Gotta say here that Mitch makes some excellent points. Especially the part
about taxes going up and services going done. Amd the part about how other
surrounding cities seem to be doing a much better job at this. I'm not a
Democrat or a Republican and party affiliation doesn't really matter when you
find your ass careening into another vehicle because the City of StPaul can't
get the basics right.
Fix the damn problem Saint Paul.
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 7, 2013, at 3:21 AM, Mitch Berg <<email obscured>> wrote:
> Mike,
>
> You note very correctly that those who "would cut taxes or government
services" are odd ones to question why government services are done badly. And
of course since our taxes have fallen, that's certainly an issue.
>
> Except our taxes haven't fallen. They've actually risen astronomically in the
past eight years.
>
> Mike also points out that chemicals have problems in this weather, and that
everyone's going to have trouble clearing this kind of snow and ice.
>
> Except if you drive to Roseville, or Woodbury, or Bloomington, or even large
swathes of hapless Minneapolis, the roads are passable and safe, while here in
good ol' Saint Paul they're a mess. Try this little experiment. Drive north on
Snelling, or Lexington, or Dale. Note the bumpy twitchy feeling in your wheel,
and the dread in your heart. Then cross Larpenteur, and watch those feelings
disappear. Then try to figure out the difference. I'll be back tomorrow to
help.
>
> Finally, Mike says elected officials can't do anything about the the problem,
except charge more taxes and buy more equipment.
>
> Then why have them? In a one-party city, "elections" are really just a
formality anyway. There really isn't much point to having them, is there? The
city's legislative branch could easily be eliminated - perhaps just replaced
with the DFL's executive committee!...
>
> No. The problem isn't that elected officials can't change things. It's that
THESE elected officials spend the exorbitant tax dollars they collect (from us,
and from the rest of the state via Local Government Aid and other state
money-laundering schemes) on fripperies like baseball stadiums and bike
freeways and duplicate human rights commissions and "traffic calming" and
useless trains and, in one of the coldest state capitols in the US,
refrigerated ice rinks. Our taxes are very high (and, Dayton Administration
promises notwithstanding, rising) and the quality of the services we receive
for them seems to be dropping in proportion to what we pay for them.
>
> Mike responded to my previous post with a red herring (Republicans don't like
good services!); the fact is, I would very much like government to "provide"
less, and do its precious few legitimate jobs better for the money they get.
What are a city government's legitimate jobs? Police, fire, streets. Maybe a
few parks and libraries. That's it. For those, I'll pay.
>
> Build your own ice rink. Plow the roads.
>
> Mitch Berg
> The Midway
>
> (As to my alley? Allow a guy a little hyperbole; I won't *literally* eat off
my alley. But no, the alley is clean, well-plowed (by a privately-contracted
party), and more passable than either of my block's side streets (I live on a
snow emergency route, so the front of the block is moderately well-plowed). How
does it happen? I don't know. And I I don't have to know. I pay for the job to
get done (a very reasonable amount), and it gets done. Period. Sounds like
voodoo, doesn't it? Come on over, Mike; we'll find out for together for
ourselves - if the union will allow you to ask those questions and leave your
knees unbroken, of course)
>
>
>
>
> On Friday, December 6, 2013 3:24 PM, Mike Fratto <<email obscured>> wrote:
>
> I don't think anyone elected can do much to change these issues, except to
add money to the budget to add more services and equipment.
>
> Of course, based on the comment below one can assume Mitch would prefer
someone who would cut taxes and government services. Gee, I don't know how to
figure out how the candidates Mitch would support would be able to change what
is happening.
>
> I don't know where you all live. I do know that where I live, it snowed quite
heavily. It then rained very hard for quite a while. After the rain it snowed
again. Then it froze. Yet the roads in my side of town are pretty good.
Although, they were difficult to drive on during the snow, rain, and snow.
>
> We have had this discussion almost every early winter. This is winter. Until
the temperatures warm up chemicals that have been applied won't work. I do
wonder how the contractor that plows Mitch's alley got it as clean as he
claims. When and how often was the alley plowed?
>
> I haven't been able to get my sidewalks that clean and I first removed the
snow shortly after the rain stopped and followed it with shoveling twice. Yet I
have sand and chemicals on my walks and drives to keep from slipping.