The twins were confusing to Alice. She could not understand what they had to offer.

Alice did not understand the twins. Not at all.

"Who again are you?" she asked.

I'm Union," the one twin replied. Almost in the same breath, "I'm Endorsement," the other said.

"Yes, they said together. You can trust Union Endorsement. Trust us." they said together.

"What do you want to know about transportation?" the one twin asked. "Bridge fell, all you need to know," the other said. Again, almost in the same breath.

"But, ..." Alice stammered, "But what about the revolving door, the group, the lobbying, yesterday's issues and stances?" Alice asked.

"No!" each said. "Not. Not. Not. Not." each said. "Group consults, consults, consults, consults." the one twin said. "Revolving door, its in the lobby." the other said, as an explanation.

"Elevator's in the lobby too," the first twin quickly added.

"Elevator hasn't fallen," the first twin added.

"Bridge fell," the second twin explained.

"Bridge fell, we filed, then unregistered - getting out of the lobby," they both said. "Not in the lobby, not by Christmas." they added.

"Check it out," they said in unison," "Used to. Used to. Used to." "You can't fault, used to," they noted.

"But that is all a bit confused to me," Alice admitted, "A bridge fell in the lobby?" she asked.

"No, no, no, no, no!" the twins said. "Bridge fell in the river, revolving door is in the lobby," they added.

"I am still confused," Alice added.

The first twin looked at Alice, and said, "One of the things you learn early in political campaigns is that you need to be able to say why you’re running in a clear, brief and convincing way. It’s called the “elevator speech” because it forces you to think about what you would tell someone you met in an elevator that would persuade them to support you before they got off. It’s a good exercise. It demands that you think through carefully your own motivations and values and goals. It’s not a sound bite, but rather a fundamental statement that lays out who you are and why you’re doing what you’re doing. This is mine: ..."

"Bridge fell, Union Endorsement, not a revolving door, no longer a lobby," the second twin quickly added.

"Elevator's in the lobby," the first twin said. "Elevator speech," the second added.

I really still am confused," Alice stammered.

"Bridge fell, Union Endorsement, not, not, not in the lobby, all you need to know," each twin said, a littled vexed at Alice's inability to understand.

This was sad. She was limited, she admitted, and simply could not understand, really, any of the Tweedle twaddle.

El Tinklenberg. Not Lobbyist. Highway Man.

When you run MnDOT, I suppose you are not just a highwayman. You are THE highwayman.

Which brings to mind of course the tradition of the British highwayman.

And with that MnDOT footing to stand on, picture El, the consultant, the lobbyist --- pictured now, as the highwayman.

There is this to be said:

Beyond the law....

The dangerous figure in the road at night...the dashing and romantic gentleman thief...the loner on the run for a crime he didn't commit...the righteous rebel who rises from obscurity to help the less fortunate-- highwaymen are some of the most beloved and universal of archetypal heroes--or anti-heroes--that we know. Literature and media both about with the light-fingered gentry and artful dodgers, footpads, desperados, and other dashing, dangerous and fascinating miscreants.

Highwaymen thrived in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, becoming legendary and romantic figures. Highwaymen were "as common as crows" from around 1650 to 1800, and in an age where travel was already hazardous due to the lack of decent roads, no one rode alone without fear of being robbed, and people often joined company or hired escorts. No wonder then that travellers often wrote their wills before they set out....

Well, that "joined company and hired escorts," perhaps that's more El's cohort and associate, James Norman, paired pistols and all as legend has it.

But you sit in the seat of running the highways, you are THE Highwayman. No two ways about that. Perhaps in a different way than "Swift Nick" Nevison, who rode to fame, with the Lord Mayor as his alibi.


The Wrestler's highwayman. WOW! Working the highways still. Consulting.

Which all brings to mind the problems Dem politicos have with the highwayman thing, not just El because of where he used to work, but back in Seattle, Christy and I watching CSPAN, the Clinton '90's, Speaker of the House, Tom Foley from the Spokane area at the House microphone. She says, "Did he just say that!" I said, "Yes, he did just say that." And we were right because William Safire in a June 13, 1993 New York Times Magazine item wrap-up which is still online confirmed:

STAND AND DELIVER

THE MOST ill-considered phrase uttered on the floor of the House of Representatives this year came from the Speaker himself.

Urging his fellow Democrats to support President Clinton's economic proposals, Speaker Tom Foley said, "This is the time to stand and deliver."

Presumably, the Speaker meant that the members must courageously stand up and be counted to deliver their votes. However, the phrase Stand and deliver! is the command of the highwayman holding up a horse-drawn coach. Its meaning was clear to every driver carrying valuable cargo: stand still and deliver up the gold and jewelry.

The phrase today still carries the connotation of mounted theft. It's not a locution a politician wants to apply to a representative's relations with the taxpayers.

The Tink. The Boss. Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway ...

Picture of the day. As if this were Architectural Digest.

Only because the bridge fell ...

