Time to put Pork on the menu!

It may be a merely symbolic measure, but please join me in eating some good pork chops this weekend. Like most of you, I have family, friends, neighbors and clients that rely on the livestock industry for their livelihood. The latest news on the flu outbreak, and the unfortunate use of term "Swine Flu" seriously threatens one of Greater Minnesota's strongest economic engines and job providers.

There is no relationship between eating pork and contracting the flu. http://www.freep.com/article/20090429/FEATURES08/90429018. As this article further reports, there have been no confirmed reports of pigs contracting the virus. If you have visited a hog operation recently, you will be impressed with their bio-security measures. They certainly do not want this strain infecting their hog herds and have a strong system in place to minimize this risk.

Today officials are also reporting that this strain probably did not even originate on a farm. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124105320874371313.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Join the Obama Administration and others in correcting the name of this outbreak to: "H1N1 Flu".
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/28/officials-offer-new-swine-flu/

http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/44013467.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUgOahccyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU



Finally, join me in getting out the grill and enjoying some pork this weekend. For my vegetarian friends, buy a pork chop for your neighbor.

Tax Bill Deserves Pawlenty Veto

Saturday evening, the Minnesota House of Representatives barely pulled together enough votes to pass their misguided tax bill. One of the most contentious measures involved the DFL proposal to rip back mid-stream the JOBZ tax benefit proposals that formed the basis for many businesses deciding to locate and expand in Greater Minnesota.

An amendment by our own Representative Robin Brown, attempted to save the JOBZ provisions, but failed by a vote of 65 to 68. http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/apr25/3037/bits-and-pieces-house-omnibus-tax-bill-debate

It appears that the final bill passed by the same margin -- 68 to 65, with Brown switching her vote to APPROVE the final bill which included elimination of the JOBZ tax stream. http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cco/journals/2009-10/J0425041.htm#4096

Not only does this bad bill rip money right out of the coffers of our local employers, it also taxes other incentives that companies receive for doing business in Minnesota, eliminates other popular tax benefits and substantially increases the cost of doing business in Minnesota through broad reaching tax increases.

This bill is VERY BAD for Albert Lea, bad for Greater Minnesota and bad for all of Minnesota.

The DFL has created a bill that is a political animal and a greedy revenue grab that deserves the wrath of the Governor's veto pen.

Tilting Against Windmills!

At first, my family was skeptical when I explained to them that I was starting a "blog." To them the term sounded almost sinister and like something out of a Star Trek movie. Now, they seem to have acquiesced to my new-found hobby.

My initial inspiration came from reading Don Quixote. His attempts to challenge the prevailing wisdom of the time was often misunderstood, yet bizarrely on-point. As articulated by the original Q himself,

"Anyone publishing a book exposes himself to enormous risk, because it's absolutely impossible to write one in such a way that it satisfies and pleases all those who read it."

This blog is my attempt to look at issues from a different perspective. Thus, Challenging your view of..... [fill in the blank].

Thanks for tolerating my awkward attempt at modern civic engagement.

Q.

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THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS: MOSQUITO LORE IN ALBERT LEA.

The current budget debate in the City of Albert Lea is an interesting chapter in the local lore relating to our unofficial state bird, the beloved mosquito. I had the honor of participating in the last chapter of this saga nearly seven years ago. I remember the occasion well since it coincided with the birth of our first child in July of 2001. That year, the term “unbearable” does not even begin to describe how bad the mosquitoes were in Albert Lea. As first time (protective) parents, the severity of the mosquitoes left an impression. I faintly remember that the situation was bad in prior years, but in 2001 it affected us profoundly.

As we prepared for our first child, we sprayed the yard and purchased mosquito netting to cover the car seat and stroller just so we could carry our child from the car. We lived on the southwest side of town and I remember literally running to my mailbox and back just to pick up the mail in the afternoon. Our backyard was un-usable after early spring.

That summer, we would apply large quantities of repellant and attempt to “go for a walk.” I remember running home after a block or two because we were overcome with the swarms of neighbors that came out to greet us. Unfortunately, our human neighbors were not quite as accessible. Needless to say, our quality of life in Albert Lea was suffering.

How does this relate to today? Well, I am hearing echoes of what I encountered seven years ago. At that time, I approached the city and inquired as to why they were not spaying for mosquitoes. The answer I received was that the city had disposed of their mosquito spraying equipment and that spraying simply did not work. I still have the newspaper article where the City gave the following response to the infestation:

“Years ago (the city) used to spray for mosquitoes but it’s really not
effective. You kill one and a hundred come to his funeral. [The City official added that] he is sure the pests affect how the parks are used, but there is not much that can be done besides using mosquito repellent. That’s just the way it is, he said.”

