Eden Prairie News - Blog entry - Comments

Antagnostic Responses There

zerotwo — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:14:36 -0600

Antagnostic Responses

There is public info which is readily available to all residents.

One is a district map which shows how the candidates' support was distributed district by district.

The other can be obtained through the city clerk which shows that one candidate out spent two of his oponents double and the other triple.

Those variables will be looked at by candidates going forward. It's the key to winning and it's certainly a legit discussion to have.

Discussion...

To Vicki, I could not

Gino G — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:19:59 -0600

To Vicki, I could not resist;

There was a time when I was in a hurry as you are
I was like you
There was a day when I just had to tell my point of view
I was like you
Now I don't mean to make you frown
No, I just want you to slow down

Have you never been mellow?
Have you never tried to find a comfort from inside you?
Have you never been happy just to hear your song?
Have you never let someone else be strong?

Running around as you do with your head up in the clouds
I was like you
Never had time to lay back, kick your shoes off, close your eyes
I was like you
Now you're not hard to understand
You need someone to take your hand

Have you never been mellow?
Have you never tried to find a comfort from inside you?
Have you never been happy just to hear your song?
Have you never let someone else be strong?

With apologies to ONJ

The last time i checked all

epeagle — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:55:17 -0600

The last time i checked all voters were equal and elections weren't determined by the number of precincts won. Aho got the most votes. Period.

Sure, Case did well in airport precincts this year because he at least implied that he'd do something about stopping the expansion. If he hadn't run on that issue and on being the "low tax guy" something tells me he would have been smoked in those precincts, just as he was in 2006 when Young won 16 of the 19 precincts, including Case's home precinct.

You keep saying that Neal was sent to D.C. to lobby for funds for the expansion. Yet, Butcher has been clear that this didn't happen. And, as she was the only council member who went with Neal (Young and Aho didn't travel, despite your claim that they wanted federal dollars), she should know. Or, are you calling her a liar?

Vicki, when you say: "The

aurora — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:36:27 -0600

Vicki, when you say:

"The point was that Case's votes were spread out over 3/4 of the city, more than any other council member. Check out the map."

What exactly does this mean?

The wording of your statement is intentionally vague and lubricious. Your "point" is both pointless and senseless. Here is a table of city council election results by precinct for you to review and think about.

http://www16.co.hennepin.mn.us/elections/results/precreport?el=08GMNHEN&...

- "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" (Dr. Seuss)

The Mysterious Case of the

edenpprairiefactchecker — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:10:09 -0600

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Truth...

There had to be money to expand the airport. The agreement didn't provide or assure that there would ever be money. And there wasn't until Phil Young took office. Neal is on record saying there wasn't money (this is before Young took office)..

The MAC didn't have it according to the minutes from the March Chamber meeting in 2007 that the Mayor attended. And, the very next day, Neal emails back to Anderson telling him the city will now say they're okay with the expansion and will ask their federal legislators for funding.

This is documented in the city minutes and emails. It's there for all to see. No one made it up. You, Young, Aho, can deny and contort the facts, but they are documented.

The point was that Case's votes were spread out over 3/4 of the city, more than any other council member. Check out the map.

What's important is how much Aho had to spend in comparison to the other candidates in order to beat them, particularly Case. For a supposed fiscal conservative it's hypocritical and desperate.

The hate-on for Case, is atypical Republican divisiveness. When Republicans disagree, they can't discuss with out name-calling.

To say Case voted for the expansion is again a matter of understanding what the Final Agreement gave us and what it didn't give us.

The argument Young has created and Aho is using to avoid responding to what has actually been done on their watch is that they repeat over and over, "they support the Final Agreement, period. Well, so does Ron Case, but that does not mean Ron would have sent Neal to lobby for federal funds to expand the airport.

The ad that Aho responded to and the threatening letters he sent to at least 3 people and the EPN with a friviolous law suit, was based in fact. His reply ad was the same old line, "I support the Final Agreement and I inherited it and you can blame it all on the previous council...."

No, you can't. Because the previous council didn't facilitate the funding; didnt' partner with the Chamber and MAC to do it; didn't violate the public trust by not being open about it; the previous council did none of those things...

Scott Neal emailed Tim Anderson of MAC and went on record to say they NOW support the expansion and would lobby our federal legislators for the money (BTW, taxpayer money.) Aho's statement included in the ad, backed up what has been his position consistently, to support Neal's letter and its contents.

Neither Kathy, nor Sherry saw those emails. And neither of them agreed with Young or Aho that the public did not sense a change in the council's position. Aho and Young said there was no change consistently. When in fact there was a significant change.

Frankly from January when Young took office until the discovery of the emails thru the FOIA/data request made to the city, there are so many smokin guns, for anyone to say that the public trust wasn't violated has got to be just another pol looking out for their own.

Local government should be better than that..it hasn't been under the new council leadership...

