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Monday, February 01, 2010

RAMSEY - Northstar uncertainty, a bill authored by Abeler, (R), House Dist. 48B.

A story in three images, puzzling to Ben and me. Click each image to enlarge and read text.






[image sources, here, here, and by author, respectively]

Interesting online city documents, here from last summer, authorizing a specific application for funding, and here. Would any reader knowing of a link to the Ramsey City Council's prior authorization of legislative testimony and the seeking of legislative bond funding per the (ambiguous to me) matching fund wording of Subdivision 1 of the proposed Abeler-authored bill, please send me an email or submit a comment.

____________UPDATE_____________
Ben just choked, mid-smile. Matt Look, by email indicated:

4.3 m is state bonding bill dollars. Rail stop est 13.7 m. Everyone has to contribute....state, feds, county, city to pay the bill


This from a Republican, who, presumably wants no stimulus money as tainted, and no federal welfare for Ramsey.

Or does cash trump ideology? "Creeping Socialism" is okay, depending which way the money "Creeps?"

Tune in for updates as they arise. $13.7 million. Same town centre same rathole.

Same money disappearing act.

Or am I wrong?

___________UPDATE____________
Matt Look sent an email that deserves publishing, since it's on point:

I am not sure I follow your logic on your blog. You are trying to tie stimulus dollars with ideology? Stimulus dollars that we ask for, are in fact our tax dollars that we want back. If we are not successful in bringing our federal tax dollars home, some other state will build their projects on our backs....I see nothing wrong with at least competing with federal dollars.

As for the 13.7 million dollars on the rail stop......the stop is a forgone conclusion....it will happen. The only issue is how will it be paid for. Would you rather we (Ramsey) pay the whole ticket ourselves...thereby raising your taxes to pay for this public transportation system stop? I would think you would agree that as elected officials we should be finding as many funding sources as possible......especially considering that we will not own or operate the stop once it is built

Please keep in mind that our development was designed around the stop.....all the other stops were simply a convenient stop along the rail line to drop a stop in....with no development master plan in place. It is the only stop that makes sense!

Progressives should be thrilled that we are trying to expand yet another public transportation network....less vehicles, less congestion, more reliance on government?


I think we should all read Matt's comments, and think them over.

The notion, we pay federal tax, we want money back ignores whether this is the highest and best use of federal money. If less of this stuff were run that way, the federal taxes could be less. The notion it's not pork because it's mine, I am uncertain of how sustainable that is, as a nationwide attitude.

"It is the only stop that makes sense."

Opinions can differ. Is it better to put something in Ramsey soon, or extend the line to St. Cloud first? Aside from local bias, it's an unanswered question, in terms of what makes more sense than something else.

The inevitability thing, if it was inevitable, why was Bruce Nedegaard flim-flammed over the transit hub idea, paying almost a hundred grand an acre, and then having the thing yin-yanged away and going broke and dying? Dying, that's inevitable. All else is questionable politics, and how things happen and why, and who's influential in having a voice at different times - all interesting political questions.


And what's sixteen million going to buy? Have you seen a drawing? A plan? A budget?

Matt may have. I have not.

And there's this thing about cost escalation. It never goes the other way - costs of such things inflate, they almost never come in under budget with bucks left over.

And if Ramsey pays but does not run the thing, who does? Will there be commercial space in the thing, and if so, who is the landlord collecting rents?

Matt, if you read this update and can point to some online city documents laying all the cards face up on the table, as good government would, go for it. We all would benefit if that's an actual and not hypothetical part of Ramsey transparency and governmental disclosure.

Those are good ideas, transparancy and disclosure, but less honored in practice than in theory.

And if I am wrong, and it's all there and linked to from the home page of the City of Ramsey website, as we'd want, I will be the first to publish of my being in error.

What I see, Abeler proposing a bill, and no footprints in City Hall about how that hummer was cooked up. Perhaps that's the wrong way to phrase it, but - if there are footprints, whose, and where?

Sunshine on government action is good. Government in the dark, hidden under hats, is questionable.


....................

For now, It's 3:30 pm, and tonight is caucus night in Ramsey.,

DFL caucuses are at Ramsey Elementary School, on Nowthen Blvd. (roughly across from the prior nice centrally located convenient City Hall). All Ramsey precincts will be caucusing there, and official starting time is 7 pm.


________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Here's what my beef is all about. Right of the citizens to know what's happening.

Is there any mystery to that concept? It is basic to a democracy - you vote based on the information you have, so government, if decent, gives you information.

It's like the "social contract" that Locke et al., pondered centuries ago. It's not rocket science.

Here's the screenshot of the City website page about Northstar. Tell me if it is adequate disclosure.



Click it. Read it.

Where does it say how many million, or show a drawing?

Note also, there's reference to an item - some sort of resolution which I think happened half a year or so ago and has nothing to do with spending millions in earmarked ways - and insult added to injury, there is a hot link which, (surprisingly?), gets a 404 error message = The document cannot be found.

I tracked down a bill, current legislative session, Abeler sponsoring it. It should have been highlighted by City of Ramsey staff as part of informing voter-citizens, and linked to from the home page.

Matt and others may think there's need to proceed non-publicly. I can think of no good reason, but they may think there is one.