Anyone who knows me is aware that I was raised in a family that simply does not accept statements such as, “that’s just the way it is.” Instead, I did what any expecting dad would do in the same situation. I started a petition drive and initiated a grass roots call for the city to control its mosquito population. My “Anti-Mosquito Petition” read as follows:

“To protect the quality of life in Albert Lea, including but not limited to: being able to mow your yard, being able to walk in your yard, being able to walk
down the street, being outdoors for more than 30 seconds, the ability to do anything outside, the ability to attract business to Albert Lea, the protection of tourism and business in the city, the protection of property values and in general, the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, we the undersigned demand that all reasonable efforts be taken to control the mosquito population in Albert Lea.”

As you can probably imagine, the petition went over quite well and people decided that they did not have to accept the situation -- “just the way it is.” Prior to even finalizing and presenting the popular petition to the city, they acted. http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2001/jun/29/city-sprays-for-mosquitoes/ The city remembered that they still had the old mosquito spraying equipment and discovered that a company from southern Minnesota could be hired to effectively spray to control the infestation. In response to community demand, the city began spraying for mosquitoes in 2001. Guess what the citizens of Albert Lea have been quietly doing for the past seven years? Mowing their yards; walking in their yards; walking down the street and going outside for more than 30 seconds at a time!

I do not accept the statement that spraying does not work.

What I do accept is that the city has some tough budget decisions to make and perhaps mosquito spraying is a service that will be cut. So far, though, it appears that they have tried to only grab the low hanging fruit. Mosquito spraying is being presented as having questionable value and discretionary. The city can then argue that if citizens want this type of “extra”, they need to pay for them through fees or more likely as justification for a huge tax increase next year.

The initial work of the city and the budget advisory committee is commendable – more information is always better. Unfortunately, this is only the very beginning of the process, not the end. The tough question remains: how to provide long-term, affordable “core” local government services.

The statement that mosquito spraying is equal to one city employee is telling to the natural mentality of the city entering this process – protecting their turf. http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/mar/07/should-city-spray-mosquitoes/. Reportedly, 80% of the city budget is personnel driven. How many mosquito-type discussions can occur without addressing the elephant in the room? Government and businesses across the country are already implementing personnel cuts and restructuring which services are provided and how.

City officials must accept responsibility for their decisions. If they choose to cut mosquito spraying-type services, they must accept responsibility for the replacement of neighborhood block parties with neighborhood swarms of uninvited guests. They cannot displace their responsibility by blaming the state or others for their woes. Accepting the status quo for 80% of the budget is a decision to raise taxes next year – no amount of repellant can protect city officials from that bite.

A ticket to anywhere!

Yesterday, I had lunch with my 4 year old daughter at her day-care. It’s spring break, so this is a different location from her normal pre-school. I sat in the small chairs with the kids and every child in the room had a story to tell. As we were eating corn dogs, baked beans and mandarin oranges, the boy to my right (Daniel) told me about his house, his dog, his grandparents and pretty much every other detail that he could think of. Not wanting to ignore my daughter, nor the other kids at the table, I tried to carry on only two conversations at a time. Daniel, however, was persistent and wanted to tell me that he liked my tie, my ring and my white collared shirt. Each time, he would politely tap my arm to get my attention. I would ask him to wait, finish my conversation with another child and then return to his inquisition.

At the end of the meal, I shook his hand and thanked him for letting me join him for lunch. As I did so, I noticed the ketchup and bean stained finger prints on the sleeve of my shirt. That certainly made me smile and left me a nice reminder the rest of the day of my enjoyable meal.

After the meal, I stood in line with the children while they took turns washing up and preparing for nap time, which my daughter is staunchly opposed to. While negotiating my escape back to work with my daughter, another child (Fawn) was vying for my attention. She also wanted to tell me about her family and her stuffed horse (not pony) that she cuddled with during nap time.

This morning, I again dropped off my daughter at her “new” day-care and as I was leaving was approached by Fawn. She had a small slip of paper in her hand. She quietly handed it to me and said it was my “ticket.” I said thank-you and she elaborated that I could, “go anywhere you want to with it.” All it had on it was the number 11.

In my structured adult mind, I initially assumed that I was the 11th person to get a ticket. From a four year old’s perspective, however, I wonder if all of the tickets probably had the same writing on them designating some secret four-year old code. Either way, I’ve been resisting my adult mindset of viewing this ticket as a plane-ticket or ability to go some place exotic and far-away. Instead, I’ve decided to keep the ticket in my coat pocket and whenever I need to get away, I’ll pull out the ticket and think of the refreshing meal I had with the four-year olds. Better yet, I may just go back for lunch with my new friends . . . only next time I won’t wear a white shirt.

LEGAL AID: QUIETLY GIVING A HAND-UP TO THOSE IN NEED

I recently had the opportunity to testify at the local town-hall meeting of the legislature. The purpose of my testimony was to encourage continued funding for Civil Legal Services to support the important work that is done to provide access to the Justice System. I am a private attorney, having lived and worked in the Albert Lea area for over 13 years. My practice focuses primarily on business related issues, together with work in agricultural law, real estate and family law. Since moving to Albert Lea, I have taken an active interest in finding ways to make our community prosper in a positive way.

One of the quiet ways that our community accomplishes this goal is to provide citizens access to a fair and equal forum to resolve their disputes. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have a first class Justice System.

