All posts in the topic Coleman gives $5,000 raise to director after overspending his budget by $4.2 Million (Short link)
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- There are 16 posts — by 14 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Chris Rybisky at May 08 22:24 UTC
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| Andrew Hine | statue-of-liberty.jpg | May 08 18:04 UTC |
Hi All, Mayor Chris Coleman recently approved a $5,000 raise for the Director of Public Works after a recent annual review of his job performance, putting the director's salary at $115,000. This action by the mayor comes after the director of Public Works overspent his budget by $4.2 million. A link to a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune is: http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/18715359 and St. Paul Pioneer Press: http://www.twincities.com/ci_9175487 The public works right-of-way fund was overspent by Public Works by a tune of $3.5 million in 2007. This shortfall increased to $4.2 million because of a drop in revenues and increased energy costs. I have major difficulty in rewarding a department head for overspending his budget by over $4.2 million. This is taking money away from other areas of the city during very hard economic times. Some solutions that are being looked at in addressing this shortfall: 1. Seal-coating of streets every 10 years instead of every eight years is expected to save about $450,000. 2. Administrative spending cuts are expected to save about $100,000. 3. Eliminating the phone system that alerts residents of snow emergencies is expected to save $50,000. 4. Sweeping of arterial streets 10 times a year instead of 16 is expected to save $300,000. 5. Putting off the purchase of new equipment is expected to save about $430,000. 6. Plowing when snow depth reaches 4 inches instead of 3 inches. This will only create a road safety hazard. The city council wants the downtown streets swept so they are eliminating alley repaving and lawn mowing. The overall maintenance of our streets will be less. Cutting back on the maintenance of physical property in the city will cost the city in the long run. The failure to maintain and do simple preventative maintenance is vital to keeping our roads in good condition. Playing catch up later will only cost the taxpayers more in the end. Additionally, what is the rest of the nation going to see in late summer when the RNC comes to town (I would be saying the same thing if the DNC came to town)? I will be greatly embarrassed if our city looks dirty and trashy to the rest of the nation. Is this the best we can do here in St. Paul? Council Member Pat Harris is 100% correct when he says the budgeting system really needs to be fixed. Errors like this force cuts to services in other areas of the city that are important to people. “Beese, an appointee of Mayor Chris Coleman who has an accounting background, said it was his fault. "We let you down last year, and ultimately I take full responsibility, especially for the Right of Way Maintenance Fund," he said.” (Pioneer Press) Now mayor Coleman is giving Beese a $5,000.00 raise. What is wrong with this picture? It looks like mayor Coleman is rewarding a friend and this raise is NOT based on his performance. Maintaining our roads is vital to maintaining the health of our city. These are basic city services and by cutting back on basic maintenance for our roads by our city is the wrong way to go. Mayor Coleman is sending out the wrong message to other city department managers by rewarding this manager after he overspent his budget and this is just plain wrong. What mayor Coleman is saying is, if you overspend your budget by $4.2 million we are still going to reward you with a $5,000.00 pay raise. This is simply the wrong message for mayor Coleman to be sending out. Sincerely, John Krenik Highland Park, St. Paul, Minnesota
How damn easy it is for you to ignore #7! Wake up and smell the blood, John. Where, oh where, are your priorities? Is cold, hard cash the only thing of value to you? What's that saying about a noisy gong? You remind me of it. Taxpayers in St. Paul, Minnesota have paid $602.8 million for the Iraq War thus far. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided: 173,410 People with Health Care for One Year OR 691,943 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR 13,223 Public Safety Officers for One year OR 9,486 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR 65,716 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR 40 New Elementary Schools OR 3,850 Affordable Housing Units OR 199,912 Children with Health Care for One Year OR 87,453 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR 10,331 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR 6,969 Port Container Inspectors for One year from http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home Andrew M. Hine 3M IATD Industrial Adhesives & Tapes Division 3M Center 230-1F-35 St. Paul MN 55144-1000 USA <email obscured> Tel: (651) 733-1070 Fax: (651) 737-2003 "John Krenik" <<email obscured>> 05/07/2008 07:36 AM Please respond to "St. Paul Issues Forum" <<email obscured>> To "St. Paul Issues Forum" <<email obscured>> cc Subject [SPIF] Coleman gives $5,000 raise to director after overspending his budget by $4.2 Million
Mr. Hine you seem to have forgotten that we are at war with people who want to
KILL each and every one of us. And they are willing to die in the process!
