New Council. New Ideas. New Approach?

How many council members does it take to change a light bulb? Seven. One to change the bulb and six to recall how great the old light bulb was.

Change. It’s not easy. A new mayor and two new council members will almost assuredly mean some changes for how the Bemidji city council conducts meetings and carries out business. Here are my ideas for some changes.

Agenda
One change I will promote (and have already suggested to the Mayor-elect) is to move the time for citizen comments to the beginning of the meeting. The current agenda has “citizens with business before this council not on the agenda” as the last item, requiring residents to wait an entire meeting to make a brief comment. Moving the comment time to the beginning of the meeting sends the message that we value the ideas and thoughts of community members. More importantly, it provides them an opportunity to comment on agenda items before official action is taken and gives council members more information for decision making.

Shorter is not always better.
Parents often talk about wanting quality time versus quantity time when discussing parenting. I think the same is true for governing. If you could choose fewer productive, quality meetings or lots of short, perfunctory meetings, which would you choose? For me, I want to get some work done at a meeting and would opt for having fewer meetings, but investing that time wisely.

The current council schedule includes a meeting every Monday night. The first and third Mondays are the regular meeting and the second and fourth Mondays are work sessions. The bulk of their discussions and “work” take place during the off-week, hour and a half work session, leaving little work to be done on the regular Council meeting night. This routine has meant that several regular meetings in the past six months have been completed in 30 minutes or less. What’s wrong with this picture?

First, there is no video camera at the work session and generally, no citizen audience. Second, there are often added agenda items that are discussed and even voted on without (in my opinion) proper public notice. Third, this adds to community feelings that the city council is less than transparent when carrying out city business. Although the less formal format of the work sessions is a positive aspect, I would support having the discussions and “work” at the regular meetings so the public has the opportunity to be fully informed.

Committees (current committee list)
Too many committees, not enough committees or the wrong ones? There was a time when our city council did not meet on every alternate Monday for a work session. They generally managed their work at regular meetings, met in an occasional work session, or worked within a committee structure and reported back at regular council meetings for full council decision making. The standing committees provided an opportunity for citizen-staff-council interaction and collaboration to find solutions to issues.

The current council has scrapped the standing committee structure in favor of a regular work session. While it works, with this format council members have few opportunities to interact with staff except through occasional calls for information or to report a citizen complaint. Could council members and staff working side-by-side make better decisions than members working without benefit of their staffs’ advice? Maybe we should revisit the committees. Of course, using a committee structure requires letting go of some control, which can be difficult, but using the committee structure for research, review and problem solving seems like a good idea.

Ultimately, good governance serves the public by providing information that is accessible via a process that is transparent. If changing our routine better meets that goal, let’s change.

What changes would you make?

City Bean Counting Update

Wondering how the bean counting at city hall is stacking up? The city has had the budget solutions bean counter game on loan from the League of Minnesota Cities since the first of the month. I wrote about it in this post "Be a City Bean Counter". Players get six beans to distribute among 8 budget choices.

Here are the results from the “City Bean Counter.”

Police 93
Clean Water 61
Parks & Recreation 54
Streets & Sidewalks 46
Sewers & Garbage 44
Libraries 44
Economic Development 42

The traveling display has to move on, but the city manager has announced that Bemidji will create its own model and continue to encourage citizens to participate in the budget balancing activity.

Be a City Bean Counter

Going to city hall to vote or pay a bill? Take time to play the “Be a City Bean Counter” game. It’s your chance to tell the city how you would like the city budget spent.

The setup includes eight receptacles labeled to represent various city services. Your job is to choose where to spend your beans. Just one catch; you only get six beans.

What is most important to you? Or, put another way; what is least important to you? The rules are taped to the counter at the city hall reception desk:

I’ll give you a six bean budget that you can choose to spend on these eight services that many Minnesota cities provide. You can spend it however you like. Put all six beans in one jar or spread them out. Thank you for your participation. Your opinion counts!

Choose among these services:

• Police
• Economic Development (business recruitment, business retention, south shore development)
• Clean Water (storm water, water utilities)

• Parks & Rec. (maintenance, improvements, recreational activities)
• Libraries
• Fire (medical emergency response, inspections, education)

• Sewers & Garbage (wastewater, garbage services)
• Streets & Sidewalks (street sweeping, plowing, maintenance)

How often are you asked to give budget feedback? The city manager asked the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) to bring the Bean Counter display to Bemidji. It will be here for a couple weeks and is one way to send a message to city council on what is important to you.