For many years, I have served on the board of directors of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (“SMRLS”) – one of the six regional Civil Legal Services providers in Minnesota. SMRLS provides affordable and understandable Civil Legal Services to all citizens, regardless of income.

During my tenure on the board, I have observed the inner workings of the SMRLS organization through the last budget crisis in 2002, the partial recovery budget of 2006 and now this terrible economic downturn. Let me share a few of my observations on how SMRLS has dealt with each of these challenges:

• SMRLS participates in an on-going process called “Future’s Planning.” This process is our constant attempt to find efficient ways to provide services to those in need. We strive to leverage our dollars during good times. This allows us to better respond during funding down turns.

• During the last budget deficit, SMRLS completely reorganized itself by centralizing its hot-line intake process and technology. We focused our resources on being one law-firm, rather than a series of offices around the state. This change helped to keep all rural offices open while absorbing staff reductions and has actually increased the number of persons who have been able to access SMRLS and enables SMRLS to provide more seamless services.

• During the last increased budget, we set-aside reserves and focused on preserving our best and brightest talent. A large majority of any Civil Legal Services provider’s budget consists of staff. Although legal aid attorneys are some of the lowest paid in the Justice System, we are able to attract a talented, compassionate and team oriented group of employees. They are the front-line in helping those in need navigate the legal process. This talent pool is especially important in hard times when we need to stretch our dollars further.

• SMRLS constantly searches for outside funds to leverage State and Federal Dollars. We accomplish this through aggressive grant writing and the successful Campaign for Legal Aid.

Those who know me know that I am a fiscally conservative Republican and that I believe in providing a hand-up, not a hand-out. I know of no other organization that epitomizes this motto better.

I am also now participating in the SMRLS Retrenchment Process (“Futures” planning during a downturn). As an organization, we recognize that an economic downturn of this magnitude results in more people that need help. Our challenge is to provide services to more people, while at the same time receiving less money.

In accomplishing this goal, our first priority is to keep our existing staff intact. SMRLS recently announced a salary and hiring freeze. We also recognize the need to utilize our reserves. Unfortunately, these steps only fill a few of the large holes in the budget. We continue to prioritize additional spending cuts to be ready to respond to the actions that legislators take in St. Paul.

I encouraged legislators to remember that the Justice System as a whole provides an important calming and public safety component. I refer to it as “Core Services, plus.” The plus being: preserving the rule of law, giving individuals a forum for their disputes and a mechanism to provide community stability in a positive way. As stated by our Board Chair, Kathy Bartz, we must “give our clients a sense of hope.”

Organizations like SMRLS are working hard to be part of the solution during these difficult times. The budget cannot be balanced through draconian cuts to the Justice System’s small budget pie. The Justice System is only 2% of the State’s budget, and Civil Legal Services is only 3% of that 2%.

I requested that legislators act quickly on Justice System funding. If cuts have to occur, minimize them to recognize the “Core Services, plus” component provided by the Justice System. Please watch this year’s legislative session closely and encourage legislator’s to support the quiet work being done by legal aid in our communities.

Addressing Budget Short-fall

The City of Albert Lea recently took the step of creating a budget advisory committee. http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/feb/23/council-approves-budget-task-force-members/

This begins the hard work of trying to understand the city budget and finding a way to prioritize the spending cuts. Information that would seem helpful in making these decisions includes:

1. An overall summary and pie chart showing all revenues and spending. The State of Minnesota has an excellent template that they are using to explain the current budget shortfall at the State level http://budgetforum.senate.mn/?page_id=23
2. Each of the profit centers or revenue streams should then be broken down by source of income and expenses,by department. Some departments have their own source of revenue and others are from the “general fund.” Again, follow the State’s template;
3. A 5 and 10 year history of the overall spending broken down by
department and category;
4. A comparison of these items to neighboring communities and similar positioned communities in Minnesota;
5. What recommendations have been made by each individual department head;
6. A summary of all pay and benefit packages for employees;
7. A summary of each union contract, including key terms and duration. Is the individual union amenable to re-opening negotiations to address the short-fall and avoid lay-offs? Many unions are reopening contracts to implement salary freezes to avoid lay-offs.

The City administration for years has touted their desire to limit their reliance on local government aid and this is a chance to make good progress on that goal. Also, City leaders should recognize the importance of planning for growth. How can changes we make now, make us more competitive locally and regional in the years to come?

Politics CAN be interesting . . . and maybe even fun!