The St. Paul taxpayers are gladly spending $600 + million to keep the war over
there. We have seen that when the war is on our soil downtown New York City was
decimated, the Pentagon building was nearly destroyed, and 3000+ people were
murdered. And that was in just one day.
Do you want that in downtown St. Paul? Imagine if the Excel Center was filled
with a deadly gas on a hockey night, or a jumbo jet flew into the Capital
building while the legislature was in session, or a propane truck was ruptured
then blown up in the middle of 7th Street at noon and a half dozen city blocks
of buildings and people were gone.
All of the things you listed would be the absolute last spending priorities on
our minds.
Dean Sheldon
Dean wrote: The St. Paul taxpayers are gladly spending $600 + million to keep the war over there. Took me a bit to realize this was not a joke. So many of the responses I would like to note do not involved St. Paul, so rather than dissecting the absurdity of the nation's current strategies involving international security, I will focus on St. Paul. If you accept the premise that we, in St. Paul, are in imminent danger to terrorist attacks (to predict a Cheney speech in 3 months: St. Paul will be blown up if any Democrats are elected to office), then we should be preparing by investing heavily in first responder training and readiness as well as ensuring our hospitals are ready for a massive influx of patients. Unfortunately, the city is struggling to maintain our first responder readiness in the face of cuts to LGA. Sadly, I suspect, the money we have let leave our city to send American troops to die in a civil war we created in a region that was not supporting the terrorists that gunned for us, has left us considerably more vulnerable to the many more terrorists we created through our moronic international policies. Regardless of whether St. Paul is attacked or not, investing in first responders is a good strategy because of the ancillary benefits we get from fast responses to fire and medical emergencies as well. Even if the terrorists never target us, natural disasters may - and being prepared for any disaster offers more bang for the buck than a Yee-haw foreign policy conducted by fools better at winning elections than governing. Christopher Mitchell Dean Sheldon wrote: > Mr. Hine you seem to have forgotten that we are at war with people who want to KILL each and every one of us. And they are willing to die in the process! > > The St. Paul taxpayers are gladly spending $600 + million to keep the war over there. We have seen that when the war is on our soil downtown New York City was decimated, the Pentagon building was nearly destroyed, and 3000+ people were murdered. And that was in just one day. > > Do you want that in downtown St. Paul? Imagine if the Excel Center was filled with a deadly gas on a hockey night, or a jumbo jet flew into the Capital building while the legislature was in session, or a propane truck was ruptured then blown up in the middle of 7th Street at noon and a half dozen city blocks of buildings and people were gone. > > All of the things you listed would be the absolute last spending priorities on our minds. > > Dean Sheldon > > Dean Sheldon > St. Anthony Park, St. Paul > Info about Dean Sheldon: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/deansheldon > > This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/78a9F29s7Rrbpn0sX0Mu4L
Although we've gotten fairly far afield from the original topic, at
least folks are (for the most part) keeping the discussion of the war
in the context of its effects upon St Paul. If this discussion
continues, please make sure that the local context is kept as the
primary focus of posts.
Thanks!
Rick Mons
Forum Manager
Thanks Dean for reminding us.
See, I forgot that it was Iraq who attacked us on 9/11. I forgot the clear
connections between Ossama Bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein. I forgot that Iraq has
the know-how and possession of weapons that can reach us. I forgot that Iraq
has WMDs. I forgot that our mission wasn't accomplished five years ago. I
forgot that this administration did not lie to us over 900 times on the war in
Iraq. I forgot that the reason for us being there has not changed six times. I
forgot how we caught Bin Ladin. I forgot how this war has made us safer. I
forgot how Al Qeada has been decimated by us and they are not bigger, stronger
and in more parts of the world than they were before the invasion of Iraq. I
forgot we have a clear mission in Iraq with a clear exit strategy. I forgot
that our actual enemies are not being ignored in other regions. I forgot that
the war is paying for itself as promised. I forgot how cheap oil has gotten
since we took over Iraq. I really forgot
how popular this war has been with St Paulites to the point that when our
Mayor supported the President and this war, he was re-elected by a record
number.
Yeah, I'm a bit forgetful in my 30's. Good thing you're here to remind us of
what we are willing to spend our tax dollars on. Thanks, Dean.
Eric Mitchell
payne-phalen
Apparently Eric's post and mine crossed in the mail. Unfortunately,
Eric's post is an example of what is not acceptable under the rule of
"keep it local."
