Crystal Candidates Promote Minneapolis Agenda

By Andrew Richter

Anyone remember the core tenants of city government? We’ve talked about them many times. They are to provide basic services to residents such as police and fire protection, plowing and repairing roads, and keeping up nice parks. Sounds simple right? Well not these days.

Well we have three candidates running in Crystal here in 2020 who hardly even talk about these services. Those services are not what they want to focus on. They want to remake Crystal into a Minneapolis-style woke new urbanism type of city.

In Ward 4 we have the far-left David Cummings who embraces every woke issue possible. 

Cummings recently sent out a mailer to Ward 4 (which I’m sure was probably financed by unions not from Crystal residents) says he favors the following:

Establishing and empowering a Human Rights Commission to achieve equity for all residents 

What is with the obsession with a Human Rights Commission? This commission collapsed because of a lack of interest and direction. Instead the city created the Community Outreach Taskforce which seemed to be embraced by the community. The only ones who seem to care about it are local DFL politicians. 

Innovation and policy to move us toward sustainability and lessen the city’s carbon footprint.

That’s a big problem is it? So what does this mean? Going back to a horse and buggy? Buying all new electric police cars, fire trucks, and plows? Anyone ready to pay for all that? Remember we have to do this or we will boil to death.

Accessible, environmentally responsible transportation options like light rail, additional bike lanes, and improved connectivity between cities. 

Huh? More bike lanes? Yeah we really have an overcrowding problem on all the bike lanes we already have right? I bet that’s what residents are clamoring for….I’m sure you are hearing that going door to door.

Connectivity between cities? What? What the hell does that mean? Is there some barrier between cities I’m not aware of. It sounds like a phrase you’d hear in corporate talking points. 

Clearly Mr. Cummings is running for one reason: his personal ideology and agenda. He mentions nothing about fiscal issues or basic services; you know the things Crystal is suppose to provide according to their charter. The funny part of it is that he has a video out now on his website where he talks about “listening to you and being your voice.” Come on, we all know that’s a lie. You have an agenda and you are committed to shoving it down our throat. And that’s fine. But don’t tell us at the same time you are going to be Mr. listener. 

In the same video he talks about eradicating systemic racism in Crystal. Honestly I’m quite offended at this. Are you calling Crystal a racist city? At the very least you could give some examples of what you would do or “fix” instead of vaguely referring to Human Rights Commission as a cure all.  

If you want to get woke go to his website http://www.davidforcrystal.com

Of course, running in Ward 3 is our old pal and friend John Budziezewski. Like Cummings, Johnny Bizzell has a standard left-wing agenda to “serve you” and no interest whatsoever in the charter or in basic core services of a city. On his website Johnny B calls for the following:

A $15 minimum Wage

Oh well a great way to bring all the success of Minneapolis to the suburbs and chase out small business at the same time. 

Blue Line

Gotta love that multimodal transportation.

No Raising Property Taxes to pay for street repair or replacement

So you favor special assessments? Earth to Johnny B, that also goes on your property taxes except you get to pay interest on it! It’s not a tax increase one way and free the other way. This is total misinformation.

Clean Water

Oh no come on I want dirty water.

Are these the things you are super worried about? Again it’s not about maintaining the services you rely on when you dial 911 or when we have a snowstorm. It’s about remaking Crystal into Minneapolis with forced transit and a minimum wage hike. 

Check out ol’ Jonny B at votejohnbudziezewski.com

Last of all we have Steve Adams running for mayor (no relation to Jim Adams). Now to be fair, while Mr. Adams does speak a little bit on fiscal matters, though I question if he really understands it, much of his platform is focused on left-wing fluff.

Human Rights and Equity: Steve values the diverse population that lives in Crystal and wants to make sure that the government works for all.

OK another feel-good meaningless statement. What in city government isn’t working? Can you think of an example? 

Community Policing: Continued focus on positive interactions with the public.

OK….I’m a little lost. Community policing sounds like where you dial 911 and you get sent a social worker. Focus on positive interactions? This is public safety not ballet. I don’t think the criminals are too interested in positive interactions. 

Transparent Government: make things easier to find on the website, make city finances more accessible, and understandable to the public, and make meeting minutes accessible. 

OK Stevie here you go

City Budget

City Agendas and Minutes

City Meetings and Work Sessions

Seriously can it get any easier than that? In fact the website was just revamped a few years ago for this very purpose. Problem already solved.