Non-Profit Directors Quiz the Candidates

Village of Hope

"How would you describe the impact nonprofits have on the city of Bemidji and the surrounding area? Do you have a sense of how may people our homeless shelter and our food shelf serve in a year?"

There were eleven non-profit directors present when candidates for city government met with them for a discussion last Friday. the event was organized by Community Resource Connections (Bemidji Council of Nonprofits). Unfortunately, because of the early morning time, only three of the invited eight were able to attend: candidate for Mayor, Ron Johnson, At-Large candidate, Jim Thompson, and yours truly.  (I'm running for Ward 4.) That was too bad because the discussion was interesting and frank and enlightening. For the three of us, the small number made for some good discussion.

"Do you have any thoughts about how we might improve our city transportation system? My clients have to wait an hour or more for a ride. There is not adequate transportation to accommodate the demands of employment."

We heard a lot of discontent about our transit system. Concerns were shared (via several stories) about unreliability, lateness and the perceived general inefficiency of the dial a ride system. There was a lot of support for a fixed route system.

"It would seem that some of the city council's processes for conversation and decision-making have been inefficient at best and in some cases, damaging to individuals and to the team that is meant to work together to deal with complex issues. Do you have any ideas on what can be done to improve the methods and systems for communication and problem-solving?"

Hmmm. I've observed the same thing myself. Yes I do have some ideas and I'll share them in a separate post.

"What are your thoughts about the changes happening at JEDC concerning Larry Young's retirement: Is there any possibility that a reconfiguration could include nonprofits as part of the area's economic development drivers?"

This question generated a lot of discussion about the impact of nonprofits in our community. They described their organizations as businesses that attract outside money, support substantial employee payrolls and provide local purchasing power. Should they be considered basic economic activities? Much of their budgets are generated by grants and funding from outside our community. This question will be easier to answer when the "asset mapping" project currently underway is finished. Agencies are completing a survey that will help quantify the impact or our nonprofit sector.

Other topics covered  included the potential for collaboration with the city (they want it), streamlining the housing development process (the JPB is unpredictable), questions about the event center (where do they fit in?) and regular opportunities to visit with local government (city and county).

It was clear to the three of us that these directors have a lot to say. And we have a lot to learn. (By the way, the shelter serves about 500 per year and the food shelf served 18,525 people last year.)

More Information, If You Can Stand It

 Sooner or later we will all be tired of hearing and reading about the candidates. Before that happens, take time to read the local candidates' responses to questions posed by the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce.  They are posted on the Chamber's website.  For Bemidji residents, they give some insight into what to expect from council candidates if elected, including me.

Take a look at the city council candidate responses to question number six: "List your top three issues you plan to focus on if elected."   I found it difficult to narrow my choices to three (some candidates couldn't).  Here are mine:

1. Growth management and long range planning (I count that as one. Is it two?)
2. Economic development
3. Improve citizen access to the council and city information

What surprised me is that every council candidate listed development, the development process or annexation as top issues.  Interesting, because there is no staff left for that. Since 2008, the council has eliminated the planning department, community development, and ended a contract with the local economic development organization. 

The candidates have given their top three (or more) priorities. Now I am anxious to hear the community's top priorities. Got a priority for city government to work on?  Besides the budget, what else should our community be working on?















   

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.

Bits From Around Bemidji: Community Initiatives Worth Checking Out

Do you ever feel like there is so much going on in Bemidji that it is hard to keep up? ME TOO! Here are some really cool things that are happening in Bemidji thanks to volunteers (and paid staff) who are stepping up and making our community better.

Active Living
“Active Living is a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines.” This initiative is funded by a contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield through their foundation, Prevention Minnesota and the tobacco settlement money. They are the organization behind the "Do" campaign. This is the first year of a four year initiative. Their project includes "Fit City Bemidji." Wondering what there is to do for recreational activity in Bemidji? They have listed just about every possible activity available in the Bemidji area (including phone numbers), here.

