Blaine does roads. The old fashioned way. 4F. Free from franchise fees.

Eric Hagen, ABC Newspapers reporting, July 16, 2014, here. This excerpt, (and there's a photo showing a road comparable to some in Ramsey).

ABC photo credit - click to enlarge and view

The Blaine City Council July 10, over the course of four votes, approved street renovation projects and a bond sale to pay for these projects in the short-term before funds are available to cover all costs.

[...] To have the funds for the city’s pavement management program for projects like this, the council also approved the sale of $3,245,000 of general obligation bonds. The interest rate will be 1.88 percent.

“It’s darn near free money,” Councilmember Russ Herbst said.

Finance Director Joe Huss originally anticipated the principal amount of the bond sale would be $3,420,000 and the interest rate would be 1.91 percent, but the nine bids the city received came in favorably. The city received a AA-plus bond rating from Standard & Poor’s, which is the second-highest rating a city can receive.

Mayor Tom Ryan said they are entering the fifth year of the pavement management program that seeks to have a more defined schedule and budget on road projects and an emphasis on keeping up with maintenance needs – such as sealcoating and overlays – before more expensive reconstructions are needed. The council approved bids for these lower-cost maintenance projects in other areas of the city earlier this year.

That is bond for the capital, service the debt from general funds [levy funds]. For the lower cost stuff, just budget general [levy] funds. No retrogressive taxation. Just, the old fashioned way.

I believe it was Jim Bendtsen who was the most vocal [indeed the only speaking] citizen at the last council franchise fee public hearing, with Bendtsen strongly arguing that general funds raised by the levy should be used for fundamental, expected municipal expenses subsumed in the very nature of operating a town and providing expected, anticipated, needed public goods.

Not rocket science. Not disfavored assessment. General funds. Bonding where you have to, meaning state statutory levels of assessment might be required, but no turning to franchise fees.

For another untraditional approach [avoidance of using general funds for general needs], other ideas exist. They may not be perfect ideas, or may need enabling legislation to see usage, but what's wrong with the old fashioned way?

That being -- Those more able, as reflected in having higher value property in the town, pay proportionately more, but with a flat levy rate and not a graduated scale where the marginal extra half million or million in property, whatever, is taxed at a higher rate. That IS another way to run city taxation. Our better off citizens should not forget or ignore it. Once getting them thinking that way, they may be more amenable to plain old general fund ways and means. More favorable to those having less, but not unfavorable to the plutocrats as far as a graduated property tax would be, (or having an excise tax attaching on say any single family home over a half-million in assessed valuation).

The old saying is there are many ways to skin a cat; (and likely it's cats alone that most dislike that expression). Get to skinning plutocrats ...

One thing you have to say -

Some explanations show a lot more imagination than a big patriarch in the sky saying, "Ptolemaic cosmos," "Seven Days," "Female subservience," and making Galileo recant heliocentricity.

MORE PIZZAZ.

MORE SIZZLE ON THE STEAK.

More believability? That you can debate ...

With somebody. Not me.

RAMSEY - flying off the grid.

Nope. Not about town politics. Ramsey the owl. This link.

UPDATE:

Ramsey Fud. "Just Wait. I'll get that Wabbit."

A friend I respect sent an email comment which I publish.

This is it, with one typo caught/changed:

Telling people you think are stupid, they are stupid is not a very helpful tactic. If they are stupid and you are smart what do you hope to accomplish? Based on your own premise, you already are smart and they probably will never be. So in that scenario who is really smart and who is dumb - from a practical standpoint?

Abortion is ending a life - that is a principled reasonably considered position. That is what I believe, but I also think a woman should be allowed to make that decision for something living inside her body. So we agree on many aspects of this. The Dems have won most aspects of this issue. Why force others to PAY for your abortive medicine? The backlash could be far worse than the potential benefit. What is the cost of "Plan B" pills?

You should accept their right to believe that way as fully as they (perhaps reluctantly) accept others who don't. They must accept your side can have divergent opinion. You should accept they don't want to collaborate/enable what they believe is wrong.

