downloadable file, information on the various candidates for the four open council seats, here.

Starting with the Ramsey council seats I cannot vote for, Andrew Champagne and Colin McGlone in Ward 2 seem ideologically similar. Champagne, who ran before in 2004 for the Ward 2 seat, has consistently indicated an interest in going over the Ramsey books with a fine-tooth comb, to see what's been spent, what reserves exist, and in general following the money. I appreciate that as a needed step and endorse Andre Champagne in Ward 2 for forcing that issue to public attention.

In Ward 4, incumbent David Jeffrey is opposed by Thomas Towberman, of whom I know nothing. Jeffrey has been one of the two best of the incumbents, who I generally oppose on principal for things such as building the extravagant new city hall without putting that expensive question to a referendum. However, Jeffrey is but one of seven who unanimously did that. Given Jeffrey as the devil I know, I endorse him as such, over an entirely stealth candidate who might stand for almost anything.

At large, I was surprised Ms. Kieffer polled second in primary voting. To me, both of the Kieffers are a joke. Unimpressive as people. Having had problems with keeping their yard full of junk the neighbors had to endure. Not much else to say about them. Jeff Wise, is the best choice and has my vote. It would surprise me if he could not win this contest walking backward with his eyes closed. Jeff is a business owner, running for a few years the liquor store on Armstrong Blvd. next to the Amoco station, across Armstrong from Town Center. Those having to meet payroll and experienced in avoiding unnecessary waste are needed at this time to take over and redirect the way Ramsey treats its taxpayers. Jeff is needed and I urge you to vote for him.

Bob Ramsey has leadership experience in the military, and was decorated for his excellence that way. He has been in places besides Ramsey and Anoka County, and has a broader experience than his opponent, Terri Cleveland. Cleveland, other than going to school out of state, touts her constant ties to the locality. And she touts her "experience" with degrees in Public Administration.

We already have a public administration expert at city hall, our city administrator Kurt Ulrich, and it is staff that administers, not the council.

The council guides and makes the broad future-oriented decisions. And it sets limits to what staff might propose, and is not there to second guess administrative detail. I have seen nothing on the Terri Cleveland website indicating she has really ever led anything, nor that she has any really diverse experience.

Bob Ramsey has operated a business servicing specialized equipment, meeting a payroll consistently, controlling expenses, generating interest and income in his services. To whatever extent City of Ramsey needs to be "marketed," a concept I am skeptical about, Bob Ramsey would be better for the task. Cleveland's website indicates a design or millinery shop in her background but I know nothing of it. Without her giving website detail, it might well be little but a hobby business. It is not the equivalent, in my mind, of years of successfully supporting a household by selling services to merchants primarily in the supermarket equipment area and managing subordinates in achieving business success. It appears more retail-consumer oriented. And Terri Cleveland lacks the broader diverse experience that I envision Bob Ramsey has gained while on active duty for ten years and in the Reserves for eleven. The man has been outside of Anoka County and seen more, and done more.

He has that broader base of being in a bigger pond.

Both Bob Ramsey and Terri Cleveland have participated in the Ramsey 2008 public comp plan sessions. Bob is clear about where he is coming from, his hopes, his doubts. And how he views constraints impacting goals. Terri Cleveland has said little I have heard, and is a wild card in terms of how she would do one single thing different than the seven member council that appointed her to a couple of municipal boards, including Planning Commission, where she appears on TV to be doing a serviceable but not outstanding job.

Terri Cleveland and Bob Ramsey have websites you can check, but from the websites it is hard to see them saying much different.**

Both seem to acknowledge that Town Center failed and is a morass needing something, but Bob seems more direct in mentioning that truth. I trust him more to be restrained in any "rescue" effort that might suggest the Town Center answer is to sink more money down the same rat hole. I see Bob as more a skeptic that way, with his experience, than one trained and believing in the value of public administration who likely might seek a planner's or public administrator's approach of planning and spending a way out.

Terri Cleveland's website is here.

Bob Ramsey's website is here.

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** Bob Ramsey has one web page that Cleveland has not matched; a "citizens page," here. Neither mayoral candidate appears intent on playing the "endorsements" game, but the citizens page seems to reflect how people are viewing Bob Ramsey, and by posting the comments, how he views himself. The closest to the "citizens page" that Cleveland's website comes, at the bottom of her "issues" page, here, there is this quote, "We need a competent person with experience who understands Ramsey and understands how a city is run." However, who said it and in what context is unclear. For all we are told it could be the candidate's own words.

A second website difference voters might consider, Terri Cleveland, here, commits to a Town Center Commuinity Center and a Commuter Rail Stop and/or continued bus service, without saying how it would be paid for, properly, in her view, stating only a referendum caveat for public spending on one but not the other:

Commuter Rail/Transportation
The continued effort to make the city of Ramsey a commuter rail stop is important to the town center plan. I will put our city first by lobbying for a funding source to attract development in the area. I will stay in front of our county and state policy leaders to make the Hwy. 10 and Hwy. 47 expansion in Ramsey a priority. As mayor, I will support working with the Metropolitan Council to expand the Ramsey commuter bus service to increase ridership.

Community Center
I support a community center that provides the amenities desired by our citizens. I would prefer the community center be financed without your tax dollars. Private developers have approached the city on designing a center. However, if a proposal should be introduced to have the community center partially funded using our tax dollars, it should be brought to you as a voter referendum.


Bob Ramsey does not express support or opposition for those capital projects, but, here, he does unequivocally state:

November 1, 2008

It has just occurred to me that I did not completely spell out my position on taxes. I will never vote to raise the levy rate for city taxes period…not for two years, and not for as long as you decide to keep me in office. I have never even considered raising taxes an option.

If you elect me for Mayor I will cut the spending necessary to balance the budget and still maintain the essential services that you require from your city.