Folks who want to debate the need for the war can do so on plenty of
other venues ... the focus here needs to be on St Paul and any
discussion of the war needs to have that local context.
Rick Mons
Forum Manager
Dean,
I guess we should just give up on life and cower in our basements in fear.
Keep your guns ready, thar'r vamints out thar.
Your post is an insult to all St. Paulites. We deserve an apology from you
especially for insulting the intelligence and capabilities of both our local
(St. Paul, Ramsey Co, and State) enforcement agencies as well as our
national ones (FBI and Homeland Security).
Any attack in St. Paul, similar to 9/11 in New York, will be mounted from
within the US and most likely from within the Twin Cities. Yet, you in your
screed, accuse our security and inteligence services of being negligent in
their efforts, of being asleep at the wheel. If anything was learned from
9/11, it was that keeping awake and aware are paramount.
Mike Schoenberg
MacGroveland
On Wed, 7 May 2008, Dean Sheldon wrote:
> Do you want that in downtown St. Paul? Imagine if the Excel Center was
> filled with a deadly gas on a hockey night, or a jumbo jet flew into the
> Capital building while the legislature was in session, or a propane
> truck was ruptured then blown up in the middle of 7th Street at noon and
> a half dozen city blocks of buildings and people were gone.
What if space aliens were to force-feed us Pronto-Pups? Not just once, but
every third Tuesday?
What if giant three-legged pigs with diahhrea were to fly back and forth
along West 7th? Over your house? Over Gov Pawlenty?
Imagine Monty Python's Hell's Grannies terrorizing respectable citizens by
riding their motorcycles all over respectable lawns? (I know, I
know, kids read this forum, but if we don't talk about it, who will?)
Mike,
I do not cower in my basement. In fact I try to embrace all life can offer. But
I try to be always alert. I am prepared. I do keep my musket loaded. I keep my
powder dry. I keep my cellar stocked. And I expect my neighbors to be similarly
prepared. Together we are the militia that will protect ourselves, our
families, our neighborhood, and our city. In an instance of crisis, the police
are not the ones I will depend on.
Stating it is better to fight a war on the enemy's soil rather than our own is
not insulting to anyone. There are many good people working in all levels of
our governments. I know my son was fully competent when he served in Iraq.
However based on recent history, I certainly question their combined abilities.
These include such national examples as the failure to prevent or mitigate
9/11, entering into an undeclared war based on premises that were totally
wrong, or an absolute failure at all levels surrounding hurricane Katrina. I
could elaborate and list many more but I am supposed to keep this local to St.
Paul.
I know since 9/11 our city officials have not made a focused priority to ferret
out ALL illegal aliens, arrest them, detain them, and deport them out of our
city. In fact, it is my understanding our local police still are specifically
forbidden to question the US citizenship of those they encounter. We won't
even require a photo ID in order for someone to vote. But by gory, now we'll
pull you over and fine you $50 if you aren't wearing that seatbelt! You are
right in that any attack will be mounted from within. And because of the
failure of our government officials (at all levels) to enforce our immigration
laws, you have no idea that the person five desks over or the person putting on
your neighbor's roof is a not US citizen. Consequently, you have know idea if
the reason he is here is to better his life or to end your life! Don't forget
one of the terrorists associated with 9/11 was taught how to fly a jet plane
right here in the Twin Cities right along side a classroom full of others
wanting to be pilots.
Until this situation is corrected, I don't feel I owe our city officials any
apology.
Dean Sheldon
SAPark
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Schoenberg
To: St. Paul Issues Forum
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: [SPIF] Coleman gives $5,000 raise to director after overspending
his budget by $4.2 Million
Dean,
I guess we should just give up on life and cower in our basements in fear.
Keep your guns ready, thar'r vamints out thar.
Your post is an insult to all St. Paulites. We deserve an apology from you
Dean said: "And because of the failure of our government officials (at all
levels) to enforce our immigration laws, you have no idea that the person
five desks over or the person putting on your neighbor's roof is a not US
citizen. Consequently, you have know idea if the reason he is here is to
better his life or to end your life!"
I'm going to have to pop out of lurker status to call BS on this. I'm
pretty sure that citizenship isn't the primary determining factor when it
comes to people wanting to kill me or not. I'm not sure that you, or anyone
I don't know personally is working to better their life or end mine.