That is the essence of tolerance/acceptance. The Dems claim to be tolerant - it's time to step up and be tolerant in practice. Without that you'll get what you see in the middle east. Take a step back from your rant - for the sake of civility and the mutual benefit that can be derived from it.

Okay. There is little doubt of the sincerity of those putting religious upbringing ahead of other things. Indeed, the Constitution says it is an inalienable right to do just that. But the same First Amendment also says there shall be no establishment of a forced national religion. Broadly read, the Establishment Clause says that equal protection and equal enforcement of the laws is required. Not as to belief but as to conduct, that was the gist of Scalia's Smith decision (as to the penalty side of equal protection/penalization/criminalization).

Now a lawful requirement of equal availability of contraception to all wanting access to contraception as part of healthcare availability law has been judicially undermined, the Smith author agreeing it is fine with him to not have symmetry. On RFRA and Hobby Lobby, noting Smith, this link. Early in the Hobby Lobby 5-member majority opinion, Alito wrote:

Congress enacted RFRA in 1993 in order to provide very broad protection for religious liberty. RFRA's enactment came three years after this Court's decision in Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U. S. 872 (1990), which largely repudiated the method of analyzing free-exercise claims that had been used in cases like Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U. S. 398 (1963), and Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U. S. 205 (1972). In determining whether challenged government actions violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, those decisions used a balancing test that took into account whether the challenged action imposed a substantial burden on the practice of religion, and if it did, whether it was needed to serve a compelling government interest. Applying this test, the Court held in Sherbert that an employee who was fired for refusing to work on her Sabbath could not be denied unemployment benefits. 374 U. S., at 408-409. And in Yoder, the Court held that Amish children could not be required to comply with a state law demanding that they remain in school until the age of 16 even though their religion required them to focus on uniquely Amish values and beliefs during their formative adolescent years. 406 U. S., at 210-211, 234-236.

In Smith, however, the Court rejected "the balancing test set forth in Sherbert." 494 U. S., at 883. Smith concerned two members of the Native American Church who were fired for ingesting peyote for sacramental purposes. When they sought unemployment benefits, the State of Oregon rejected their claims on the ground that consumption of peyote was a crime, but the Oregon Supreme Court, applying the Sherbert test, held that the denial of benefits violated the Free Exercise Clause. 494 U. S., at 875.

This Court then reversed, observing that use of the Sherbert test whenever a person objected on religious grounds to the enforcement of a generally applicable law "would open the prospect of constitutionally required religious exemptions from civic obligations of almost every conceivable kind." 494 U. S., at 888. The Court therefore held that, under the First Amendment, "neutral, generally applicable laws may be applied to religious practices even when not supported by a compelling governmental interest." City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U. S. 507, 514 (1997).

Congress responded to Smith by enacting RFRA.

[Those wanting links to cited cases can follow links in Hobby Lobby, online per Google Scholar. Pagination of the official published [reported] case is not yet set so the quote page cite is not yet available]

And that, RFRA, is the peg Alito and his four confederates hung their Hobby Lobby opinion. Conveniently, while trumpeting the Free Exercise Clause, they ignored the Establishment Clause, violation of which arguably renders RFRA, as interpreted by the gang of five, unconstitutional; i.e., the putting of religion ahead of compliance with law that facially is religiously neutral on its reach is "establishing" employer religion beyond what is properly Constitutional as to employee rights under law.

And there are nuances some do understand, while demagoguering, e.g., this brief item. Indeed, there are nuances some find puzzling, even troublesome. (Some find the Chief Justice troublesome, and hope for better down the line.)

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

Same friend emailed this link, which has an irony that while not subtle, nonetheless holds a great degree of truth and underpins some frustrations some feel with how DC is set up to run, not always for us, but at times over us.

"Is Mike McFadden running to lose?" So asks a writer at MN Progressive Project.

This link. It is an interesting speculative piece of writing.

