Mayor's Big Idea: Reducing Staff Support

The Mayor came armed with a big idea to Monday's city council meeting. (Bemidji Pioneer report) Unfortunately, his suggestion, to eliminate staff support for some city commissions and committees is misguided at best and self-serving at worst.

First of all, it is the manager's job to decide where and how staff should be used. According to the charter, the city manager ". . .shall direct and supervise all departments, services, and agencies of the city, except as otherwise provided by law or charter."

I take that to mean the manager will decide how best to use his staff's time. Additionally, the charter admonishes the council against interference with administration, ". . . the council shall deal with and control city administrative officers and employees under the jurisdiction of the manager solely through the manager."

I guess the Mayor forgot that staffing decisions are the responsibility of the city manager. 

One can presume that the purpose of the Mayor's suggestion is to save money.  Unfortunately, unless he is planning to cut more staff or reduce employee hours, his suggestion does not save money.  This red herring does however, reduce customer service and has already put dedicated staff on edge.  The affected employees appear blindsided by the suggestion. 

Policy issues are the purview of council--setting the budget and the like.  Personnel issues should be left to the manager. The Mayor knows that, so it is confusing why he brought up the issue at all.  Of course "reducing government" is the mantra of the Republicans.  Maybe he is polishing his conservative credentials for his run at the MN House?

Whatever the motive, this is one "big idea" that should be dropped.  Let's hope the rest of the council agrees.

Terrazzo Pizzazo

What do you get when you put a talented mosaic artist together with a master terrazzo floor installer? You get spectacular terrazzo floor art.  That is what is being created during the next couple months at the Bemidji Regional Event Center. 

Barbara Keith (above) is the artist who designed the floor. Al is the master installer (he's Italian; apparently all the best are).  Together they chose the colors and made samples and discarded them and then made them again.  The design, colors, and samples were reviewed and okayed by the public art committee, a group of local artists and designers. The Pioneer covered the story this week.

Brass inserts

Separators for different colors (aluminum?)

Advance Tile workmen laying out the design

I predict that the floor will become a regional attraction in its own right. You can follow the construction progress on Barb's blog or on the Facebook page of the Bemidji Regional Event Center.
 

No Primary in Bemidji Ward 4

Is it me or JD?

As many of you know, I filed for election to Ward 4 of the Bemidji City Council against the incumbent. This article in The Pioneer outlines all of the local races and notes that Ward 4 is the only one that won't go to a primary.

It is interesting that two other candidates from Ward 4 chose to file for the at-large position. One of them, Byron Rock, told me that he thought the incumbent W4 council member would be hard to beat, hence his decision to run at-large. Hmm. I think JD is beatable.

The other at-large candidate from W4, Linda Lemmer, called me and indicated that she was thinking of running for W4, but had second thoughts when I filed. I got the impression that she did not want to run against me. Hmm. I think I am a great candidate too!

It should be an interesting campaign season.