Here is were you can read the speech that Mayor Ross made last night. It is fairly length so I am not going to post the whole thing here. As I comment I may use parts of it. http://www.ci.superior.wi.us/documents/Mayor/2009%20State%20of%20the%20City%20Address.PDF.
Look for more later today on the State of the City from Superior Mayor Dave Ross.
Showing posts with label State of the City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State of the City. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
The speech.
As you know the State of the City was last night. I had hoped for a little bit more from the Mayor. I agree in part with both councilor Stauber and council hopeful Scott Keenan. They were asked to comment to the the Duluth News Tribune.
Stauber said this:
“My reaction was, ‘Where’s the meat?’” said Councilor Jim Stauber. “I think the mayor could have made a speech on what direction the city was taking knowing full well he’s going to have a budget shortfall, knowing which services were going to be cut or trimmed. … He’s not a new mayor. He could have been much more specific.”
Keenan said the following:
What I liked about the speech was that there was hope,” said Scott Keenan, a candidate for the vacant City Council seat and president of Grandma’s marathon. “It was a positive, upbeat speech that provided hope of better things ahead.”
I believe the Mayor did lay out some positive direction to take the city. I agree with Mr. Keenan on that. You may not agree with what he said but it is the direction he wishes to carry the city. Now I like a number of thinks he said last night. I like the idea of possible selling the water and gas department. I however agree that we need to take a long hard look if it is the best thing to do. At least he is looking at it. This is positive.
I also like the idea he has had for some time for the zoological society to take over the zoo. This would help save money. He also said we need to look at all things the city provides and look at weather we should be doing it. I could not agree more.
I agree with council Stauber in part as well I had hoped the Mayor would have been much clearer as to how he was going to solve the budget crises facing the city. What are we looking at and what can be done about it. He should have let Duluth know what we could at least have a look out for in 2009. Here I thing he failed.
Now I think many us would look to what was done in 2008 and see that much of the same may be on tap for 2009. Yet many of the departments can not take any more cuts. This leaves many questions. One question is can we expect things to close? Will there be more combining of departments? Lay offs?
Your thoughts on the speech and the questions are more then welcome. Lets discuss.
Stauber said this:
“My reaction was, ‘Where’s the meat?’” said Councilor Jim Stauber. “I think the mayor could have made a speech on what direction the city was taking knowing full well he’s going to have a budget shortfall, knowing which services were going to be cut or trimmed. … He’s not a new mayor. He could have been much more specific.”
Keenan said the following:
What I liked about the speech was that there was hope,” said Scott Keenan, a candidate for the vacant City Council seat and president of Grandma’s marathon. “It was a positive, upbeat speech that provided hope of better things ahead.”
I believe the Mayor did lay out some positive direction to take the city. I agree with Mr. Keenan on that. You may not agree with what he said but it is the direction he wishes to carry the city. Now I like a number of thinks he said last night. I like the idea of possible selling the water and gas department. I however agree that we need to take a long hard look if it is the best thing to do. At least he is looking at it. This is positive.
I also like the idea he has had for some time for the zoological society to take over the zoo. This would help save money. He also said we need to look at all things the city provides and look at weather we should be doing it. I could not agree more.
I agree with council Stauber in part as well I had hoped the Mayor would have been much clearer as to how he was going to solve the budget crises facing the city. What are we looking at and what can be done about it. He should have let Duluth know what we could at least have a look out for in 2009. Here I thing he failed.
Now I think many us would look to what was done in 2008 and see that much of the same may be on tap for 2009. Yet many of the departments can not take any more cuts. This leaves many questions. One question is can we expect things to close? Will there be more combining of departments? Lay offs?
Your thoughts on the speech and the questions are more then welcome. Lets discuss.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Mayor's speech.
Here is the speech from the State of the City again I will have more tomorrow. I did notice and want to point out however that Mayor Ness could not stop him self from bringing up Obama.