Arguing that one the consequence of the other is ham-fisted. And, honestly,
I want the cops to be working catch the bad guys- documented or
undocumented- not "ferreting" out people based on where they're supposed to
be living.
But to bring this back to a St. Paul issue, one of the many valid reasons
police officials support so-called "separation ordinances" is that they
actually promote public safety. I think it's fair to separate public safety
issues from immigration issues.
Furthermore, I want my neighbors to feel free to call the cops if they see
me or my wife in trouble- whether or not they're citizens. I want them to
know that they're going to get help if they're in a bad situation. I don't
think you're suggesting there should be two levels of public safety
enforcement- one for folks who have the right paperwork and another for
those who don't. That's not an acceptable way to run a community.
You know, Dean, you don't trust your neighbors, you don't trust the people
putting on your neighbors' roof, you don't trust the people 5 desks away,
you don't trust the police or the people at all levels of government.
When it's time to form your militia, how do you know who's going to be on
your team?
-atom
On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 9:05 AM, Dean Sheldon <<email obscured>>
wrote:
Dean you are right we are less safe in St. Paul. But its not due to the war in Iraq. Nor is it due to the Preaching of Hate by some leaders in a religion you don't believe in. Although, each could cause us harm. Yes someone could gas the Xcel Center. One person can do a lot of damage if they wanted to. There is no amount of protection money can buy that will save us if a single person, or even a small group of people who want to inflict major damage or injury on the Citizens of St. Paul. Timothy McVieh proved that. To suggest that we are less safe in St. Paul because of the attack of 9/11 is ludicrous. We are less safe because this administration, along with its adherents and the tactics of Karl Rove has operated in secrecy when it created its energy plan, when it out sourced through no bid contracts many of the services required to fight the unnecessary war. We all the money the friends of Bush have made as a result of this war, I don't think 9/11 did anything but to give this administration a talking point to argue we needed to invade Iraq. We are less safe because of ourselves and what our leaders have done to us. We are less safe, when St. Paul cannot properly provide protective equipment for emergency responders because our governor refuses to do his job for the sake of a potential spot on a national ticket. We are less safe because St. Paul cannot properly operate with the failed promises of the current and past state three administrations. We are less safe because some have this attitude that a temporary budget surplus belongs to the taxpayers and returns it without considering what to do the next time we have a budget deficit. We are less safe because we went to war without properly equipping our military and without a decent plan for dealing with all the possibilities the occurred during our invasion. We are less safe, because of the idea that we need a National ID system. We are less safe now that the Supreme Court ruled that it is legal for a state to require its citizens to pay a poll tax in the form of government issued identification required to vote. We are less safe because some of us think that they shouldn't have to pay taxes to properly educate our children or provide for quality higher education. We are less safe because we can't repair our city streets and infrastructure due to demands to keep taxes low. We are less safe because we are think its better for our Corporate Boards and officers to make enormous amounts of money by making sure to keep the wages of their employees down either by shipping jobs oversees or demanding they pay for their own health care. We are less safe because we allow foreign corporations to buy our companies while most foreign governments forbid that practice. We are less safe because we use our tax dollars to build work places for the rich professional sports owners and monuments to material greed. We are less safe because the leaders of our government for the last 28 years has ignored our Constitution, failed to properly enforce our laws or outright violated our laws and our Congress has refused to do anything about it. We are less safe because many voters are one issue voters who think voting for a candidate who supports their belief will work toward that belief. To make sure you correctly remember why St. Paul has sent its men and women to fight in an illegal war, lets look at the facts. We were attacked by a group of men under the influence of one man. HE and these men are mostly Saudi's. He is holed up in Pakistan. Yet we are not looking for HIM. Nor are we fighting the Pakistani's or the Saudi's. They happen to be our allies. In fact, we even flew members of the family of this one man out of this country after 9/11. We are fighting a war in Iraq because the pretender to the throne wants to be recognized as a great President and finish the job he think his father didn't do. Since 9/11 we have been bombarded by fear speech from this Administration and lemmings who think the best way to preserve out democracy is to take it away from us. We are less safe because this administration and its supporters in office and out of office want you to be afraid. President Roosevelt said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. This administration is doing all it can to make us fear. Posts like yours shows me, at least, that if you say something enough times someone is bound