You have to read it for the full flavor, but one speculation, a prep-run to shoot for Governor next cycle that office is in play, on the ballot. Presuming Dayton follows the George Washington pattern in Minnesota, two terms and step aside, it would be an open contest. McFadden would then have name recognition. Much as Jeff Johnson getting hammered against Lori Swanson but now having a party endorsement and name recognition in the Governor primary election, GOP ballot side.

Or Emmer, losing the Guv race, but positioning to succeed Bachmann who is leaving to MichelePAC her life after DC. Emmer now with a party endorsement and name recognition. Not having to say much, which has been Emmer's problem. Just name recognition, district demographics, and being there.

It has been a script some besides McFadden have followed.

The basic thesis of the MN Progressive Project author is why else would McFadden be running an amateurish ineffective campaign, but to gain name recognition while losing.

WELL, I HAVE AN ALTERNATE THEORY:

from google maps - click to enlarge full size

Yes this Romney clone has the $1.3 million dollar home, waterfront, 3.5 acres and 8500 sq ft of home, (6 bedrooms, 5 baths). But Romney does not live under a power line. McFadden's home is under a big hummer, check it out by enlarging that image, and we all have heard the lore about what that does to the productivity of dairy cattle. Perhaps his dental work is picking up the field, and, who knows? While improbable, it IS compatible as an explanation for lackluster, questionable campaigning. An explanation that does not discount fire in the belly. Nor does it discount McFadden being sharp, educated, and not anyone's dummy.

DON'T LIKE THAT THEORY?

WELL, HOW ABOUT THIS:

(Yes, two alternate theories. Surprised?)

from Secretary of State's pollfinder service

Yes, that is CD2. Col. Kline is taking on age, and this election our Col. with the "football" just might get Obermullered into retirement. Yes, let us hope.

If not, mid term Kline retires with some prearrangement in place for McFadden to be named to serve out the term, or if Kline is reelected and such a deal cannot be arranged, he Bachmann-McArthur's out, "My last term, it is time ... old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

McFadden would then have name recognition to run for the GOP to hold (or reacquire) the seat (or hope to), all it would mean is taking the storage wrappings off McFadden and presenting him that way - that seat - and hoping demographics that served Kline well might again play a GOP tune.

DON'T LIKE THAT THEORY? Then form your own.

____________UPDATE_____________
That headline at MPP reminds me, everybody has their grammatical or spelling foibles, some having trouble in general with the possessive case, past tense of "to lead," etc., while I might have in haste written, "Is Mike McFadden running to loose." Just a mistake I make as with the possessive form, its, confused with the contraction, it's.

But then McFadden if anything is running too tight. Not too loose. Tighter than a drumhead stretched to tearing, as I see it. But many, many, many - too many - TV ads are yet to come. Look for it, football pre-season, World Series time, politicians to the point of saturation advertising. Outspending Budweiser/Coors, and pick-up trucks.

___________FURTHER UPDATE__________
In that sense, the pick-up truck analogy, Emmer is the one I can see using, "Like a Rock."

ABC Newspapers reports, the north metro/suburban League of Women Voters will be modifying its candidate forum rules.

First, the LWV branch is the LWV-ABC Minnesota chapter, this webpage, this Facebook page.

Prior to a Coon Rapids candidate forum for primary election candidates (which as of today has already come and gone), a Community Contributor press release item was published by ABC Newspapers, stating in part:

The [July 9 Coon Rapids candidate] forum will be broadcast multiple times later on Quad Cities Community Television and will also be available for viewing online from QCTV’s website.

“We hope voters will avail themselves of this opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of candidates and present questions,” said Geri Nelson, voter services co-chair. “For voters unable to attend the forum, we’re pleased to have the services of QCTV to record the forum for residents to view at a later time.”

[...] Leading up to the general election forums will be held at city halls in Andover, Anoka, Champlin, Coon Rapids and Ramsey and will include candidates for city offices and Minnesota House of Representatives. A candidates forum for Anoka County Board of Commissioners will be held at the Anoka County Courthouse.