Thank you, Councilor Reinert, and congratulations on your new leadership role. After five years of dedi-cated service as an elected city official, Councilor Reinert is about to become Representative Reinert, where as an elected state official he will continue to serve our community from St. Paul. Congratulations, Roger, and thank you for all you have and will do for
Duluth. I’d also like to recognize the service of two distinguished public servants for their lifetime of service to Duluth – Rep. Mike Jaros and Commissioner Bill Kron.
Councilors, I thank you each for your dedication to our city, and I look forward to working with you again in 2009. I also want to thank Amy Norris for once again providing her sign language talents to benefit our hearing-impaired viewers and for her work in coordinating this event. Thank you Amy.
2008 was a difficult year for our city, our state and our entire country. The national economy is in a re-cession, our stock market and credit markets are in turmoil, and our state faces a shortfall of more than five billion dollars.
However, there are opportunities to be found. Historically, we find during times of great uncertainty that the greatest change, the greatest growth, takes place. The future of our city depends upon our ability to seize the opportunity before us.
Today, we have the chance to choose a path that moves our community confidently from crisis to prosper-ity by successfully adapting to changing times, removing the outdated systems of a previous century, and adopting a shared commitment to reform and innovation for Duluth.
The budget crisis was our primary focus in 2008. It had to be. With a structurally imbalanced budget, we could no longer postpone the task of making serious cuts. In order to avoid annual multi-million dollar deficits, we had to move away from a strategy of simply surviving and hoping next year would be better. We needed to make fundamental changes to the structure of our budget to achieve a goal of long-term fiscal health.In addition to the structural problems, the City faced several major monetary losses – $6.8 million in state amortization aid, an unallotment of $1.7 million in Local Government Aid, and a loss of $2.3 million in a failed investment that we later learned was backed by sub-prime mortgages. These three factors alone accounted for $10.8 million of the now $20 million deficit that we were forced to overcome in ‘08 and ‘09.
All of these challenges forced the City of Duluth to make some difficult decisions that were unpopular with the citizens of Duluth – including myself. Believe me, I wish we didn’t have to make many of the decisions we made. But the circumstances made this decisive action necessary. I’ll stand by those un-popular decisions because they were made in the best interests of our city. And we’re beginning to see evidence that they’re working.
Our bond ratings were recently affirmed by both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, two firms that assess the financial viability of municipalities. Their renewed confidence in Duluth was largely based on our success in achieving over $18 million of budget recovery over the past 12 months. Progress hasn’t come easily – we’ve had to work for it and we should be proud of the accomplishment.
We’re moving forward, but the path before us is long. Our success depends upon our willingness to chal-lenge ourselves to do more, to do better – that’s a challenge I’ve given myself, to continually strive to do a better job as your mayor and to better serve our city.
Our success also depends upon our willingness to combat the forces that impede our progress. Unfortunately, I could spend every waking hour correcting misinformation, rumors, and inaccurate speculation on city issues. During a time of turmoil, we can’t afford these distractions.
In 2009, I call upon reform-minded citizens to have your voice heard. Our goal is not to discour-age disagreement or dialogue, but to raise the level of critical thinking, commitment to fact, and civil, ethical communication. Our community will be stronger when we give our attention to the constructive voices of reason who rise to advocate for solutions, reform and optimism about our ability to overcome our challenges.
I know most Duluthians love this City too much to see us fail either by inertia or by blunt force. Our spirit is not broken. In fact, 2008 has only strengthened our resolve to reform, and to earn a new prosperity for Duluth.
Many have already demonstrated their love and commitment by giving their time, energy, and initiative to an ever growing series of successes worth celebrating – not only for the results that we all enjoy, but more importantly for the power of residents to shape the future of our city.
The Heritage Sports Center is a shining tribute to our rich hockey history made possible by a committed group of volunteers who believe in Duluth. It’s a state-of-the-art facility that has given our Lincoln Park neighborhood renewed community pride as well as an economic boost.
The Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation, as part of their 25th anniversary, helped build a new $25,000 playground on Park Point.
“Duluth At Work” is a collaboration between the City and several community agencies to work with 80 low income individuals with one simple goal, to increase their income by 25% over a three year period by investing in their skills and abilities to make them more productive employees.
The volunteers with the Chester Bowl Improvement Club have taken responsibility for the ski hill, keep-ing this popular winter pastime accessible and affordable for Duluth families.