Separation of Church and Government: Will represent the values of all residents, no matter your affiliation or creed.

I’m really bothered by Mr. Adams obsession with separation of church and state. Steve Adams seems to have a deep hostility or out and out hatred towards people of faith. He mentions this in nearly every speech or publication. What is driving it? What the hell is he talking about? What religion is being forced on the city? Where is your evidence of this? Is the Pope in charge?

The very least Mr. Adams could do is explain himself. I favor the free exercise of religion as much as the next person but I’m totally unclear on how this effects city politics.

You can read more if you dare at http://www.steve4crystalmayor.com

There you have it; will Crystal choose wokeness or stay on the current path?

 

St. Louis Park Nightmare Part 1; Mayor Jake Spano

By Andrew Richter

Well, St. Louis Park is quickly overtaking New Hope as the worst city government outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul. This is the first in a series of articles on the matter starting with the politics and ambitions of their mayor.

Feom the city website:

Jake Spano was elected as Mayor in 2016 after a four-year term as Councilmember At Large B (2012-2016). His day job is as Deputy Secretary of State to Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon.

What? He serves as the deputy Secretary of State as well as mayor? How is this not a conflict of interest? Can the Education or MNDOT commissioner serve as mayor somewhere? You can’t serve two masters.

Prior to that, he was the marketing director for the City of St. Paul in Mayor Coleman’s administration and before that he served with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar overseeing statewide policy and leading her four state offices and staff.

In other words, he’s a DFL rising star. Look for this guy to run for higher office…..maybe soon.

To prove this we can see him speaking everywhere to promote his left-wing City. Here he is speaking at the CD5 DFL convention on St. Louis Park’s radical carbon cutting program.

 

Spano is also obsessed with liberal buzz words like “racial equity.” I’ll get into that in a future post but check out this statement from him:

As we conduct city business and make decisions that affect our community, we want to hear from the full range of people who represent our community.  To make that happen, it is important that we are deliberate and intentional about reaching out for input from people who were historically not part of the decision-making process. The result of St. Louis Park’s work on racial equity will result in more effective delivery of city services to all of our neighborhoods and make our community a more equitable, inclusive and welcoming place to call home.”

Huh? Is there a racial aspect to city services? Do whites have priority over 911 calls or do their roads get plowed first? This is just politically correct garbage that means nothing. Is this in your charter?

Mayor Spano is well-financed as shown HERE

So he has raised serious money and you can bet that he is seeking the support from the usual left-wing environmental groups, unions, and supporters of rannked choice voting.

This guy is a dangerous radical and needs to be stopped. Mr. Spano you will be watched here!

 

 

ReNae Bowman Should Resign

By Andrew Richter

It was just three short years ago when former Mayor ReNae Bowman’s allies on the Crystal City Council intimidated me to resign from the Planning Commission for telling the truth about a councilman’s behavior. Bowman praised these council members for their “courage” in attacking me. Well, now she is the chair of the Environmental Quality Commission and let’s look at some of her recent comments;

Her first comment was about the Crystal Ball last spring;

I’m sorry….white persons ball? Were there signs that said white only? Talk about delusional…..the council and volunteers work super hard to hold a city gala and get called racist for it. Where is there evidence of racism?

This next beauty is Bowman calling on council members to be held personally liable for the actions of others;

What? Personally responsible? Ms. Bowman you know damn well that the council doesn’t hire and fire officers, nor do they train officers. Police cadet programs are not administered by the city of Crystal. Besides, if you felt so strong about this why didn’t you propose to hold the city council personally responsible when you were the mayor? Opinions sure are different when you and your friends aren’t in charge…..

Her complete and total hatred of Mayor Jim Adams and Council Member Jeff Kolb is obvious here;

Using the mayor’s office for personal gain to grow his business? Where is the evidence of that? Calling Jeff Kolb a creep? OK it’s obvious you hate them but this is beyond hate.

But she saves this doozy for last;

Look at that? She, as the current chair of a commission and as the former mayor, is encouraging residents to falsify a survey. Think about that. How is this acceptable? This conduct can’t go unchallenged.

I publicly call on Ms Bowman to resign. If she refuses I want the city council to vote her out of her position. Let’s apply the same standard to her that was applied to me. I know she will play the victim like she always does but it’s time we stop being intimidated by her. Let’s confront her on her behavior. She is going to hate me, Mayor Adams, and the city council no matter what we do, and she doesn’t deserve the position she holds.