[...] “This year we’re making a policy change that responds to voters’ concerns about our policy for cancelling forums when an opponent in a two-candidate race was unable or unwilling to be present,” Nelson said. “We will now hold the announced forum. The candidate in attendance will have an opportunity to express their positions on issues in their opening and closing statements and in response to questions submitted by the audience and read by the moderator.”

Nelson further explained, “We feel this policy change respects the time and interests of voters and candidates in attendance, and we will conduct the forum in a manner that is neutral to the absent candidate. Candidates will be notified of this absentee policy in their invitation to the forum.”

League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

As an individual valuing past LWV forum events for providing helpful candidate information and having candidates face voters and say who they are, I was most disappointed by last election's cancellation of the Ramsey general election forum when there was a collective refusal to attend by one of the two finalist candidates, for each open council seat.

That bloc of "dodgers" did not fare well in the election, none winning, and of them, only Wayne Buchholz is running again this time for the open at large seat, after having in 2012 lost the election for the then open Ward 4 seat to present council member Chris Riley.

Equally disappointing was the Anoka County general election forum which was held, but incomplete, because two incumbent candidates, for whatever personal reasons each had, declined to attend.

Specifically, incumbents Rhonda Sivarajah and Robyn West, having the advantage of incumbency, declined to participate. Other open seats had both candidates participating, so the event itself was not cancelled. Even so, voters had to be disappointed by half a forum instead of a complete one.

Presumably this election, with Sivarajah now the underdog to GOP endorsed CD6 candidate Tom Emmer, Sivarajah will value every opportunity she has to shine.

Attitudes can change, but I expect I was not alone in being disappointed by the informative forum opportunities being gamed by individual candidates. In effect: Voters showed up for the Anoka County event, but candidates did not all do so.

In Ramsey, voters would have shown up, but the collective boycott ended up causing a cancellation of the entire event, with voters left less informed.

Many readers may recall that the prior League policy had been in place for a long time, and the guess is League members were a bit disappointed in believing it necessary to change a long standing event rule.

The reasoning of the League rep as reported in the news item (quoted above), deserves major attention. The underlying motive seems to be fairness to other candidates and to voters wanting to be informed, with the rule change cautiously aimed to be as fair to non-attendee candidates as feasible, but not overly so that they can game the system.

Minnesota House District 35A, with Jim Abeler stepping aside: My hope would be voters look forward as I do to the HD35A forum appearance of unopposed DFL candidate Peter Perovich and the GOP primary winner between Abigale Whelan and Justin Boals. It would be interesting if there had been a Whelan/Boals forum for GOP primary voters to become best informed, but it apparently will not happen.

Whelan and Boals differ on who they are and what they represent, so that GOP primary voters should look beyond Whelan's caucus/convention endorsement to see which of the two resonates with their own issues thinking and world views.

In any event, Perovich against the GOP finalist will be worth attending, as the differences likely will be as great or greater than between the pair of GOP contestants.

RAMSEY - AUTHORITIES. Ramsey currently has an EDA (Economic Development Authority) and an HRA (Housing and Redevelopment Authority). It has no Port Authority and should never have one. It has no Port. And the term "Pork Authority" has been used with cause in the past, about the St. Paul Port Autority.

The council before the last election used HRA operation quite a bit, including the Flaherty adventure, with the faces at the table for the HRA being in one-to-one correspondence with those on council.

Authorities presently are not mentioned in Ramsey's Charter, making their use subject to whatever powers and limitations state law has created.

The EDA has some overlap at present with the council.

Council members are: Mayor Strommen, and council members Backous, LeTourneau, at large, and Ward 1 Rep. Johns, Ward 2 Rep. Kuzma, Ward 3 Rep. Tossey, Ward 4 Rep. Riley.