At next week’s Council meeting, we will have the opportunity to add to this list. The Lake Superior Zoological Society is poised to take over operations of our beloved zoo. We can ensure the continued health of the zoo and its animals, while also immediately putting $338,000 back into the city coffers to help balance the budget. I encourage the Council to approve this agreement next Monday.
2008 REFORM & INNOVATION
President-Elect Obama has often said, “You cannot address 21st Century challenges with a 20th Century bureaucracy,” and I couldn’t agree more. We must work to fix a flawed, overly-bureaucratic system, to use innovative methods to increase efficiency and accountability, and to give our best employees the support and the tools they need to provide great service to our residents.
In 2008, we began to plant the seeds of reform based on a commitment to the principles of service, innovation, and accountability that are beginning to transform city services. I’ll share with you just a few of the results of our efforts.
In the building safety office, our process improvement efforts have resulted in better customer service and a 31% reduction in permit cycle times.
Our commitment to an overlay and capping program resulted in 5.9 miles of improved roadways in 2009. This effort has allowed street crews to patch every other street and alley in Duluth at least once during the summer season - for the first time in more than 20 years.
We became one of the first in the nation to lease the unused capacity in our natural gas lines. This change could result in over a $1 million dollars in revenue that will be used to keep customer rates down.
We have undertaken the task of updating our existing zoning code and creating a new unified development code. It will include a streamlined development review and approval process to encourage investment and development in Duluth that is aligned with our city’s values.
At City Hall, we have consolidated departments to reduce overhead and made many other opera-tional reforms focused on improving service while reducing the cost of city government. I am proud of the efforts of our staff and thankful of their professionalism and dedication to service. It has been a very difficult year and they are deserving of our thanks.
2009 REFORM & INNOVATION
As we look ahead to 2009, we are facing the likelihood of losing millions of dollars in cuts to state aid. It is an unfortunate prospect, with daunting consequences. We will deal with those consequences as they become reality, but we can not allow those consequences to define our efforts in 2009.
We will not become captive to those factors outside of our control, but rather double our efforts to improve and find solutions within our own sphere of influence. 2009 will be a year of reform and innovation within Duluth’s city government. We set upon an ambitious agenda.
We will create Duluth’s first five year strategic plan for city finances and hire Duluth’s first Chief Financial Officer to lead the effort of achieving long-term financial stability. Each and every division of city government will create a comprehensive business plan that will help align services, manage resources, and measure progress more accurately.
We will reform the present cumbersome Civil Service personnel system to more quickly fill open positions, attract a broader range of potential applicants, and streamline a burdensome process that requires significant staff time to administer.
We will engage the community with a series of monthly neighborhood meetings. We’ll rotate through Council Districts twice a year to discuss neighborhood issues, noteworthy projects and initiatives happening in their district.
Later this month, we will engage our retired city employees in a vital discussion about the future of a health care benefit that is an increasing burden to our city. It’s my hope and expectation that a plan for a more sustainable benefit will emerge from that discussion.
We will implement a constituent work order system for residents to request service from their city government. Managers will have the ability to assign work, track response times, and costs.
Residents will be able to view the status of their request online.
We will be fully implementing a modernized Comfort Systems service and billing system during the first half of 2009 that will allow citizens to view and pay their bills online.
We will implement a GPS-based system to remotely manage city vehicles. The system, called field force management, will streamline job dispatching and reporting while reducing excess fuel use and vehicle wear from indirect routes, speeding, excess idling or unauthorized after-hours use. This system will greatly improve accountability.
We will conduct a comprehensive citizen survey as our key performance measurement on the service we provide to the public. The data collected will help us refine priorities and identify improvement strategies. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly recognize and thank our funding partners for our survey project, LISC and the SMDC Health System.
We will soon select an energy broker to consult on the potential sale of the Steam Plant and the Gas Utility. The sale of these assets could bring the city tens of millions of dollars, aiding us in our goal of long-term financial stability and providing the ability to move to a pay as you go capital program. While we are serious in our intent to explore these sales, it’s not a decision that will be made lightly.