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Annexation

By Andrew Richter

Folks we’ve been harping on the Met Council and the League of Minnesota Cities lately, so I thought it was time to check out what is happening in Greater Minnesota by looking into what the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities is up to. And what did I find???? Check this out: They want Greater Minnesota to oppose Senate File 1795 because…..

SF 1749 prohibits a city from pursuing an annexation if the potential annexation area is covered by an orderly annexation agreement with another city

On paper this may sound reasonable, but what happens in practice is that a township will often put two cities against each other to get the best deal for the township, rather than what is best for the region’s development.

What? Best for the region’s development? And who is to decide that? Doesn’t a township have the right to decide for itself what is in their best interest?

Let them know that SF 1749 is harmful because:

• It stifles economic development, particularly in Greater Minnesota.
• It will prevent cities from having a say in how they develop, and instead gives townships disproportionate leverage in negotiating orderly annexation agreements.
• It would be a stunning restriction of property owner rights:
  • A landowner could be denied the right to connect with city services when building a home.
  • A business owner could be denied the right to build or expand a business.
  • A city may not be able to include property purchased for public purposes—such as for wastewater treatment, water supply or an industrial park—in its own boundaries.

Yeah right! What bunch of garbage! First off, economic development is not stifled by elected local government acting in the best interests of the people who voted for them. They have no obligation to cater to regional planners. Some of these towns and townships want to stay small, they don’t want to be carved up into bike paths and bus routes.

Townships have disproportionate leverage? Shouldn’t they? Cities should have it easier to “annex them?” If townships have no leverage, then eventually they are all going to be eaten up by the nearest big city.

A property rights defense are you kidding? Cities deny permits to build or expand all the time and they deny many communities the right to privately use well water, instead forcing residents “on the system.” And wouldn’t it be terrible that a city couldn’t use eminent domain or buy land. Doesn’t the government own enough?

Read the article HERE 

There’s plenty more where that came from!

The Story of New Brighton Part 1

By Andrew Richter

OK my friends it’s time for us to tackle yet another city. Now it’s the city of New Brighton. Now to tell the whole story here I have to do it in parts. This one is going to introduce you to the types of things that are going on there.

To set the stage here, New Brighton has elections in the odd years and after the 2015 election was considering a change to make their election in even years. Now my friends, if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know how much I hate odd year elections so you may think this something I’d jump at but how they presented doing it is the problem.

After introducing a change to city code, councilman Brian Strub made a curious amendment. He proposed to both lengthen and shorten the city council terms. The new mayor at the time, Val Johnson, had just been elected to a two-year term. Two council members had also been elected to four years terms that would be up in 2019. Strub’s proposal was to extend the mayor’s term to 2018 and shorten the terms of those elected in 2013 to three years so they’d be up in 2016.

Do you follow all that? How can they extend the terms of one member and lengthen the term of another? That makes no sense!

HERE is a link to the meeting. The discussion begin about an hour into the meeting. It’s an interesting discussion.

Heres one question; Is this even legal? Find out on the next blog post!

Brooklyn Park Pushes Racist Resolution

By Andrew Richter

The Brooklyn Park city council is out of control. At tonight’s meeting Racist Councilmember Susan Pha is going to introduce a resolution supporting immigrants and refugees.

Of course the devil is in the details. Few people if any will actually read the resolution. View it HERE of course on the last three pages. It is filled with hate-filled liberal divisive rhetoric but the last statement gets me:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Brooklyn Park strives to be a united and welcoming community strengthened by the extraordinary diversity of our residents. We stand against division, bigotry, hate, and fear. We do not tolerate discrimination, hate speech or violent acts committed against any individual or community.

Then you should take a stand against a washed-up Pop star calling for people to bomb the White House or looting when a conservative speaker is on a college campus. Where’s your advocacy of diversity and free speech Mrs. Pha?

We will advocate for the civil and human rights, freedoms and interests of all of the members of our community, regardless of skin color, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, country of origin, sexual orientation, lifestyle preference, economic status or any other identity.

In other words, any dissenting opinions are racist and need to be silenced.

Of course, the truth is Pha is the racist. She is the one who seeks to divide us among racial lines when it comes to every issue; housing, transit, immigration etc. She speaks for the PC police. It is people like Pha who PREVENT a rational discussion about immigration or race. She is a disgrace. I’m not afraid of your race-baiting Mrs. Pha and you won’t silence me. Why don’t you go back and run one of your fake companies.