If you are even remotely interested in long-term public policy issues, this legislative session will be one for the record books. Politics seems boring to many, but mostly it comes down to what you pay attention to. This year, the size of the “budget deficit” distracts too many people from watching the real political maneuvering. As always, the significant and interesting issues are those occurring behind the scenes. If you want to appreciate my demented view of “fun” here are three epic battles that I will be watching this year:

1. Clean Water: In November, 2008, with a 56% yes vote, Minnesota approved a constitutional amendment adding 3/8% to the State-wide sales tax for Habitat, Clean Water, Parks and Trails and the Arts. For too many years, most of these issues were limited to policy discussions, always short on money. For the first time ever, clean water has some real funding coming in. I was recently at the Capital and there was a marked difference in the rooms where the new sales tax stream of revenue was being discussed (the “Happy Rooms”) and the rest of the Capital (the “Doom and Gloom Rooms”). There are two battles worth watching in this area. The first is the so-called “hook and bullet crowd” who have fought hard for many years to obtain funding for outdoor habitat and sports related issues. For them, this issue is about using the money for the objectives that they fought so hard for. They are vocal and almost militant about their objectives. The other power play is between the agencies (DNR and Board of Soil and Water Resources) and the non-profit, locally driven projects. The bureaucrats effectively argue that they have the experience and the infrastructure in place to put the money to good use. Argued just effectively, the locally driven organizations are lean and can quickly implement “shovel ready” projects that provide job creation and immediate environmental benefits.

2. Classrooms: What funding source provides the best education for our children? The powerful teacher’s union ($850,000 in expenditures in the 2008 election and in excess of 50 registered lobbyists) argues that increasing the existing funding formula is the answer. More funding provides better opportunities for all, they argue. In contrast, others argue that focusing the funding on classroom activities and teacher performance provides more bang for the buck.

The Governor’s Q-comp program is one example of an attempt to target resources towards teacher performance. In an opening salvo in this battle, the legislative auditor’s office recently released a report reviewing this program. http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/qcomp.pdf
While the report reads like constructive criticism, many are holding up the report to suggest that Q-comp is a bad program. What appears to be the most quoted conclusion of the report, “There is not sufficient evidence to determine the impact of Q Comp on student achievement”. Likewise, there is little to correlate increased teacher pay, or increased health benefits with better education for our children. As acknowledged in the State Auditor’s report, "it is difficult to disentangle the effects of Q Comp from other initiatives."

It appears that so long as criticizing the “teacher’s union” is associated with being against kids, little classroom reform will occur. There are now more teachers that are legislators than any other profession. When lawyers ruled the roost, all jokes were fair game. I long for the day when I can tell a good-hearted teacher joke and not be labeled a “bad dad”.

3. Welfare Reform: The largest spending category and the second largest general fund expenditure in the State Budget should be hard pressed to come out unscathed in this budget cycle. http://budgetforum.senate.mn/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/slide9.gif. The reform advocates have presented many proposals that they consider low hanging fruit; outright fraud, people moving to Minnesota to take advantage of programs and those using benefit cards in other states. Ending Minnesota’s “welfare magnet” label: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/21/welfare_reform/

Those against any reform argue that lowering our standards will allow people to fall through the cracks. They seem to argue that a few bad apples are worth it -- provided no one in need to goes without. So far, they seem to have maintained the moral high ground and continue to roll out more programs that will likely find popular support in today’s flailing economy and high unemployment.

The risk is that too many good intentions may cause the entire system to go bankrupt. It is unreasonable to expect ever increasing spending to be sustainable. Somehow, we must find a way to weather the storm and allow our economy to regain its health as quickly as possible. Finding middle ground in this area is necessary for this to occur. If you have an opinion or want to follow a true grass roots discussion – look here. http://budgetforum.senate.mn/?p=157

If you have an issue of interest, find the bill or proposed legislation you are interested in. There are then some tricks to following this legislation. First, go the State House or State Senate website at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/ or http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/. There, you will find many great tools to assist you. For example, you can look up education related bills introduced in the House – 53 separate bills. You can read any of the bills, a research summary and the current status of the bill. Try this link.
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_results.php?body=House&search=basic&session=0862009&location=House&bill=&bill_type=bill&rev_number=&keyword_type=all&keyword=&keyword_field_short=1&keyword_field_long=1&keyword_field_title=1&topic%5B%5D=1186&submit_topic=GO&titleword=

If you want to get updates on the status of your area of interest, you can subscribe to receive email updates from the committees themselves, or subscribe to email updates from key legislators on each of the committees. You will be surprised how much push and pull is occurring on each of these issues. Often, you can even watch the debates unfolding on-line. By following some of the key players and knowing their names and issues, you will also begin to recognize their names in the newspaper and can watch for in-depth coverage on issues that previously would have caused your eyes to glaze over.

If you really become a junkie, you can subscribe to the session weekly or session daily and get on-line updates. Likewise, there are countless blogs and special interest organizations that follow the details of many of these issues.

The long and short: politics can be interesting if you know how to identify and follow something that interests you. Good luck and have fun!

Something has got to give!

$4.8 Billion Budget Deficit for the State of Minnesota.

$700 billion bank bailout that may now cost $4 Trillion!
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/27/news/bigger.bailout.fortune/

Proposed $825 billion economic Stimulus Package.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama_economy

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to get a little worried. Can we actually print that much money?