EDA members are:
Jim Steffen, Chair
Wayne Skaff, Vice-Chair
Phillip Brunt
Glen Hardin (a former Ramsey mayor)
Kristine Williams
John LeTourneau, Council
Chris Riley, Council

EDA member Williams presently is one of four candidates seeking the single at-large seat in the primary election, with two of the four who end up as leading primary vote-getters to continue to the fall general election. Were Williams elected and to stay on the EDA, there would be an even greater council-EDA overlap than at present. Both LeTourneau and Riley were EDA members before being elected to council, and each has remained an EDA member.

EDAs, HRAs, and even Port Authorities are creatures of statute, having been authorized by the Minnesota legislature, with powers and functions set out in Minn. Stat. Chapter 469, online here, with that statutory chapter also covering joint powers stuff.

TIF and other things are grist for the EDA mill, and presently the EDA has a separate levy. My understanding is they can act in some ways independent of securing council approvals at televised meetings, (by recorded council votes upon resolutions or ordinances, which is how the council conducts official business). That is a point I need to have confirmed. An understanding is also that proposed "business subsidy" items vetted by EDA do appear from time to time as council consent agenda items.

My understanding is that while the EDA has a separate levy, the combination of EDA and the general levy are together subject to state imposed levy limits. If the one hand takes more, then if pushing levy limits, the other hand must take less. Exactly how such levy balancing is handled is unclear to me, with my understanding being that current budgeting [in total] is roughly half a million dollars short of hitting the levy limit so that apportioning slices of the pie appears to be non-problematic, at present.

The staff person now primarily responsible for interfacing with EDA is:

Ted LaFrance
Economic Development Manager
7550 Sunwood Drive NW
Ramsey, MN 55303
763.433.9830
tlafrance@cityoframsey.com

Interested readers might find helpful information in Ch. 15 of the League of Minnesota Cities [LMC] handbook.

Mike Mulrooney has been a long-time retained city consultant. (Back during Town Center's genesis days in the first decade of this millennium Mulrooney was scheduled to be at one council meeting to report about what he'd found out concerning the financial wherewithal of Bruce Nedegaard, who was then seeking to enter the project via a master development LLC position; however, at the meeting on record, Mayor Gamec said Mr. Mulrooney "was ill" and would not attend. Given Bruce Nedegaard's subsequent difficulties, Mulrooney's attendance and reporting to the public at that early stage would have been helpful.)

Mike Mulrooney is considered expert in North Metro "business, financing, and real estate," e.g., this screen capture [links in original are inactive within screen captures]:

That item identifies Mulrooney as "President" of "CMDC Business Financing in Andover." Mulrooney has a brief online bio on a CMDC contact page, and a LinkedIn page. CMDC has a "news" link.

Given his SBA lending ties, Mulrooney's continuing consulting can be viewed as having pluses and minuses.

A plus is that in the course of consulting Mulrooney remains aware of business financing needs in Ramsey and can report on general North Metro financing and business growth, while a minus is that SBA loans negotiated via Mulrooney's CMDC business are given not only in Ramsey but in other North Metro communities, which communities likely have business expansion objectives conflicting with Ramsey's. Conflicting interests can arise and if they do past experience suggests they can be quite problematic.

Before the City's hiring of Ted LaFrance, Mulrooney frequently attended EDA meetings, e.g., this minutes page showing Mulrooney's having advisory comments at an Aug. 2, 2012, EDA meeting.

Also, e.g., these October 2012 minutes pages:

I am unaware of Mr. Mulrooney's current consulting status, the written contract terms and conditions, etc. Those minutes pages date to before the current council was elected and seated in its present make-up, as well as before the LaFrance hiring. Presumably with much function transfer from consultancy to a staff person Mulrooney's involvement would be lessened. There would be economic advantage to substituting one for the other, rather than having parallel salary and consutancy costs added together. With CBRE now the official city's real estate brokerage, it again would be interesting to see if Mulrooney's role [and billings] have lessened.

Of interest regarding EDA and "business subsidy," and the LaFrance hiring, there has been ongoing ABC Newspapers coverage, here, here and here. Interestingly, none of the three items mention Mr. Mulrooney's consulting arrangements or his EDA participation record.