Shared Vision
"Shared Vision is a community effort to address the issue of racial diversity and racial disparity." Based on information gathered through a community survey, this group of community volunteers has proposed a set of goals and strategies for improving the community. They have organized several strategies under these categories:

• Cultural Understanding and Respect
• Educational Attainment and Skill Development
• Civic Engagement and Leadership
• Economic Opportunities

This group has been very successful at getting Ojibwe language signs up in nearly 100 business and government locations in Bemidji. Their next big project is sponsoring Leadership in Ethnically Diverse Communities with the Blandin Foundation. The program is designed to help a diverse group of community members effectively engage across cultural differences to create a more inclusive community of Bemidji.

You can (should) sign up. The program is four sessions spread out over two months. All program sessions will be held at the Hampton Inn in Bemidji, MN, and each participant is asked to attend all four sessions. The sessions are from 9am to 1pm except the first session which is 9am until 5:30 pm on first day (May 5) and (May 6). The other dates of this free program will be May 19th, June 2nd and June 17th. Call Becky Adams at 877-882-2257 to register. Register sooner than later. Did I mention that it's FREE?

Community Resource Connections (CRC)
"Community Resource Connections, Inc. exists for the purpose of improving access to and the effectiveness of community services through collaboration, coordination & integration." Their website has an amazing search tool that will help you locate service providers and agencies in the Bemidji Area. When you click on "Find Service," you will be able to browse service providers by service or by name. For example, if I want to find all the "disability supports," it will bring up twenty-two providers with links to their information or website. Pretty awesome. CRC is currently working on a volunteer matching site that will be searchable for types of volunteer opportunities available in the community. No link yet. They are beta testing it right now, but when it goes live, I will let you know.

A New Chief Bemidji Statue?

Do you think the current Chief Bemidji Statue in Library Park should be replaced? A group of local volunteers does. They have been meeting over the past nine months or so to figure out how to make that happen. At Monday's (3/15/10) council meeting, the council will formally appoint the committee to work on a process for a new statue. A list of the proposed committee members is listed on page 8 of the council agenda. The committee invites your comments on their blog.

Documenting Pre-contact History
The Beltrami County History Center received a Legacy Grant of $6,990 to hire a professional historian to complete research and documentation of an archaeological site of a Woodland Period fishing camp (1,000-3,000 years ago), in preparation for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Thirty-one organizations from 18 counties received a total of $147,955 in January. Congrats to the History Center for being one of them! Their website also has information about upcoming history center events.

These initiatives are aimed at improving our community and are only a few of the great things that local volunteers are doing to make Bemidji a better place to live. Can you share any others?

Want to Connect? Pay Up

If the city can't assess the Northern Township properties that will benefit from city sewer and water utilities, they can apparently charge a connection fee equal to the proposed assessment. You may recall that annexation has been delayed for two years in order to settle the Birchmont Drive assessment process. Northern Twp is in the process of re-assessing all the affected properties because of a lawsuit challenging the original assessment.

The council will be asked to act on a resolution setting the fee for the affected properties at their meeting Monday (3/15/10). From the City Engineer's memo in the packet:

There is nothing prohibiting the parcels that are involved in the court case from connecting to the city sanitary sewer and water. If they do wish to connect, they should be required to pay a City Connection Fee, so they are not receiving the benefit of the system for free, while the other property owners are paying their assessments.

The connection fee would only apply to the parcels that have not been assessed for the project. Many properties have already hooked up because of failing systems. The proposed connection fees:

• Sewer only: $13,390
• Water & sewer: $20,315

Who says their aren't any creative ideas coming out of city hall?

Old Fairgrounds up for Bid

The former County Fairgrounds is for sale. While perusing the legal ads Sunday (2/28), I came across the County's advertisement for bids for (what remains of) the former County Fairgrounds. The 16.4 acre parcel is located south of Target and the Westridge Development.

I am not sure why the County has decided to put it on the market at this time, but if it sells, the City is in line to receive 50% of whatever it brings.

That's right, the County has to split the proceeds of the sale 50/50 with the City. The arrangement stems from a deal struck several years ago (ten or more?).

The County was contemplating building a new administration building on the fairgrounds site. The Downtown Development Authority wanted to keep the County employees downtown, so through the leadership of Mayor Peterson, the City "drained their reserves" and using $1 million or more, purchased an entire city block of homes for the county building. The residents were relocated, the new building was constructed, and "Lot 9" was built to serve the County buildings and the downtown.

In return, the County struck an agreement (County Administrator, Greg Lewis) to repay the City the equivalent of 50% of the fairgrounds property. The property was put out on bids at that time, but there were no takers. Then the County hired a broker to sell the property, but were again unsuccessful in selling the property. Maybe the third time is the charm.