Right now, most policy makers are pouring through the 258 page Federal economic stimulus bill to identify the line-item that applies to them. President Obama is driving his ice-cream truck around Capital Hill looking to pass a MASSIVE bill that has no remote relation to the "Pay-go" pledge of just 3 years ago. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/04/nation/na-taxes4

The size of these dollars and the long-term implications are too large for most of us to comprehend. It is way too easy to be infatuated by the size of the cut to each of our pet programs and focus on how to preserve our turf. We probably should be talking about what is going to happen after the ice-cream sugar high wears off.

I realized the magnitude of this issue tonight when a well respected business owner explained his gold investment strategy. As he explained it, gold is the fall back when a currency collapses. In fact, recommendations now are to invest in gold coins, not bullion -- to avoid a great-depression like repeat of government confiscation.
http://www.blanchardonline.com/beru/beru.php?article=255&title=Gold_Confiscation_-_What_Do_We_Really_Think?

This business owner justified his move by citing age and paranoia. I wonder whether it may be age and wisdom?

I am certainly not an alarmist and continue to keep my money in the stock market. Yet, the fact that I cannot get my arms around the magnitude of this problem concerns me. My instincts tell me that spending large amounts of money that we do not have is a bad thing.

At some point, something has got to give. When it does, our infatuation with individual turf issues will likely feel embarrassing. I fear reality may not win the day.

Farmers Feeding the Hungry!

With all the bad news, it is nice to focus on some good news.

The bad news? According to the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization, another 40 million people were pushed into the "hunger" category in 2008. The total number of undernourished people worldwide is now estimated at 907 million.

There is, however, a silver lining that is rarely talked about: U.S. Agriculture's role in helping to feed the hungry. American agriculture continues to tap increased technology, better animal care, better genetics and overall increased efficiency.

In America, we take for granted this sustainable model of producing more food per acre with less inputs per bushel. Our friends on the farm continue to push the envelope of efficiency every day -- better business models, better financing techniques, better seeds, better conservation of the soil, better control of weather-related factors, better weed control and more efficient use of fuel and inputs.

Starting in the 1940's, Norman Borlaug initiated the first "green revolution" and proved that historic steps in technology could feed the hungry. He developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease resistant wheat varieties that drastically increased yields around the world. His work earned him the Nobel Peace Prize and is credited with saving over a billion people from starvation.

Efforts to grow more with less continue: from the Albert Lea Seed House's creation of greater yields through organic production to the global commitment of Monsanto to double crop yields by 2030.

As a socially conscious world, we need to push and expect our agriculture sector to continue to get better at what they do. I recently received a pamphlet from America's Second Harvest, the "Nation's Food Bank Network." They challenge us, "How to make sure the land of plenty has plenty for everyone." Well said!

Too often, the trend for greater efficiency is misconstrued as "bigger" and therefore bad. American farmers have access to amazing opportunities to fill the stomachs of the hungry. We should do our part to help farmers to promote their crucial role in "Feeding the Hungry."

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: SETTING EXPECTATIONS

When an election is on the immediate horizon everyone has an opinion on what they expect from their candidates or ballot item. Letters flourish – tempers flare: and our local media is happy. After their vote hits the bottom of the ballot box, however, most citizens feel that they have fulfilled their civic obligation until the next election.

This past election, we were again bombarded with terms such as “historic election” and it became popular to have a short term interest in politics. On Election Day, numerous people commented to me, “big day today.” I responded that I thought every day was a big day for politics!

There is much more to civic engagement than a letter and a vote every other year. As a community, we need to constantly communicate our wishes and desires. Our public institutions and elected officials need to have expectations communicated to them with constant reinforcement. Upon the success or failure of the community expectation, praise or criticism may then properly be dispensed. The concept of “speaking at the ballot box” is too reactionary and quite frankly too slow. Thomas Jefferson warned us to not let our rulers keep us so busy that we didn’t have time to think and hold mismanagement to account.

The concept of “government accountability” only works if goals are established. Without proper expectations set, accountability is often morphed into a constant “gotcha” game of cat and mouse. Taking pot shots at elected officials does little to accomplish any actual results.

As an example, voters should expect that our local units of government will not repeat prior overly optimistic budget forecasts. In today’s economic climate, they should expect drastic cuts in the short-term and only minimal state funding increases in the long-term. Likewise, we should expect our city and county government to carefully leverage our tax base for more government good, not just more government.

On the flipside, good government communicates with the public what they hope to accomplish. The public should take seriously activities such as the bridge avenue corridor study, the cities’ capital improvements plan and the project list created by the Shell Rock River Watershed District. These planning activities are their attempts to establish community expectations.

Our community should set expectations of our government and not let the government tell us what our expectations should be. I sincerely believe that community driven expectations will be less, in terms of scope and costs, than if we let the government tell us what to expect.

Upon setting our expectations, we should constantly reinforce and reward them for fulfilling these goals. Officials should likewise expect and invite “feedback” (positive and negative) upon their failure to reasonably meet those expectations.

Appoint a Retrenchment Committee for Albert Lea

Open letter to Mayor-Elect Murtaugh:

Thank-you all for subscribing to my blog! I appreciate the opportunity to express my thoughts and comments in a format that is casual, yet publicly accountable. I believe it is important to be respectful, yet not be afraid to question generally accepted standards.