Despite the stupidity of this resolution, I expect that it will PASS. Yes I think it will pass! I especially think this after reading Mayor Jeff Lunde’s rants. Of course I’m not objective in reading Lunde’s comments. I think he is a useless mayor. He claims to be a conservative and he is anything but that. Check out these “conservative” comments:

Lunde recently wrote a meandering and contradictory article on the issue. He said:

The Brooklyn Park City Council has not declared the City as a sanctuary city.  The City has, however, adopted policies over the years that are sensitive to how we interact with our diverse population.

So what’s that mean? Sensitive?

The City of Brooklyn Park has NO authority to enforce federal laws, nor do we have the authority to change or influence them.  Police Chief Craig Enevoldsen has repeatedly stressed, “we’re not in the business of looking for undocumented immigrants or asking immigration status.”

Do you see the code language here? Lunde refers to illegal aliens as “undocumented immigrants.” Also look at the inconsistency; you are not a sanctuary city, yet you don’t look for illegal aliens or ask their status. Isn’t that a sanctuary city?

Check out this comment:

If, however, someone who does not have documentation regarding immigration status is stopped for something like a routine traffic violation, nothing would be reported to immigration authorities.

Sounds like a sanctuary city to me!

Finally, I completely understand that many of our city’s immigrants are experiencing fear and anxiety.

Why? What are you fearing? If you are here legally then what’s the problem? Enforcing the law is enforcing the law.

This is one of the many reasons I refused to vote for Mr. Lunde when he ran for senate. Some on my side have criticized me for this claiming a write in vote is a vote for a Democrat, but I’m tired of choosing between DFL and DFL light. Lunde is no conservative, period.

We will update the vote tonight!

Lunde comments are HERE

Bowman the Sore Loser with a Capital “L” Part 1

By Andrew Richter

My friends, I’ve said this for years; you can tell someone’s character in defeat. We all know ReNae Bowman’s has a lot of class it’s just all low. Perhaps it has never been lower with her latest facebook rant. Her lies are so vast and so complete that I have to make three posts about it!

Now I don’t know where to begin here; first of all I dont know what happened to Charlie and neither does she. However, in her arrogance she claimed that it’s probably without merit. What do you have ESP or something. Later she says this;

Of course it’s a personnel matter! Mr. Hanson has privacy here and there’s no reason that his employment termination should be out there for Bowman to see. Then she says that she hoped he sues the mayor! What kind of a sociopath hopes someone gets sued?

The funny thing about it is that the Crystal city charter is very clear; the mayor and the council do not decide personnel matters. It says so very clearly in Chapter 2 section 2.11;

So as you can see, neither the mayor nor the council can fire Charlie Hanson. As the former mayor, one would think Bowman would know that. She’s just lying about the council to try and make it look like there is something terrible going on and so she can trash the people in charge. She is simply an angry and bitter old politician who is jealous of the people who defeated her.

Stay tuned for part 2!

We Make Our Final Case

By Andrew Richter

Folks, I know that the presidential race and some people down in the dumps and with Donald Trump and Mrs. Clinton that is understandable. But remember what we’ve been preaching for years here; the local races are what matter the most. They aren’t the sexiest jobs but they are the most important.

In Crystal the choices couldn’t be clearer. You can choose four good and honest people; Jim Adams, Casey Peak, Nancy LaRoche, and Julie Deshler. This will keep Crystal moving forward in a positive way. I’m very proud of the way they’ve conducted themselves. Their opponents have been partisan, they’ve name called, they’ve lied, they will do anything to smear their opponents in order to win.

Mayor Jim Adams has run a good and positive campaign making his case for changing Crystal financially in contrast to ReNae Bowman and her message of hate. Adams wrapped up his case on his facebook page:

In my final post before election day, I want to thank every one of you who has supported me, both during this election, and during the last four years as mayor. It truly has been an honor to serve, and I hope that I’ll get another chance to do it again for another term.

I made a deliberate decision to run a positive campaign and not respond to the negativity, name-calling, and deliberate misrepresentation of facts from my opponent. Time will tell if that was the best election strategy, but it was a strategy that would allow me to focus on the positive and feel good about the results, either way.

I love this city and have always done what I think is in the best interest of its citizens. That’s what I promised to do when I ran the first time, and that’s my promise if elected again.
Thank you all, and God bless.