Only because the bridge fell, is why I decided to run as puppet with the longest nose - oops, just got longer - but really, before that I had no thought - oops there it went again - I was happy being a consultant, not a lobbyist but a ... - oops, it grew again - hey I unregistered before Christmas, kinda like a New Year's resolution I intend to keep - oops, $4 grand a month out of Ramsey - but really when and if caucus results are fair I intend to abide by the endorsement, if fair, you have to believe that, even if another - oops it really grew longer on that one ...


Wait, wooden head, I might only be a chirping insect, but people died there, and it's no cause for opportunism. The more you say, the further away I get from you, just by standing firm where I am.

No Taxation Without Representation

In our childhoods, we learned that phrase from the pre-Revolution founding fathers.

"No Taxation Without Representation" per Wikipedia, was a championed phrase of James Otis, who disliked a British Parliamentary view of "virtual representation" and Otis is said to have summarized things as "taxation without representation is tyrany."

There are several historical sites on the web where the phrase leads via Google search, including Stamp Act history [paying a fee for official approval of documents, to be stamped, not unlike paying an official fee - a very costly official fee - to be hooked to the Met Council's sewer system]. Never mind, there surely are differences. Such as Met Council not being entirely equivalent to Colonial "virtual representation" but not substantially different, either.

Interestingly, James Otis had this to say:

The origin of government has in all ages no less perplexed the heads of lawyers and politicians, than the origin of evil has embarrassed divines and philosophers: And ’tis probable the world may receive a satisfactory solution on both those points of enquiry at the same time.

[italics emphasis in original]. While rhetoric was not unknown to the founding fathers, and Otis practiced what his contempories practiced that way, even if my rhetoric is no better, may my ending be better than his.

In 1769, at the height of his popularity and influence, Otis was pulled from the public stage. He had infuriated a Boston custom-house official with a vicious newspaper attack; the official beat Otis on his head with a cane. For the remainder of his life, Otis was subject to long bouts of mental instability. He was unable to participate in public affairs and spent most of his time wandering through the streets of Boston, enduring the taunts of a populace that had quickly forgotten his contributions. Otis was struck and killed by lightning in May 1783.

It is not exactly like being struck by a thought. Luckily neither the mayor nor Elvig, nor Tinklenberg [formerly until weeks ago - official lobbyist Tinklenberg, long a canditate before "unregistering" whatever actual change that makes] nor Jim Deal carry a cane. I will avoid nearness to Dan Erhart. Writing by some at that "founding-father" time, such as Otis, is wordy, indirect and hard to follow - something I, by directness, attempt to avoid.

At any rate, the lasting hook, the unerring truth of the phrase "taxation without representation is tyrany," haunts one with the question:

When is the last time you voted for a Metropolitian Council member? Or a member of the regional rail authority - that one or the other one - whichever it is that has instigated and imposed, doubled and assessed yet new taxes upon the innocent citizenry?

My simple recollection is never having seen any such matter on a ballot.

Not even a "virtual" ballot, for "virtual representation."

Just a tax and all, a father-knows-best from Dan Erhart, Tom Yantos, somebody. A mother-knows-best from Natalie.

______________UPDATE_______________

Try this one instead. When is the last time you voted to have a palace by the tracks built that was going, according to latest budget news, going to sting everyone at around a half-million bucks a year just to keep even - to service debt?

Our esteemed council, giving us a "virtual referendum" apparently.

The Elvig Town Center Task Force - Retrospective Cuts from the Web.

They say one picture is worth a thousand words. This is a test. Click to enlarge:



Yes. Uh huh. If you believe Tom Gamec. Town Center Tom. The only constant individual on the City of Ramsey Council from the Genesis of Town Center, to the Exodus of the Developers. Uh huh, Tom. And for others on Chairman Dave's hand-picked like-minded Town Center Task Force - the groupies - and their words (a thousand each, more or less):




Uh huh, Alena. Uh huh, Mary Jo. Those restaurants. That whammo boost to tax base. That getting it right the first time.

So, reader, you tell me, I did not count the words - but is one picture worth a thousand of the above?






Well, with Alena, we cannot in November 2008 vote her off the Council - she's not on it! But two out of three isn't bad. Joe Mauer only hits one out of three. And they say that's great.


________________UPDATE_________________

It has to be said. Hunter's comments are most galling, ""Because of the location on the major arterial roads of Ramsey, we can keep traffic away from the inner core of our neighborhoods. We can concentrate a variety of housing choices in an area that is far removed from the center of our city, creating a larger tax base [etc., see the last image]."

This is the woman whose boss at the cabinet shop installed her on his Town Center Task Force, a body not going through any normal appointment process but hand-picked by who knows who; which David Elvig then used as his public-service springboard onto council where his first action, instigated prior to taking the oath of office was to get sewer-water routed to Jerry Bauer's gun club, (outside of which the one driving arrest incident in the wee hours of a weekday morning reportedly occured), to benefit the father-in-law's land interests, and when a tie-vote roadblock was encountered Bauer removed himself, somehow I do not know details, from chain-of-title with John Peterson carrying water; and sewer-water was routed, to use Alena Hunter's own [see last image] words, to "the inner core of our neighborhoods," and not at all as represented "far removed from the center of our city."