Equally as important as the city’s specific actions, we must reform our expectations of what city government can and should provide and come to a realistic understanding of the cost of providing those services. We must also affirm and strengthen the expectation that city resources are well-managed, responsibly used, and accountable for the service provided.
This is an aggressive agenda that challenges the status quo. Some efforts will undoubtedly be controversial. I’m prepared for a vigorous and healthy debate. I am convinced that the successful implementation of these reforms will be an important part of our effort to become a more prosperous city.
As Duluthians, we must be deliberate in our intent to create prosperity in our city. We’ll create that prosperity when we take the best of our collective ideas and work together to make them happen. When we talk. When we listen. When we choose to be respectful of one another – especially when we disagree. When we care enough to take not only the first step – but to see our journey through.
Prosperity will not simply be “found” or given to us. We have to earn it.
Thank you, Councilor Reinert, and congratulations on your new leadership role. After five years of dedi-cated service as an elected city official, Councilor Reinert is about to become Representative Reinert, where as an elected state official he will continue to serve our community from St. Paul. Congratulations, Roger, and thank you for all you have and will do for
Duluth. I’d also like to recognize the service of two distinguished public servants for their lifetime of service to Duluth – Rep. Mike Jaros and Commissioner Bill Kron.
Councilors, I thank you each for your dedication to our city, and I look forward to working with you again in 2009. I also want to thank Amy Norris for once again providing her sign language talents to benefit our hearing-impaired viewers and for her work in coordinating this event. Thank you Amy.
2008 was a difficult year for our city, our state and our entire country. The national economy is in a re-cession, our stock market and credit markets are in turmoil, and our state faces a shortfall of more than five billion dollars.
However, there are opportunities to be found. Historically, we find during times of great uncertainty that the greatest change, the greatest growth, takes place. The future of our city depends upon our ability to seize the opportunity before us.
Today, we have the chance to choose a path that moves our community confidently from crisis to prosper-ity by successfully adapting to changing times, removing the outdated systems of a previous century, and adopting a shared commitment to reform and innovation for Duluth.
The budget crisis was our primary focus in 2008. It had to be. With a structurally imbalanced budget, we could no longer postpone the task of making serious cuts. In order to avoid annual multi-million dollar deficits, we had to move away from a strategy of simply surviving and hoping next year would be better. We needed to make fundamental changes to the structure of our budget to achieve a goal of long-term fiscal health.In addition to the structural problems, the City faced several major monetary losses – $6.8 million in state amortization aid, an unallotment of $1.7 million in Local Government Aid, and a loss of $2.3 million in a failed investment that we later learned was backed by sub-prime mortgages. These three factors alone accounted for $10.8 million of the now $20 million deficit that we were forced to overcome in ‘08 and ‘09.
All of these challenges forced the City of Duluth to make some difficult decisions that were unpopular with the citizens of Duluth – including myself. Believe me, I wish we didn’t have to make many of the decisions we made. But the circumstances made this decisive action necessary. I’ll stand by those un-popular decisions because they were made in the best interests of our city. And we’re beginning to see evidence that they’re working.
Our bond ratings were recently affirmed by both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, two firms that assess the financial viability of municipalities. Their renewed confidence in Duluth was largely based on our success in achieving over $18 million of budget recovery over the past 12 months. Progress hasn’t come easily – we’ve had to work for it and we should be proud of the accomplishment.
We’re moving forward, but the path before us is long. Our success depends upon our willingness to chal-lenge ourselves to do more, to do better – that’s a challenge I’ve given myself, to continually strive to do a better job as your mayor and to better serve our city.
Our success also depends upon our willingness to combat the forces that impede our progress. Unfortunately, I could spend every waking hour correcting misinformation, rumors, and inaccurate speculation on city issues. During a time of turmoil, we can’t afford these distractions.
In 2009, I call upon reform-minded citizens to have your voice heard. Our goal is not to discour-age disagreement or dialogue, but to raise the level of critical thinking, commitment to fact, and civil, ethical communication. Our community will be stronger when we give our attention to the constructive voices of reason who rise to advocate for solutions, reform and optimism about our ability to overcome our challenges.