In response to a data request Ted LaFrance provided items I still am reviewing. They can be the subject of a later post, but the lead page of one item is presented below, for purposes of example:

That item gives a flavor of earlier items in this post, in a Developer/Business entrepreneur fact sheet format; with mention of SBA lending, and TIF, for example. Also helpful as background, this LMC sample form document, prepared for LMC by Ehlers & Associates, as a pro forma outline for required municipal filings with DEED.

For those interested in the earlier meeting page examples of deliberations Mr. Mulrooey participated in about a data center use possibility for the former city hall site on Nowthen Blvd (by the school), there was a community meeting and community task force that met over several months, with the matter ultimately reaching the council recently, for a vote. With neighborhood concerns and opposition over such a use, as things are understood to stand, the council voted that the site, if rezoned or changed in the comprehensive plan, to be designated as "residential." And so the data center concept apparently died. Yet the process for reaching an outcome seems a good model, for any future major land use thinking. Indeed, as to major land use decision making, many still believe moving city hall at very great cost from Nowthen Blvd to its present Town Center "catalyst" spot should never have been done short of referendum approval by the voting public (who are still paying bond debt service for that decision during the Gamec-mayor, Norman-Administrator days).

Last, for those wondering about the mystery called TIF, two online items (one from another town) are here and here.

Clearly they are introductory, and not exhaustive treatments of the subject. Presently I remain still low on my own TIF learning curve. Probably we all do, with only a chosen few having a leveling off learning curve, that subject.

______________UPDATE______________
As anticipated, concern about EDA consultancy relationships does appear moot now that a permanent staff person has been hired and with CBRE providing brokerage services to Ramsey.

My understanding is Mike Mulrooney's consultancy services for Ramsey began in the late 1990's. Always on a limited as-required basis.

Consulting use of Mr. Mulrooney's services has not been a factor for about a year.

And this apparently is nowhere near a Landform scale of things. My understanding is that since the beginning of 2011 to the present roughly $40,000 has been expended on his services. In total, since end of 2010. Nowhere near the seven figure cash flow from city coffers that happened with Landform during the Bob Ramsey mayoralty, and while McGlone was chairing or exerting strong influence over Ramsey's HRA.

Most recently when utilized, services were billed at a reasonable rate [under $200/hr for one who has broad experience in state government and is knowledgeable of SBA practices, is well respected in his profession, and offers judgment and advice based on decades of experience].

Again not Darren and Landform, not somebody Mike Jungbauer introduced to Matt Look and Bob Ramsey, or however Darren was first noticed; no Cronk or Flaherty or other out-of-state loyalties or attachments.

The one incident noted earlier, regarding Mulrooney missing a meeting where impressions and information concerning the Nedegaard fiscal strength to handle a major development was to be reported, Mulrooney's failure to attend and publicly discuss things likely was due more to a failing of local officials in their choices than to any failing of Mulrooney. And Nedegaard was able to borrow from an institutional lender to cover the entire multimillion dollar cost of his land purchases and beginning operations, unlike Flaherty's requiring asking for and getting a favorable multi-million dollar loan of city wealth.

Later, bank irregularities surfaced regarding loans to Nedegaard, but at the time credibility at the bank was shown. Clout at a bank for an eight figure amount with letters of credit to Ramsey's benefit is no small proposition.

In sum, the Mulrooney consultancy, to whatever small extent it may in the future be used, presuming it will be used only at a small level, is a non-issue. The man appears worth his hourly charge, and with a staff person now on board EDA reliance on consulting from Mulrooney is lessened. Ehlers & Associates continues to be used, by the City and not specifically the EDA, and the expertise there is separate from that which Mulrooney offers.

Last, Mulrooney does not consult as a business proprietor or in partnership. Advance Consulting Group, Inc., in business in Minnesota continuously since 1977, has been the vehicle he has used when invoicing the city.