And look now at what is being lobbied for in the North End - north of Trott Brook.

Finally, almost coincidentally, where is that larger tax base, Alena? At the field of dreams where they bulit the Norman castle?

Get real. All of that stuff needs an airing. And pronto, Tonto. Delay and obfuscation, smoke and mirrors, will not do.

Garderners know, care and attention are needed to keep the garden's beauty prospering. And, turning a compost pile to air things out keeps it from getting too ripe. It's time for a turning - things are overdue for a turning.

Watchdog Yearend WOOF Mentions Ramsey Town Center - And it is 100% TRUE.

Harold Hamilton's writing can state essential truths in ways that are hard to dispute or improve upon; hence, when as here he does that his Watchdog words, not mine, carry the theme:

Story #5: Ramsey Town Center Debacle.
Our number 5 story is still developing but is already on pace to go down as one of the biggest boondoggles in Anoka County history, and certainly the biggest at the municipal level.

The Ramsey Town Center debacle will stand as a cautionary tale to city councils around the nation for years to come. The Ramsey City Council essentially suffered from two major afflictions that helped doom the project.

The first was arrogance. Historically, Ramsey has been an exurb of large residential lots with a fair share of commercial and industrial real estate as well. The character of the city has been one of limited government, low taxes, and a general respect for the privacy of those who chose to live far from the urban core.

In a fit of hubris, the city council attempted to ignore the essence of the city’s culture and by fiat create a transit-oriented, high density, mixed use downtown in a city that had never had or wanted such a development.

The transit never came as there is no commuter rail station and the parking garage off Highway 10 is highly underutilized. There will likely never be any real demand for the high-density residential housing because high-density housing is only successful where there is a supporting infrastructure of transportation, retail, and other services within walking distance. Few people want to live in a condo and yet have to drive to buy a gallon of milk or drive 50 miles to work.

The second flaw was a lack of sophistication. While it will probably take years to conclude the investigations and lawsuits, it appears that the city council was taken in by grandiose promises and slick presentations of a new suburban utopia. In short, it looks like Ramsey got in over its head – fast.

"The second flaw was a lack of sophistication."



Just like good holiday candy, it's hard to stop with a single piece. This time excerpting rather than a total en banc copy:

Story #2: The County Board Evolves.
Revolution it probably isn’t, but there are definitely changes afoot at the Anoka County courthouse. Like the knuckle-dragging caveman who has become a refined 21st Century human, the Anoka County Board has turned in its Dan Erhart era wooden clubs and animal skins in exchange for top coats and civil discourse.

Yes, he got his train after years of futility. But he is no longer board chairman. And he didn’t get his football stadium.

Again, kudos to commissioners Rhonda Sivarajah and Robyn West for demonstrating the courage and commitment to principle that is needed to bring about change, especially on a county board where independent thinking had all but disappeared under Erhart’s leadership.

Story #1: Vikings Stadium Fails.
Hands down, the failed Vikings stadium effort was the biggest political story in the North Metro this year. In a classic David-vs.Goliath matchup, regular taxpayers triumphed over Zygi Wilf, Anoka County, and the hoards of special interests that spent millions trying to ram a taxpayer-funded stadium down our throats – without a voter referendum.

Like most Anoka County government mega-projects, the stadium chase was filled with its share of buffoonery and incompetence.

Perhaps most astounding was the fact that the county offered up a piece of real estate for a stadium without ever determining if the land could really support a stadium. Months into the project, the Army Corps of Engineers went public with its concerns about the vast number of wetlands on the site and the need for numerous environmental permits, even if the land itself could support a stadium. The Watchdog is left to surmise that the extent of the county’s soil testing was Erhart standing on the land like a pioneer of yore declaring “This is it!”

He says, "buffoonery and incompetence," and pick the picture this time, reader. Yeah, lots and lots of posibilities, that's why I just left it open that way.

And Erhart, "This is it," an image like Brigham Young. I wonder if the Erhart legacy will be more or at least a part of a Mountain Meadows Massacre one, rather than solely one of a finding of the promised land flowing with bounty and manna, for the man's core followers and believers.

But I'm not criticizing Dominating Dan, I am merely someone who's not been here as long as he or the Watchdog, reporting as much as agreeing with woofing by my friends.

And like that "no referendum" concept the Watchdog woofs over, stadium-style, we had a Norman Castle built here in Ramsey, down on Sunwood, next to the ramp that the first woofing item mentioned - and there was not a referendum over that lavishness in Tom's Town (who else was on council throughout the failed process, from genesis to developer-exodus, so name it after the man on watch).

Now, here's the kicker, and it was not a contractor or workman's error, it was there in the desktop model, planned from the beginning, intentionally started and finished precisely that way, as these pictures show - pick your word, bent, curved - your choice of terms:





For comparison, and back to woofing, here's a picture where you can see a dog's hind leg:



So, is the legacy we leave our children, a city hall "bent as a dog's hind leg?" A city hall "curved as a dog's hind leg?" How would you say it, Ben?



"___________ as a dog's hind leg."

Whatever, Ben, this next November, be sure to vote.

Showing up that way will sweep house better than a broom.