I know most Duluthians love this City too much to see us fail either by inertia or by blunt force. Our spirit is not broken. In fact, 2008 has only strengthened our resolve to reform, and to earn a new prosperity for Duluth.
Many have already demonstrated their love and commitment by giving their time, energy, and initiative to an ever growing series of successes worth celebrating – not only for the results that we all enjoy, but more importantly for the power of residents to shape the future of our city.
The Heritage Sports Center is a shining tribute to our rich hockey history made possible by a committed group of volunteers who believe in Duluth. It’s a state-of-the-art facility that has given our Lincoln Park neighborhood renewed community pride as well as an economic boost.
The Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation, as part of their 25th anniversary, helped build a new $25,000 playground on Park Point.
“Duluth At Work” is a collaboration between the City and several community agencies to work with 80 low income individuals with one simple goal, to increase their income by 25% over a three year period by investing in their skills and abilities to make them more productive employees.
The volunteers with the Chester Bowl Improvement Club have taken responsibility for the ski hill, keep-ing this popular winter pastime accessible and affordable for Duluth families.
At next week’s Council meeting, we will have the opportunity to add to this list. The Lake Superior Zoological Society is poised to take over operations of our beloved zoo. We can ensure the continued health of the zoo and its animals, while also immediately putting $338,000 back into the city coffers to help balance the budget. I encourage the Council to approve this agreement next Monday.
2008 REFORM & INNOVATION
President-Elect Obama has often said, “You cannot address 21st Century challenges with a 20th Century bureaucracy,” and I couldn’t agree more. We must work to fix a flawed, overly-bureaucratic system, to use innovative methods to increase efficiency and accountability, and to give our best employees the support and the tools they need to provide great service to our residents.
In 2008, we began to plant the seeds of reform based on a commitment to the principles of service, innovation, and accountability that are beginning to transform city services. I’ll share with you just a few of the results of our efforts.
In the building safety office, our process improvement efforts have resulted in better customer service and a 31% reduction in permit cycle times.
Our commitment to an overlay and capping program resulted in 5.9 miles of improved roadways in 2009. This effort has allowed street crews to patch every other street and alley in Duluth at least once during the summer season - for the first time in more than 20 years.
We became one of the first in the nation to lease the unused capacity in our natural gas lines. This change could result in over a $1 million dollars in revenue that will be used to keep customer rates down.
We have undertaken the task of updating our existing zoning code and creating a new unified development code. It will include a streamlined development review and approval process to encourage investment and development in Duluth that is aligned with our city’s values.
At City Hall, we have consolidated departments to reduce overhead and made many other opera-tional reforms focused on improving service while reducing the cost of city government. I am proud of the efforts of our staff and thankful of their professionalism and dedication to service. It has been a very difficult year and they are deserving of our thanks.
2009 REFORM & INNOVATION
As we look ahead to 2009, we are facing the likelihood of losing millions of dollars in cuts to state aid. It is an unfortunate prospect, with daunting consequences. We will deal with those consequences as they become reality, but we can not allow those consequences to define our efforts in 2009.
We will not become captive to those factors outside of our control, but rather double our efforts to improve and find solutions within our own sphere of influence. 2009 will be a year of reform and innovation within Duluth’s city government. We set upon an ambitious agenda.
We will create Duluth’s first five year strategic plan for city finances and hire Duluth’s first Chief Financial Officer to lead the effort of achieving long-term financial stability. Each and every division of city government will create a comprehensive business plan that will help align services, manage resources, and measure progress more accurately.
We will reform the present cumbersome Civil Service personnel system to more quickly fill open positions, attract a broader range of potential applicants, and streamline a burdensome process that requires significant staff time to administer.
We will engage the community with a series of monthly neighborhood meetings. We’ll rotate through Council Districts twice a year to discuss neighborhood issues, noteworthy projects and initiatives happening in their district.
Later this month, we will engage our retired city employees in a vital discussion about the future of a health care benefit that is an increasing burden to our city. It’s my hope and expectation that a plan for a more sustainable benefit will emerge from that discussion.