With that said, I have watched with interest the recent news coming from the State level. I respect the fact that the League of Minnesota Cities stepped up and issued their list of potential cuts to cities that MAY come forward. The numbers for Albert Lea are substantial!

http://www.lmnc.org/media/document/1/25_100million_cut_estimates.pdf

I happen to serve on the board of a state-wide legal aid organization that relies heavily upon funding from the State of Minnesota -- Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services. Without going into the great work that this organization does for those in need, I am most proud of this organization's ability to proactively respond to crisis. They strongly articulate their programs, but do not jump on the "poor us" bandwagon. At our most recent meeting, they appointed a "Retrenchment Committee." The goal of this committee is to carefully review our budget and recommend a series of scenarios of how we would respond to various levels of budget cuts. No-one wants to cut, but being prepared with responsible options seems beyond logical.

I suggest that you follow this lead and immediately appoint a citizen committee to carefully scrutinize the City budget and present a series of options for cuts. Use the Leagues' projected cut as the first tier, and a tier 5% greater than and a tier 5% less than that number. Most importantly, allow this committee to operate outside the sphere of influence of the staff and current council. This will not be a popular job and it is unfair to expect those with a vested interest in this year's budget to re-trench. The staff should be an available resource to this committee, as invited.

Set the expectations high and expect this committee to do a lot of heavy lifting to actually understand the complexities of the budget. Good luck!

The Beginning of the End of the Department of Agriculture!

I'm afraid that we are seeing the beginning of the end of the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA facilitates one of the largest sources of federal funding to Rural America. Under the new Obama administration, the trend of moving this funding source away from Rural America and to the population centers will undoubtedly be accelerated.

This week, an editorial from New York Times' columnist Nicholas Kristof entitled "How about naming a Secretary of Food," articulated this trend very clearly. Kristof states, "Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy – all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-kristof_13edi.State.Edition1.2a4e285.html

Kristof's editorial summarizes a long-time popular attack on traditional agriculture -- divert money away from USDA farm programs to food programs concentrated where the people are -- population centers. As argued by Kristof, only 2% of us are farmers, but 100% of us eat.


Kristof is no crackpot either -- he is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and former managing editor of the New York Times. His opinions would certainly be considered mainstream in today's media world.

My concern is that while this frontal assault is being waged, Rural America continues to perpetuate the problem. Traditional agriculture continues to cling to the last remnants of their turf and resist reforms that would be more marketable to mainstream America. At the same time, each sector of agriculture attacks the other as they continue to fight over an ever shrinking piece of the pie.

The rural town kids, not recognizing that one of the largest returns on their tax investment is being systematically torn down, continue to tell farmer jokes and beat their chests reciting the motto, "get rid of subsidy payments for factory farms". As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for, you may get it. The new "Department of Food" will eliminate payments to farmers... and to Rural America.

LETTER FROM THE 2006-2007 CHAIR OF THE ALBERT LEA/FREEBORN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

September 2007

Exactly one year ago, I started my term as Chair of the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors with a simple theme: “Promote, Promote, Promote!” I felt it was important to focus the efforts of our organization towards promoting the strength of our business community not only within our Chamber area, but also outside of our community. I am happy to report that we have made great progress in this area. Thank you to the wonderful Chamber staff that continuously make our success possible – Katie, Liz, Marcie and Tami – your energy is contagious. Also, I have had the opportunity to work with two very positive and energetic Executive Directors, Susie Petersen and Randy Kehr. Thank you!

The theme of this year’s Membership Celebration, “Raising our Community Profile” is the culmination of this year-long effort to focus the resources of your Chamber towards this goal. Without the tremendous support of our members, our organization would quickly fail. Rest assured that we value every member when they renew their annual dues and otherwise support our programs. We have worked hard in recent years to maximize your dues and to find other revenue sources.

As a result of these efforts, we are proud to announce that membership dues for the 2007 – 2008 year will not increase. This is the first time in many years we have been able to accomplish this goal. We do, however, continue to count on our members to support our programs and to help us to grow our membership roles. Not all local businesses recognize the importance of being a Chamber member, please help us to explain this to them to continue to expand our membership and our ability to promote the community.

I often hear the community nay-sayers comment that the Chamber is boring and doesn’t do anything for the community. I’m not sure where they have been in recent years, but they apparently have not been paying attention. The Chamber has successfully kept our community active by promoting the following: the Positive People program, the Gourmet Auction, the Farm Family of the year award, 3rd Grade Farm Tours, the 4-H Livestock Auction, the 3rd of July Parade, the Party for the Lakes, Eddie Cochrane Days, Career Day and the Annual Fireworks. Likewise, we are proud of our renewed partnership with the Big Island Rendezvous, which had a record-breaking year. I challenge any organization to try to beat the quality and quantity of these “community pride” activities. Our business community deserves kudos for their continued support of the quality of life in our area.