With the economy in a downward spiral, the corps who want the 5,000ft extension laying off workers; reporting disastrous ecomomic figures for the Holidays; MSP experiencing its lowest numbers in decades; the aviation industry's manufacturers closing..the nation doling out trillions, where is this (taxpayer) money going to come from? And while the city itself is making a mega-production about cutting back, documents attest to their support for lobbying our federal officials for our tax dollars to fund this unnecessary runway for a few corporate fat cats who want their aircraft parked in their backyards...

You guys truly have no argument because you're arguing from a politically motivated position, in other words, you can't see the forest for the trees.

So, you're never going to find the pot- of- gold...the truth...
And of course, you don't really want to.

Facts are a meaningless annoyance when you are trying to bolster a lie.

WWRCD? (What Would Ron Case

stark — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:01:15 -0600

WWRCD? (What Would Ron Case Do?)

It has been only five weeks since the election, and City Councilmember-elect Ron Case is already reinforcing the fact that RON CASE = HIGHER TAXES. He doesn't take office until next month, but still he's advocating a property tax increase - despite the current economy.

Case's commentary this week makes it clear that he doesn't want to draw from city savings (which, by the way, belong to the taxpayers) to balance the 2009 budget.

There are three tools the city has to address the 2009 budget: Raising taxes, cutting expenses, and tapping into reserves. It would be possible to use any combination of the three. Case is opposed using reserves and he offers no ideas for spending cuts. It's obvious Case believes property tax increases are the only solution.

Even though he won't have a vote next week, WWRCD? He'd raise taxes, of course! Despite those yellow "low tax guy" stickers he placed on his campaign signs late into the campaign, Case hasn't changed. He's never been one to pass up an opportunity to raise taxes.

No, you haven't poked me yet

stark — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:13:35 -0600

No, you haven't poked me yet - but thanks for asking.

When the government raises our taxes they should have to poke us beforehand and announce that they are going to poke us some more. When the government wastes money on pet projects, Truth-in-Taxation should require the disclosure of the associated increase in poking.

When the city turned the Smith-Douglas-More house into a coffee shop, they poked us big time. With the new lease agreement we are all expected to be relieved that now, the poking will be more gentle.

Factignorer seems

Truthful.Eagle — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:46:12 -0600

Factignorer seems math-challenged, once again. Case won 9 out of 19 precincts. That is a total of 47.37%, not the 3/4 or 75% as Factignorer continues to state. In addition, 4 of those precincts won by Case were by a margin of 17 or fewer votes, whereas ALL of the precincts Aho won, were by margins of 17 or more votes. In addition, Aho won 4 precincts by margins of more than 100 votes, and 1 by more than 200. Case won 1 precinct by more than 100 votes.

It seems that some want to continue Lenin's belief that "A lie told often enough becomes the truth." Well, Factignorer, the 'facts' are that Case won fewer than half of the precincts in EP, not 3/4 of EP as you state. But we do not elect by wards or by precincts here in EP. We elect by total vote count. Aho received the most votes.

It is true that Case won three of the major 'airport' precincts, due to his deceptive ad and the deceptive ad in the newspaper by another group. As as for how we know Case wrote the deceptive ad regarding the taxes information comparing his 11-year record rather than the "whole truth" of his 12-year record as SD42Web has stated, it is because the piece says it was paid for by the Ron Case for City Council Campaign. . . And on the front of that piece he included the phrase "Standing with you against airport expansion!"

As Mayor Young stated in his Letter to the Editor, it will be interesting to see exactly how Mr. Case opposes the airport expansion -- especially since he authorized the 2002 Agreement that forfeits all future legal rights of the City to ever oppose it. That 2002 Agreement cost the taxpayers one million dollars in legal services -- exactly what did we get for a million dollars that the City could not have negotiated for ourselves? The point is, those against airport expansion, including Mr. Case, celebrated the agreement in 2002 and claimed we got our money's worth. Well, if that is true, why are the same people complaining about it now?

I would like to thank

twoputttommy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:17:49 -0600

I would like to thank Jenifer Loon and Jerry Pitzrick for running honest, fair, clean, and hard-fought campaigns. Both candidates demonstrated class, character, and competence. Congratulations to State Representative-Elect Loon, and I wish her well in her service to the citizens of her District.

"You know -- the same coffee

twoputttommy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:43:58 -0600

"You know -- the same coffee shop that Case used as his personal campaign headquarters?"

Peter, do you mean the same coffee shop that Norm Coleman and Jenifer Loon campaigned at?

"And will Case ever apologize for his extremely deceptive ad -- the last minute swipe he took against Brad Aho?"

Do you have any proof Ron Case was behind that ad, or are you simply throwing baseless allegations against the wall?

You republiCons are simply shameless.

State AAA semi final fotball

jim slater — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:01:05 -0600

State AAA semi final fotball game

Are you fact-checking or

stark — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:52:48 -0600

Are you fact-checking or opining?

(Who's dividing Eden Prairie now?)

I see many biased opinions and few facts in what you've written.