We will implement a constituent work order system for residents to request service from their city government. Managers will have the ability to assign work, track response times, and costs.
Residents will be able to view the status of their request online.
We will be fully implementing a modernized Comfort Systems service and billing system during the first half of 2009 that will allow citizens to view and pay their bills online.
We will implement a GPS-based system to remotely manage city vehicles. The system, called field force management, will streamline job dispatching and reporting while reducing excess fuel use and vehicle wear from indirect routes, speeding, excess idling or unauthorized after-hours use. This system will greatly improve accountability.
We will conduct a comprehensive citizen survey as our key performance measurement on the service we provide to the public. The data collected will help us refine priorities and identify improvement strategies. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly recognize and thank our funding partners for our survey project, LISC and the SMDC Health System.
We will soon select an energy broker to consult on the potential sale of the Steam Plant and the Gas Utility. The sale of these assets could bring the city tens of millions of dollars, aiding us in our goal of long-term financial stability and providing the ability to move to a pay as you go capital program. While we are serious in our intent to explore these sales, it’s not a decision that will be made lightly.
Equally as important as the city’s specific actions, we must reform our expectations of what city government can and should provide and come to a realistic understanding of the cost of providing those services. We must also affirm and strengthen the expectation that city resources are well-managed, responsibly used, and accountable for the service provided.
This is an aggressive agenda that challenges the status quo. Some efforts will undoubtedly be controversial. I’m prepared for a vigorous and healthy debate. I am convinced that the successful implementation of these reforms will be an important part of our effort to become a more prosperous city.
As Duluthians, we must be deliberate in our intent to create prosperity in our city. We’ll create that prosperity when we take the best of our collective ideas and work together to make them happen. When we talk. When we listen. When we choose to be respectful of one another – especially when we disagree. When we care enough to take not only the first step – but to see our journey through.
Prosperity will not simply be “found” or given to us. We have to earn it.
Crowd.
There was a very low turn out at the State of the City speech tonight. I was bit surprised and that was shared by many people. While others were not.
I expected a smaller crowd then four years ago. When he delivered his first State of the City speech. This was the smallest crowd I have in the ten speeches I have been to. As I talked with people they thought it may have been a number of reason's. Some thought it may be an indication on how some feel the Mayor has done. When pressed about the issue they claimed that many union members may have stayed home. Many thought the weather yet it was not that cold nor was it snowing.
The crowd was also less respective it seemed to me. Well the Mayor no matter who it is will normally get 4-6 applause during the speech this one did not. He only received one during the speech. The Mayor also almost always receives a standing overseen when introduced he did not this time.
The whole evening was just a bit off it seemed and I am not sure why. I will have more on the speech tomorrow.
I expected a smaller crowd then four years ago. When he delivered his first State of the City speech. This was the smallest crowd I have in the ten speeches I have been to. As I talked with people they thought it may have been a number of reason's. Some thought it may be an indication on how some feel the Mayor has done. When pressed about the issue they claimed that many union members may have stayed home. Many thought the weather yet it was not that cold nor was it snowing.
The crowd was also less respective it seemed to me. Well the Mayor no matter who it is will normally get 4-6 applause during the speech this one did not. He only received one during the speech. The Mayor also almost always receives a standing overseen when introduced he did not this time.
The whole evening was just a bit off it seemed and I am not sure why. I will have more on the speech tomorrow.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Just a reminder.
State of the City is on Monday. It will take place at the DECC. The Mayor's speech will start at 6:30 pm, as the council meeting will take place first at 6pm.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Minnesota a swing state again this year?
The last two presidential election Minnesota was in the news a lot. As we were viewed as a swing or battle ground state. Well the state both times went the way we all thought it would Democrat. However President Bush has respectable numbers in the state.
This year it looked different. It looks as if Minnesota would get little to no exposer except for the Republican convention. Even that was put on hold the first night because of hurricanes. The numbers looked like the Democrat candidate Barack Obama was going to win the state handily. Just a month ago Obama was up in Minnesota by 15% points and was polling away with the state.