As for our programs, our long-time Housing Committee “graduated” this year and became independent of the Chamber and is now supported by the Albert Lea Housing Authority. Our long-time support of affordable housing in Albert Lea has paid huge dividends in addressing this important economic development issue. As always, the Chamber Ambassadors and the Chamber Lake’s Restoration Committee continue to host one quality event after another. Take the time to thank these volunteers for their hard work. Also, the Government Affairs committee hosted two legislative forums, the last one in July with three of the four State Legislative leaders in attendance and our greatest turn-out yet for a legislative forum.

To promote our community, it is important that we find ways to differentiate ourselves from others. We successfully promoted this concept by hosting another record breaking event in April of this year – “Celebrating our Green Community.” With the support of our Agriculture Committee, we rolled out the green carpet for over 400 guests from around the State for our Annual Agriculture Banquet, with Governor Tim Pawlenty as the keynote speaker.

The strength of our organization and our community depends on new energy and new ideas. In an effort to continue to develop future leaders, the Chamber has partnered with Riverland Community College to create our new “Leadership” program. Our inaugural class of 20 is currently completing their curriculum.

As a community, it is important that we promote a positive feeling inside and outside our community. In accomplishing this goal, we should strive to make our community more welcoming to families and minorities. We must have an available workforce for expanding or attracting employers. We must also foster a strong relationship with our local media and find a way to promote ourselves through media outlets outside of our community. Our business community is the key to setting the tone for community success. The Chamber is the catalyst to make this to happen. Together, we can continue to promote our community and “Raise our Community Profile.”

Why are they picking on small towns?

It is interesting that so many people in Hollywood think that being from a small town disqualifies a person from being smart -- or qualified to be President? Perhaps they should recognize that being a movie star does not qualify them as political experts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6urw_PWHYk

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The "Palin" Label

For the past few years, it has been extremely unpopular for many people to even admit that they supported or voted for a Republican candidate. Whether it was President Bush's coarseness, or the media's successful villainization of his Presidency, it has been very uncouth to openly admit your Republican credentials.

When I ran for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2006, my traditional support of Republican ideas was a huge attack point against me. I was given the scoundrel label along with our President, as our local campaigns were tagged with national unpopularity. This is the unfortunate, yet realistic side of politics. Individuals, however, tend to avoid unpopular labels and therefore avoided admitting that they were Republican, even if they supported Republican ideas.

It appeared that this year's campaign season would be a rerun of the 2006 election, as many pundits have been predicting another successful Democrat year in the voting booth. So long as it was unpopular to wear a Republican label, it would be difficult to generate support for Republican candidates.

In one surprise appearance, Sarah Palin appears to have brought a designer label back to Republican politics. Her small town, straight talk approach is a breath of fresh air for many who have been wearing the "independant" label. This is a huge turning point for those of us who wish to have a discussion about issues, not labels.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-ig-notebook7-2008sep07,0,7585060.story

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-dreher_07edi.ART.State.Edition1.26b4583.html

Vote for Common Sense

Next Tuesday, the City of Albert Lea appointed housing task force will vote on the, now much publicized, Rental Licensing Ordinance. After much discussion and hard work, the task force will be presented with at least two proposals for consideration – one from the City and one from the Landlord Association.

From a big picture perspective, we should all continue to recognize that we are in this together. Everyone at the table has an interest in making the community a better place. With that said, an agreed upon purpose that has been now been added to both versions of the ordinance reads, “To preserve and promote tax base growth throughout the City.” This stated purpose recognizes the need for balance.

According to the 2006 Maxfield Research Housing Analysis, 90% of the housing stock in Freeborn County was built prior to 1980. In Albert Lea, 46% of the housing stock was built in the 1950’s or earlier. It is unrealistic and almost arrogant to believe that this quantity of aged housing stock can be “made like new” by the symbolic passing of a “tough” ordinance with unrealistic timelines.

A better approach is to acknowledge the problem, identify the parties that can help solve the problem and then find a common solution. The City must recognize that they cannot legislate their way to prosperity. They can tell people to fix up property in as tough of a manner as possible. If it is economically not feasible to do so, however, that property will fall off the property tax roll and into blight.

The landlord proposal actually takes a reasoned approach in accomplishing the goals of the City. There are no differences between the proposals on the need for inspections and creating a good inventory of the rental housing stock in Albert Lea. The differences arise under the implementation of the program. It appears that the City cannot resist their use of the stick in accomplishing their goals.