The only buzz about election outcomes is with Coleman vs. Franken. The Eden Prairie City Council election had a clear outcome. Aho and Case were elected. Aho had the most votes (14,916) followed by Case (14,814). Butcher was a distant third (13,593) and Meyerhofer came in fourth (6,018).

If there is a buzz, why is there a buzz? Are you trying to divide Eden Prairie precinct by precinct? You stated "Case beat out everyone, district by district; his votes were spread out over 3/4 of Eden Prairie, more than all the candidates."

It is a fact that Case votes were spread out over more than 3/4 of Eden Prairie. They were spread out over all 19 precincts. The same is true with Aho, Butcher, and Meyerhofer. Were you trying to make a point?

You also stated, "Case won in Republican districts and districts most impacted by the airport. In fact, everyone on the council is aware of it, and MAC has taken note."

How are you defining "Republican districts?" Of the 19 precincts in Eden Prairie, the 11th is the only precinct I would not characterize as "Republican." You did an excellent job of stating the obvious. Do you think any Republicans will feel duped in finding out they unknowingly voted for a Democrat?

The 16th precinct is just to the north and west of the airport. Much of the noise about the airport comes from a small number of residents in the 16th. Brad Aho won the vote total in precinct 16 - that shoots a big hole in your airport theory. Another problem with your theory is that Case voted for the airport expansion in 2002.

"MAC has taken note." Please elaborate. How do you know they've taken note, did you call them? Please explain why you believe the outcome of the city council election will affect the airport expansion.

Do you have any facts to support your assertion that the "low tax guy" stickers, that Case put on his signs in the days before the campaign, didn't allow him to beat out Sherry Butcher?

It seems that you are the only one buzzing about the election outcome, presenting opinion as fact to divide the city precinct by precinct.

Vicki, as many others have

sd42webmaster — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:05:52 -0600

Vicki, as many others have already correctly pointed out: the platform Case ran on was (1) Low Taxes and (2) Opposition to the airport. It's now time for him to make good on these two promises.

As far as stopping the airport expansion is concerned, we are all interested in hearing how he plans to do that -- especially since the expansion was made possible by his agreement, the agreement he negotiated and signed back in 2002.

The low tax guy? Great -- Bring it on. Up until four days before election day, he was the high tax guy. We all look forward to see evidence of his new-found passion for controlling the growth of government.

Let's begin with the taxpayer funded coffee shop. You know -- the same coffee shop that Case used as his personal campaign headquarters?

And will Case ever apologize for his extremely deceptive ad -- the last minute swipe he took against Brad Aho?

In case you missed it: Here are FIVE LIES told by Mr. Case in his mailer:

(1) He implied that he was a bigger tax cutter than Brad Aho. Now Vicki, you don't strike me as someone who has an especially keen sense of humor, but even you must have chuckled at that one.

(2) He blamed Brad for the two tax increases of 2006 and 2007. As you know, both of those votes happened while Case was on the Council and BEFORE the Republican majority took over.

(3) He included SCHOOL and COUNTY numbers in his property tax figures in order to confuse people. City budgets have absolutely nothing to do with school and county budgets.

(4) He incorrectly stated that he was on the Council for 11 years in order to avoid blame for the 2006 and 2007 increases. He was on the Council for 12 years.

(5) He falsely called himself "The Low Tax Guy". Anyone who raises taxes 10 out of 12 years has no right to call himself "The Low Tax Guy".

Will he ever apologize for those lies?

By the way, Vicki, they are called "precincts" and not districts. And Case came in second, not first as you imply. In case you missed it, here are the final numbers from Hennepin County.

Congratulations Brad Aho for winning!

But the biggest winner this year, of course, was the taxpayers. In Eden Prairie, we now have a Republican majority plus a Democrat who has promised us that he will be "The Low Tax Guy". Nationally we have a new President who campaigned as a Reagan Republican promising that "95 percent of Americans" will be getting their taxes cut.

I can't wait to see these promises fulfilled!

Thank you for typing this

Truthful.Eagle — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:58:59 -0600

Thank you for typing this in, SD42, and placing it on this site. It's too bad that the paper didn't automatically link to it. This is one of the most thoughtful and important Commentaries that I have ever read. Thanks also to the City Manager for setting the record straight.

Instead of a free ride, EG,

sd42webmaster — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:47:08 -0600

Instead of a free ride, EG, how about trying government that lives within its means -- just like Eden Prairie families do every day.

Set priorities.

Recognize those things that local government MUST do -- like provide police protection and water and sewer and parks -- things that people cannot easily provide for themselves. And recognize those things that are beyond the scope of local government -- like providing government funded coffee shops and government funded immigrant liaisons.

On a personal level, if you are unable to distinguish between wants and needs, your family can go into a financial hole pretty quickly. If you're the government, however, it's easy: you just RAISE TAXES.

By the way, did you see the letter in last week's paper asserting that Eden Prairie will become a "wasteland" if we lose the taxpayer-funded coffee shop? A wasteland - really? I picture a desert landscape with no houses -- just tumbleweeds blowing by. Liberals are soooo over the top.