Then all of a sudden yesterday the Star Tribes poll has the two in a dead heat at 45% each. This again making Minnesota a battle ground state of the final 50 days of the election. The Republican candidate John McCain has make a huge effort to cut into the lead of Obama in Minnesota and it is clearly working. McCain has picked up support over the last month in almost every voting category. Young people, , men, women vote totals are all up in the last month.
This means you will see a huge increase of advertising, grass roots efforts and even possible more visits to the fine state of Minnesota by the candidates and or there VP picks. The next 50 or so days will be very interesting for Minnesota. What will be more interesting is will Minnesota vote for a republican for the first time in many years. I believe the last republican presidential candidate that was a republican to win the state was Richard Nixon.
This year it looked different. It looks as if Minnesota would get little to no exposer except for the Republican convention. Even that was put on hold the first night because of hurricanes. The numbers looked like the Democrat candidate Barack Obama was going to win the state handily. Just a month ago Obama was up in Minnesota by 15% points and was polling away with the state.
Then all of a sudden yesterday the Star Tribes poll has the two in a dead heat at 45% each. This again making Minnesota a battle ground state of the final 50 days of the election. The Republican candidate John McCain has make a huge effort to cut into the lead of Obama in Minnesota and it is clearly working. McCain has picked up support over the last month in almost every voting category. Young people, , men, women vote totals are all up in the last month.
This means you will see a huge increase of advertising, grass roots efforts and even possible more visits to the fine state of Minnesota by the candidates and or there VP picks. The next 50 or so days will be very interesting for Minnesota. What will be more interesting is will Minnesota vote for a republican for the first time in many years. I believe the last republican presidential candidate that was a republican to win the state was Richard Nixon.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
What was said at the Mayor's inaugural address.
Here is were I think Mayor Ness really failed the citizens of Duluth. As I said before I think that the speech lacked in what was going to happen over the next four years. Did he say some good things yes. What he did not do was back them up with how he at wanted to go about solving them or working the issues. Did he say things that I agreed with him on yes. Were there things said that I did not agree with as well. For sure there was.
Mayor Ness said was determent to keep our young people and family's here. He also said he was going to improve our parks and rec especially those in neighborhoods. This is great something I most defiantly agree with. The problem is he gave use no idea how he planned to do this.
He said he was going focus Duluth infrastructure as well. He said by the 2010 the street improvement fund would be doubled. This sounds great but is it? I have some questions about this one. I guess my first question is this. If the Mayor is looking to double the fund how does he plan to do this? Will it take away from other core services? Next would be, tell the year 2010 what can we expect for street improvements? Weill there be any? How much?
He also said he will work to update Duluth very old sewer system and stop over flows. Here again how and at what cost?
These are all things the citizens deserve to know. Yes I understand he has not been in office to fully understand how everything works. He must however have some ideas he would at least like to look at to solve these issues. Those should have been offered in his speech in my mind. We need to have an idea of were any Mayor is going to take us. We deserve to know if our taxes are going to go up or down or stay about the same as inflation.
I think you get the idea the speech lacked information. Very critical information Duluthains should know.
There was also one other thing in his speech that made me very uneasy. This I really wish he would have left out. He made a comment about his family and being able to balance that and being Mayor. It was a clear shot at Charlie Bell who made a comment during the election that people with kids need to make sure that they can run for Mayor. being Mayor is very time consuming. Now I don't agree with Charlie on this. Don had every right to run for Mayor.
Here is why it upset me on Monday night however. Mayor Ness said all along that he was not going to comment on the Bell comment and he was going to let it go. With the comment in his speech it make it clear that he was in fact the one pushing the attain to that issue.
Mayor Ness said was determent to keep our young people and family's here. He also said he was going to improve our parks and rec especially those in neighborhoods. This is great something I most defiantly agree with. The problem is he gave use no idea how he planned to do this.
He said he was going focus Duluth infrastructure as well. He said by the 2010 the street improvement fund would be doubled. This sounds great but is it? I have some questions about this one. I guess my first question is this. If the Mayor is looking to double the fund how does he plan to do this? Will it take away from other core services? Next would be, tell the year 2010 what can we expect for street improvements? Weill there be any? How much?