to believe it even if the statement is false. Yes we are less safe in St. Paul since 9/11. But its not because 19 men took over four planes with the intent to crash them into buildings. We are less safe in St. Paul because we spend millions of taxpayer dollars to search everyone who walks into most government buildings and many other buildings open to the public. Remember none of these security efforts is going to stop someone who wants to do harm to people or structures. Yes it is better to be safe than sorry, but at what cost? Dean Sheldon <<email obscured>> wrote: Mr. Hine you seem to have forgotten that we are at war with people who want to KILL each and every one of us. And they are willing to die in the process! The St. Paul taxpayers are gladly spending $600 + million to keep the war over there. We have seen that when the war is on our soil downtown New York City was decimated, the Pentagon building was nearly destroyed, and 3000+ people were murdered. And that was in just one day. Do you want that in downtown St. Paul? Imagine if the Excel Center was filled with a deadly gas on a hockey night, or a jumbo jet flew into the Capital building while the legislature was in session, or a propane truck was ruptured then blown up in the middle of 7th Street at noon and a half dozen city blocks of buildings and people were gone. All of the things you listed would be the absolute last spending priorities on our minds. Dean Sheldon Dean Sheldon St. Anthony Park, St. Paul Info about Dean Sheldon: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/deansheldon This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/78a9F29s7Rrbpn0sX0Mu4L
Why would a terrorist gas The Team of 17,999 when they could kill more at the Sprawl of America, and destroy 371,000,000 American dollars in the process? They don't hate hockey - they hate mass consumption, among other things. Will we ever take a look at ourselves and ask "How can we be less annoying?"? I don't know about you, but if my wife were to ever get upset with me and express it in a hypothetical fit of rage, I like to think I would try to make amends, not beat the living sh!t out of her. But I guess good countries don't act like good husbands... As for immigrants in Saint Paul, I can't believe I haven't been murdered by a corporate custodian yet! e-GUARD!!! O Dios mio - ella tiene un PLUNGER!!! A Hine Ward Two PS If you overhear immigrants conspiring to blow us up so they can have free meals and shelter in perpetuity, but you can't understand what they're saying, try http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en You can also use these language tools (translators) to communicate things like "Happy birthday, Jorge - let me scrub that urinal for you today, my friend" or "Don't scratch my lucking fuggage, Ahmed."
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I'm fairly certain, that we could find copious amounts of research to back
up my statement which follows: you have a much greater chance, Mr. Sheldon,
of getting your head blown off or otherwise lose your life, due to some
idiot born and bred in the good ole US of A, then somene who is not a US
citizen.
caty royce
still missing selby, but yet again loving bancroft
On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 9:05 AM, Dean Sheldon <<email obscured>>
wrote:
Just curious - what is this line of debate accomplishing? Do
participants feel better about having a chance to vent? Has anyone been
able to use info shared in a way that helped improve how the city
functions?
Increasingly I wonder what this forum accomplishes in terms of improving
the quality of life for people in St. Paul. Perhaps it is enough for
some people to have a chance to argue with eachother. But it does take
time - time that might be spent meeting with city council members, state
legislators, tutoring a child, etc etc.
Joe Nathan
Highland Park
I just think it's nice that al quaeda (http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/goldstein.html) view us as fly-over land and that our wonderful little city by the river can live in beautiful harmony with the Mill City/City of Lakes/MinniApple/Whatever. Giving a raise to the director of a department that is millions in the hole may seem wrong, but maybe we are just being protected from what we small little people are unaware of. Isn't that what we pay our taxes for? To make sure our government takes care of us and loves us and does all of the things we are too lazy or dumb to do? And, don't our public servants deserve the right to take in over $100,000/YR for the opportunity of serving us? I know that's why I would get into the public sector (to make money). God knows my wife hauls in the big bucks teaching kids in North Minneapolis - we usually have to call an armored car if we want to cash her check. I, for one, am happy to pay too mu...the right amou...not enough to make sure that my government views its security and privacy above anything else. Do we REALLY want to be speaking Russi...Chines...Arabic? "Duck and Cover" was good enough for the 1950s and it was cheap and clearly a successful security strategy to defeat the Soviet threat (not one Russian a-bomb hit our fair city). I say, teach your kids...DUCK...and CO-VER! While we are on it...WHY OH WHY can we NOT get into Boca Chica for dinner on Friday nights?!?!? We've been trying for a while and dog gone it I don't want to have to make reservations. La Cucaracha is just as bad. Ya try and try to eat local...keep the money in the city and dagnabit of other people don't try and beat us to the punch...grrrr. Chris Rybisky Cookin' up My version of Mexican food in: Cathedral Hill
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