Jim

Thank you Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Casey Peak also wrapped up has campaign with these thoughts:

With election day quickly approaching I’m reflecting on the past 4 years. I made a vow to fight for people’s rights and liberties and can honestly say I feel good about the results. I have had debates on everything from people’s rights to provide for their own food (backyard chickens); to whether or not someone leaving their cars on to warm up in the winter times warranted a collective right of the city to be able to enter their cars and take their keys, locking them out of their cars. I am proud to say at every turn I voted for the people’s liberties in this fine city.

At times it was rough. At times I questioned how much good I could do since part of being in office restricts my freedom to speak my mind. Especially when lies and misinformation are told. My neighbors are not tools nor are they dumb. They deserve honesty and truth. After 4 years and countless hours, in reflection of my deeds, I can say I made an impact. And I did it with honesty and integrity. I can say indeed I showed citizens that we still have people who care about Our rights. I will never lie or mislead you for personal and political gain.

I have been honored and blessed to serve my community, friends, and neighbors with my actions. I am proud to include you all in that respect and would be honored to serve for another 4 years. I would ask you all to raise your voice in support by casting a vote this Tuesday for me again. I will always put the rights of my citizens first.

Thank you Casey. What a contrast you are to that pompous John Budziszewski.

Nancy LaRoche has been a class act and put out this video thanking her supporters:

Thanks Nancy!

And what more can we say about Julie Deshler. She’s a class act, a great volunteer, and just one of the best people I know. Ward 4 couldn’t have a better representative. She also made a closing statement we’d like to share:

Once again Julie, thanks for serving. We have a great city council in Crystal and we have a great chance to keep it that way! Get out and support these people on Tuesday!

Saving Crystal $6 Million

By Andrew Richter

Its time we put a price tag on what paying cash for the Crystal Public Works Building saved city taxpayers. This is a sheet of debt service from the city on what bonding would have cost:

Notice that nearly $6 million would have had to have been paid in interest and the building wouldn’t be paid off until 2036. That’s $6 million out of your pocket going not to police and fire, or parks, or roads but going to pay interest on a building.

That’s what would have happened had John Budziszewski and ReNae Bowman had their way. Johnny B voted to bond the entire building with $10.5 million sitting in the bank and Bowman said she would have bonded “at least” $10 million.

The actions of Mayor Jim Adams and the current council saved the city $6 million! Let me say that again; $6 million! Think about it folks; why pay over $19 million for a $13.5 million building? Thank you to Mayor Adams and the council!

 

Great Letter to the Editor!

By Andrew Richter

Now my friends this is one of the best letters to the editor I’ve ever read and if confirms everything we say about ReNae Bowman:

To the Editor:

As a longtime resident, I was looking to get involved in my community. In April, I joined my local DFL caucus. I volunteered to be on their candidate endorsement committee. We had a long list of candidates running for various offices to interview for possible support. This is where I had my first encounter with Crystal mayoral candidate ReNae Bowman.

Bowman walked in and was extremely bold. I was taken aback by her behavior. It was clear that she harbored a great deal of resentment toward the current council and Mayor Adams. She bad mouthed them and called them names all the while claiming on her website that she’s running a “no labels” campaign focused on “issues and a brighter future.” The truth is the exact opposite. She felt it was a personal attack that the Human Rights Commission was no longer active, despite the lack of activity and any real authority. I begrudgingly accepted that the DFL would endorse her and I stood with my chosen party.

I am privileged to serve on the city of Crystal’s Community Outreach Task Force, where I was elected the chair. It was here that I encountered Bowman again. This time she bombarded me with emails and Facebook messages about what our new task force was doing. I had personally invited her to attend our meetings on numerous occasions. After a series of emails where I tried to explain that this task force was new and finding our footing, she called me “judgmental,” called our task force “secretive,” and accused me of being a “Republican plant.” Her behavior was childish. Any questions I posed to her were met with disparaging remarks about Mayor Adams and she refused to address any concerns I had with her time as mayor. I do not believe that Bowman will work with anyone who might disagree with her.

I’ve decided I’m not supporting her for Crystal mayor. In this election I don’t care about party endorsement, I’m voting for the best candidate. I call on all of my friends regardless of political party, to support Mayor Jim Adams in his re-election bid.

Shelley Appel,

Crystal

Wow! What an incredible letter! Thank you to Shelley for her courage to write this and for her volunteer work for the city. I wonder who ReNae will blame for this, of course we all know nothing is ever her fault.

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