The major areas of difference are summarized as follows:

1. Talk Tough Language. The City continues to include tough language and the criminalization of every technical aspect of the ordinance. The Landlord proposal recognizes that the ordinance is legally enforceable, but softens this approach;
2. Owner-Occupied Property. The City wishes to require a license for a “dwelling unit occupied by the Owner and rented or leased by more than one Occupant unrelated to the Owner.” Consider whether you know any unmarried individuals living together with their families? Licensing is required if they share expenses. How about the host families for the new hockey team?
3. Length of Provisional License. The Landlord proposal requests 9 months after they receive the results of the inspection. The City gives 6 months after the provisional license is issued. That’s right, if it takes 5 ½ months for the City to get the results of the inspection to you, you have 15 days to complete the upgrades. “Do not worry” the City will tell us: the Ordinance says that we “may” give you an extension. Unrealistic and unnecessary? I believe so.
4. Payment of Taxes and Utilities. How does requiring payment of taxes help tenants and improve the housing stock? It doesn’t, it just adds current tax dollars to the City’s revenue stream. In our discussions, it seemed that the City was agreeing that, so long as you had a payment plan in place for your taxes you would not be “delinquent” and they would issue the license. Their recent proposal, however, has gone completely the other direction. Now, they’ve added the word “unpaid” to the ordinance. Meaning all current and owing amounts (including taxes, utilities and other charges to the City) must be paid in full to get your license. If not, you must immediately evict your tenant or you’ve broken the law. While I do not advocate non-payment of taxes, the current system is set-up so that there is a substantial opportunity to work through tough times before you lose your property. The City’s attempt to short-circuit this process is mean spirited when you consider the large short-term investment they are asking some landlords to make.
5. Landlord and Tenant Registry. The City continues to indicate that they may implement a searchable system in the future, but that they do not want to be obligated to do so. At first, Landlords were told that a registry would be illegal. Yet, it was later discovered that the City of Rochester has an on-line system that is accessible by all licensed landlords. Providing access to this information to the tenants and the landlords seems like a no-brainer. If the City wants to hold everyone else accountable, a little bit of accountability in their direction seems appropriate.

Given this explanation, it is my hope that you will understand the frustration that has been voiced by the landlords. These changes are more about fairness, than about “fighting the inspections.” In fact, as the differences are compared side-by-side, it appears that the City is driven more by dollars and cents, rather than common sense. I advocate for common sense.

Matt Benda

Published in the Albert Lea Tribune on September 6, 2008

Proud Americans

Los Angeles -- Downtown??

What I pleasant surprise! I had always viewed L.A. as the symbol of excess in America. With Hollywood and all the glitz and in your face debauchery, to say I had low expectations for my visit to L.A. was a gross understatement.

My wife recently had a Rotary International convention there and we took, what prevailing wisdom considered, a chance and booked our hotel in the heart of downtown L.A. in Little Tokyo. What a great decision. The excitement, buzz and culture in this entire area was overwhelming.

The people were nice, the streets were clean and activities were everywhere. A short walk around town took from a sushi lunch with my wife (she then went to her convention), past a traditional Mexican dance and festival and into China Town. On my way back to the hotel, I wandered into a Catholic mission church and sat through mass in Spanish. The next day, we visited the fashion district, the toy district, the jewelry district and the garmet district -- people were everywhere.

The overwhelming observation I made was that L.A. was open and welcoming to all -- especially people celebrating their culture. After all, they have Little Tokyo, Little China, Little Italy ... the list goes on. Yet, to suggest that because these people celebrate their culture that they somehow are not "American" misses the entire point of L.A. This place is as American as it gets. These people are living life.

The only difference is they are choosing what it means to them to be American. Nobody will tell people in this community what it means to live -- after all isn't that the American dream? Watching the Celtics v. Lakers game at a sports bar in Little Tokyo confirmed it for me -- I am proud that there are so many people that are creating their own definition of what it means to be a "Proud American."

MEASURING COMMUNITY SUCCESS: Our Community’s Quality of Life

How do we measure what is good and bad for a community? Is it good if an elected official says so? Does the newspaper editorial committee get to decide? More likely a successful community action is one that is talked about with pride around the dinner table or the coffee shop circuit. In other words, we’ll know it when we see it.

The phrase “quality of life” is thrown around like candy at a parade when describing our community measuring stick. One of our community’s greatest strengths is the “causes” that are started and implemented. Our community is vocal and engaged. When an individual or group starts a project, the volunteers and money often follow. This is a great indicator of a vibrant community. Yet, these successes still seem random and spotty. If a group declares their cause a “quality of life” issue does that mean it is good for the collective community, or just that particular special interest group. Broader community objectives should be taken into account.

Our community is interconnected and resources are finite. There is a limit to how many causes any community can successfully support. Rather than quantifying quality of life from an individual basis, perhaps we should measure quality of life from a community perspective. We should promote our “community’s quality of life.”

The school district successfully used this approach in promoting the “yes/yes” vote on the referendum. The Albert Lea Medical Center also promotes this message: quality affordable health care is a good the entire community. Yet, both of these organizations have a symbiotic reliance on community success and growth. They must support each other to be successful. Likewise, individual businesses need to think beyond their “economic bottom line” in quantifying success.

Local governments must also recognize that their funding sources are finite. They continuously struggle with providing community “good” within their means. The trap for them is to avoid mistaking more causes as progress. Again, how to promote the community’s collective interests, not special interests or causes.

It sounds like a simple concept! However, recognizing the interconnectedness of our community activities can go a long way in measuring success and allocating our limited community resources.