Was it worth it? While dislocating a block of single family homes was controversial at the time, in retrospect, it was money well spent. Having the county "campus" and the scores of employees and customers it pulls into the downtown, has been a boon to downtown businesses and is one reason our downtown is still viable.

Putting off the sale of the property for ten years wasn't the worst thing that could happen either. The property is currently appraised at $1.75 to $2 million.

Two questions remain:
Will there be an acceptable bid?
Maybe the start of construction on the Menards store next month will be a catalyst for more development in the area.

What will the City do with the proceeds?
With the recent hits to the City's budget, there are plenty of places for any unexpected "windfall". Personally, I don't think it should go to a "one time" budget fix.

Given that the funds were originally leveraged for economic development, it seems reasonable to use the proceeds for economic development as well. That could be the creation of a new business revolving loan program, an investment in updating or expanding the City's liquor stores, or the creation of a set-aside for BREC operations. What do you think?

Recipe for a Budget Fix: Cut 10%

A little less here and a bit less there, pretty soon you've got a recipe for a budget reduction, right?  Unfortunately, it is going to take more that a bit here and there to find  $600,000 that is expected to be cut from the City's 2010 budget.  Word is that City department heads have been asked to recommend cuts of 10% on their budgets. Not sure if there was any mention of revenue enhancements--street light fee, anyone?

This exercise is going on all over the state as cities and counties scramble to prepare for the state aid cuts that will be coming out of the state capitol. The Association of MN Counties has put together a budget balancing recipe with a list of a nearly a dozen ideas and presented it to the legislature according to this story in the Pioneer Press.

Minnesota counties would give up all their state aid in exchange for authority to levy a half-cent sales tax.

The State Patrol would be cut in half, and county sheriffs and city police departments would patrol the highways.

Counties would take over plowing and maintaining all state highways, except for freeways.

Those are among a package of 10 cost-saving proposals that the Association of Minnesota Counties outlined at a Capitol press conference today.

They would also combine county planning and zoning with cities and townships and ask for home rule charter authority (the ability to make laws, much like the city can do now).

Can you help identify the ingredients for a palatable solution to our budget dilemma? What are your priorities? What DON'T you want cut? What are you willing to have LESS of?

Personally, I would like solutions found that don't include laying off staff. I also don't want park maintenance to take a big hit. I would be willing to have less salt on the streets and shorter service hours at city hall. I would also like to be able to pay my city utility bill online. I would be willing to sell the residential refuse route and the equipment that goes with it. Maybe we should delay the planned quality neighborhood initiative study and the $48,000 consultant contract that goes with it.

What do you want for your tax dollars? Call the council, or log in to the comment section on the city website and let them know what is important to you.

Last Days of Community Development

December 31, 2009 marked the last day of the Community Development office in Bemidji City Hall. My job was eliminated and I now join the other 175,000 unemployed workers that are currently drawing unemployment benefits in Minnesota.

The City Council eliminated the 2010 budget for my position in a surprise move (and I believe outside the authority vested in them by the Charter) during a work session in August. Many individuals and community organizations protested the decision, but the Council chose to ignore their pleas and instead suggested that the duties be distributed to other staff. Unfortunately, the work that is generally considered “community development” will probably not get done.

The city has reduced its workforce by 10% in the last three years. Not only is there is no other staff with the time for it, there is no staff with the passion for it.

The City will pay me about $585 a week to stay home until I find a new job (or for 72 weeks, whichever comes first). The State will send a quarterly bill to the City for reimbursement of my unemployment claim and there will be negligible savings realized from the elimination of the position. The costs to the community will never be known, a realization The Pioneer alludes to in today’s editorial—unbelievably, their first comment on the issue (emphasis mine):

Bemidji is on the cusp of something great, we only hope that increased development is both welcome and well-guided. That is perhaps our weakest link, as Beltrami County has halved its grant to the Joint Economic Development Commission and the city of Bemidji has eliminated its community development director position.

Still, 2010 holds promise as a great year for economic development in Bemidji. We’ll be looking for opportunities to foster that.

Kinda late. Many opportunities to foster development were lost when four members of the council orchestrated the elimination of the CD position. There is enough money in the City’s 2010 budget to fund the CD position; they have just chosen not to.