Everyone is promising change in this election. It may not be possible to change Washington, but the citizens of Ramsey County can change a few things that need changing on Tuesday, especially the citizens who live in District 2. The incumbent for this area is Jan Parker, who chairs the County Board and was instrumental in awarding herself a 25% raise. That sort of self-dealing had largely escaped notice until this year. Parker has run without much opposition in the past, but now there's a chance to change the culture of the Ramsey County Board.
Rick Moses is a long-time New Brighton resident and successful businessman who is willing to take on the task of cleaning out the stables on Kellogg Boulevard, where most business is done on 7-0 votes and non-partisanship means that everyone spends money regardless of the wishes of the taxpayers. Rick will challenge all that and won't be shy about it. He isn't looking for a sinecure; instead he is running on the Cincinnatus model: he will go to St. Paul, do his work and then go back to his life after a term or two. Unlike Jan Parker, Rick hasn't tried to blur the distinctions about what he intends to do with a cloak of non-partisanship. And unlike Tony Bennett, the ostensible Republican who represents District 1, Rick doesn't have to remind people that he is committed to fiscal discipline. Rick is committed to reducing spending by at least 1% each year. And this would be an actual reduction, not cutting 1% from a baseline budget that goes up 10%.
In addition, Rick will take a tough look at how the money gets spent. One of the most irritating games that local politicians play is the "I'm not responsible for that" gambit. For years, citizens of New Brighton have lived with one of the most ridiculous main thoroughfares in the metro area, Old Highway 8. The stretch of this road from the intersection of 5th Streeet NW and County Road D is a nightmarish slog riddled with dangerous 4-way stops and often-overwhelming traffic during the rush hours. The neighborhoods adjacent to Old Highway 8 have been suffering through these problems for years. If you ask City Hall for help, they tell you they can't do anything -- it's a county road. If you approach the county, the request goes down the memory hole.
Rick won't be so blithe about such problems. He's committed to devoting funds to helping people throughout Ramsey County, not simply funnelling money into a light rail line that duplicates existing transit services, but at an exponential increase in cost.
If you want change, you need to vote for it. The primary is Tuesday. Go out and vote for Rick Moses.
Cross-posted at True North
3 comments:
"...and non-partisanship means that everyone spends money regardless of the wishes of the taxpayers".
Well stated and unfortunately very true. I could never figure out how Ms. Parker and other "non-partisans" defined the term. You have nailed it, though they probably wish you hadn't as now their scam has been revealed.
You've identified what is probably the tip of a huge iceberg with Ramsey County's lack of attention to Old Highway 8. As someone who drives that stretch of road on a daily basis I can attest to the fact that the area is at best a traffic bottleneck and a tragic and unnecessary accident waiting to happen.
The worst is the last half mile or so Southbound coming up on County D where the left turn lane is of inadequate length for the traffic that waits for the light. This causes cars to park with the blinker on in the left driving lane which forces all through traffic to the right lane where the volume makes it difficult for those coming from the residential streets, especially the east bound ones, to make the turn onto Old 8 in either direction. People running late for work start cutting their margin for error to the bare minimum and start taking chances in order to merge and I've seen more than one well intentioned driver on 8 nearly get tail ended trying to slow enough to let someone else on. After County D the traffic loosens up and the speed limit drops 10 MPH creating a prime speed trap zone for the Roseville cops. One has to always be alert as drivers suddenly brake without warning at the sight of the black and white.
And I'm sure there are plenty of other similar situations across the county. I think the problem is that there are no ribbon cutting ceremonies or photo opportunities for lengthened turn lanes, widened roads and new stop lights while the media gushes over the shiny new transit lines. Literally dozens of Old Highway 8 types of problems could be fixed with the huge amount of money that is getting thrown down the light rail rat hole.
The current group of county commissioners have been on the job for a long time and obviously are not going to do anything about the problem. The only thing I would add to your post is that there are also good conservatives running in District 1 and District 7. The more of the current incumbents we can dump the better our chances of getting the county to start paying attention to relatively low cost actions that could make a huge improvement to the roads and public safety.
Didn't mean to vent so long, but your observation on why the situation is so bad really hit home.
- D
No problem, Daria. I've experienced everything you've described on Old 8, and more. It's a joke.
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