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?















   

Don’t Look Back. Look What’s Ahead in Twenty-Ten

This is the time of year when the Mayor gives the state of the city address (The Pioneer recap) and “looking back” stories appear in newspapers and blogs; But I’d rather look forward to 2010.

Is 2010 the year that this statue in Library Park is replaced?  A committee has been working on it.

Five more things to watch in 2010.

1.    Annexation—a done deal? The City council has voted to move forward with annexation, but there’s a fly in the ointment. Some Birchmont Drive residents filed a lawsuit against Northern Township to protest their assessments for the city utilities that were extended a year ago, including eight property owners that are in the annexation area.  The lawsuit against Northern Township concluded that new appraisals must be done, but they won’t be completed until summer.  Both the city and township are reluctant to move forward with annexation of these properties until the issue is resolved.  The sooner, the better. The city would like to complete the annexation prior to the April 1 Census in order to count 900 new residents in the city. There is also the matter of notifying new residents of their polling place for the November elections.

2.    Joint Planning—expanding role? Understanding the joint planning agreement is like peeling and onion: there are a lot of layers. I’m pretty sure the elected officials that signed the agreement didn’t understand all of the implications at the time, including one that came to light last week. The council discussed the potential for annexing a portion of Eckles Township during a council goal setting meeting. Oops! Can’t do that. The city has no planner and no zoning code, both having been replaced by a third party.

The city’s influence over planning—both staff’s and council’s—has been diluted by the agreement; and the city’s ability to unilaterally make any planning decisions, including annexation decisions, has been surrendered. Meanwhile, the joint planning board says they want an expanded role for planning--more than just code administration and enforcement.

3.    PEG access—has its time arrived? Could 2010 be the year that the Public, Educational, and Government use channels become reality? A definition:

P.E.G. Access: Cable channels that are given to communities as compensation by cable providers who lay cables under public rights-of-way (streets, sidewalks, etc.) These facilities, sometimes called community media centers, exist primarily to give local residents access to television equipment, training and noncommercial time on designated cable channels.

Fees to support PEG access are accumulating, but so far community members have been unsuccessful in their efforts to get traction on setting up the channels.  Local supporters have been at many council meetings and at least two committee meetings with council members. Volunteers are requesting action on the process that will give life to community media access. Players that need to come together include the council, the city attorney (rules, you know), and the two cable companies: Midcontinent and Paul Bunyan Television. Here is a concise Q and A explaining PEG access.

4.    Development continues—what recession? It appears that development in the city, lead by Menards, will continue at a brisk pace in 2010.  Here’s a recap of projects expected to get underway this year:

• Menards construction
• Headwaters Housing Development Corporation 20-unit Supportive Housing development north of Bi-CAP
• House of Hospitality facility construction
• Doubletree Hotel construction adjacent to the Green Mill
• Bowling Alley construction in Bardwell Park
• Airport Terminal expansion
• Paul Bunyan Transit Terminal expansion
• 12-unit Multi-family Residential building on 26th St. (Whelan)

Some other development “Maybes”

• 32-unit Multi-family Residential development north of Bi-CAP (Kuepers)
• O’Reilly Auto Parts? They are actively seeking a location on PB Dr. NW
• CVS Pharmacy? They generally follow Walgreens into a community and are actively expanding in the state
• Culvers Restaurant on one of the Menards outlots? They have a symbiotic relationship
• Convention hotel? A development team out of Duluth is expected to make a proposal in early 2010 for a hotel connected to the convention center.

5.    November elections—a brand new council? The majority of the current council—Wards 2, 4, At-large and Mayor—are up for (re)election in 2010, meaning that a majority of the council could turnover.  With interest in this election already heating up, there will likely be no shortage of candidates for any of the Mayor and three council seats when filing opens in June. One more wrinkle in the local races: because of the Census and annexation, redistricting in 2012 will alter the lines of Wards 1, 2, and 3. Current W-3 council member Johnson will likely be redistricted out of his Ward in 2012—the year he is up for re-election. Will he avoid that prospect by running for the At-large council seat this year?

What do you think we should watch in 2010?

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.