He also said he will work to update Duluth very old sewer system and stop over flows. Here again how and at what cost?
These are all things the citizens deserve to know. Yes I understand he has not been in office to fully understand how everything works. He must however have some ideas he would at least like to look at to solve these issues. Those should have been offered in his speech in my mind. We need to have an idea of were any Mayor is going to take us. We deserve to know if our taxes are going to go up or down or stay about the same as inflation.
I think you get the idea the speech lacked information. Very critical information Duluthains should know.
There was also one other thing in his speech that made me very uneasy. This I really wish he would have left out. He made a comment about his family and being able to balance that and being Mayor. It was a clear shot at Charlie Bell who made a comment during the election that people with kids need to make sure that they can run for Mayor. being Mayor is very time consuming. Now I don't agree with Charlie on this. Don had every right to run for Mayor.
Here is why it upset me on Monday night however. Mayor Ness said all along that he was not going to comment on the Bell comment and he was going to let it go. With the comment in his speech it make it clear that he was in fact the one pushing the attain to that issue.
Monday, January 07, 2008
State of the City speech.
Fist I need to say this. I consider Mayor Ness to be a great friend. We may not always in fact offend agree on politics but that is okay. Politics should never stand in the way of a friendship in my eyes.
The Mayor and I grew up right next door to each other. We played all the time, we shared great times and I think we still do and can. When we talked tonight we expressed how we have always been very pleasant with each other. He also expressed how sometimes when I write he does not think it is always nice. I am always willing to listen if anyone including Mayor Ness wants to know why I said something the way I did just ask. Emailing is the best way to get a hold of me duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com .
There is only two people that are not allowed two post. I think they know who they are. This is because of the they conducted them self's.
Now onto what this is suppose to be about the speech from tonight. I thought it was a very good speech. The intend of the speech was to energize the city and the people in the room. It delivered in an up lifting way. To me the the speech was much like a coach giving a big pep-talk to his team.
I think the intend was of the speech was very successful. After the speech was over I talked to many people and they had nothing but good things to say. At least most people did.
The content that was good for his political view. If you agree with his vision or not at this point does not matter. It was very much along the lines he wants to move this city.
If I was to grade the speech I would give it a B.
Next I will get into what was said and if I like that as much as the deliver of the speech.
The Mayor and I grew up right next door to each other. We played all the time, we shared great times and I think we still do and can. When we talked tonight we expressed how we have always been very pleasant with each other. He also expressed how sometimes when I write he does not think it is always nice. I am always willing to listen if anyone including Mayor Ness wants to know why I said something the way I did just ask. Emailing is the best way to get a hold of me duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com .
There is only two people that are not allowed two post. I think they know who they are. This is because of the they conducted them self's.
Now onto what this is suppose to be about the speech from tonight. I thought it was a very good speech. The intend of the speech was to energize the city and the people in the room. It delivered in an up lifting way. To me the the speech was much like a coach giving a big pep-talk to his team.
I think the intend was of the speech was very successful. After the speech was over I talked to many people and they had nothing but good things to say. At least most people did.
The content that was good for his political view. If you agree with his vision or not at this point does not matter. It was very much along the lines he wants to move this city.
If I was to grade the speech I would give it a B.
Next I will get into what was said and if I like that as much as the deliver of the speech.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Ness won't deliever a normal State of the City. .
This caught my eye in the paper. I thought well okay, it is hard for him to deliver a State of the City when he has not even taken office as of yet.
I have not read the complete story yet. They story said in the first part that Ness will talk about his vision for the city and a wide range of topics. DUH.. this is what the State of the City in part about. I don't think this State of the City will be much different then most.
The State of City will happen tomorrow night. Held at the DECC if you pan on going.
I will have a recap of the State of the City address on Tuesday.
I have not read the complete story yet. They story said in the first part that Ness will talk about his vision for the city and a wide range of topics. DUH.. this is what the State of the City in part about. I don't think this State of the City will be much different then most.
The State of City will happen tomorrow night. Held at the DECC if you pan on going.
I will have a recap of the State of the City address on Tuesday.
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