Hope is a journey, not a destination

In 1998 then Mayor Norm Coleman, along with leaders of St. Paul Companies, had worked out a development agreement to expand the existing footprint of St. Paul Companies.

As envisioned, when completed, the project would have added nearly 1,000 new employees, a new office tower and a parking ramp across St. Peter Street from its downtown headquarters.

Standing in the way of this project was a hot dog.

Or, more specifically, a building owned by a family that had a restaurant that used to make hot dogs:  The Coney Island.

Then City Councilmember Chris Coleman lead the fight to stop the project.

In doing so he railed against the interests of corporate America against those of the people.

He sided with local preservationists who insisted that the building was a historic landmark and the family that owned the building.

In the end it was the people, and not the big corporations, that won the day as City Councilmember Chris Coleman bested Mayor Norm Coleman and the project was shelved.

Nearly 20 years later it is Mayor Chris Coleman who is standing on the side of corporate America against the people.

This time, however, there is no City Councilmember with the first name “Chris” standing up against a Mayor Coleman or corporate America.

This time the Councilmember with the first name “Chris” as in Chris Tolbert is standing with corporate America to roll over tens of thousands of neighbors who are objecting to the Ford site zoning plan.

By now you have heard the story.  This plan will not just add 10,000 more people to a plot of land that is less than 130 acres in size.

It will add up to 30,000 new vehicle trips a day to neighborhood streets.

It will remove recreational fields.  It fails to dramatically increase greenspace.

Ten story high-rises will blanket the site and block the view of the Mississippi River viewscape.

It will take, by some accounts, $275 million in taxpayer subsidies and put it in the pockets of private developers.

Worse, because of the City’s claims that it is effectively being held hostage by Ford Motor Company, it will reward that same company with an indemnification that means any future claims for pollution will be the responsibility of taxpayers – not Ford Motor Company.

That indemnification is called the Ford Site Public Realm Master Plan.

Time and time again the City (lead by Mayor Chris Coleman) and those advocating the hardest for this plan (lead by City Councilmember Chris Tolbert) have insisted their hands are tied when it comes to negotiating with Ford about what a potential developer may, in the future, be able to build on the site.

Which is remarkable that both politicians, Chris and Chris, are unwilling to stand up to these type of bullying tactics.

Especially when being bullied by corporate America.

In his campaign for Governor the current Mayor takes great pride in his City – and he should.  He has done many great things for it as both a Councilmember and a Mayor.

He has built an impressive resume and a solid argument for why he could be a successful Governor for our state.

Yet, he is quiet on the impact of corporate America on tens of thousands of residents in his City.

There is no mention of his hands being tied by corporate interests headquartered in Detroit that will result in a zoning plan that will destroy the lives of thousands of residents living in his City – St. Paul.

Where is that populist rhetoric that tells Ford Motor Company, “My City’s interests, not yours, are what I represent.”

I remember the days when Councilmember Chris Coleman took the battle to a powerful Mayor and powerful corporate interests – and won.

He angered a lot of powerful people in St. Paul.  So many that people wondered whether he had much of a political future after that.

Yet, he stood up for the little guy nearly 20 years ago in stopping what many conceived was a badly conceived plan – despite the risk to his political future.

Today, there is no Councilmember Chris standing up for the little guy.

The question is, will Mayor Chris do it for him?

There’s this thing in politics called a “Red Herring.”

It’s a deliberate effort to mislead or deceive people into thinking you are doing something to help them when are, more likely, doing the exact opposite.

Which might be all you need to know about the proposed amendment that Councilmember Chris Tolbert says he intends to offer on the mass density development called the Ford Site Zoning and Public Realm Master Plan.

Unfortunately, this political stunt demands more explanation. 

Councilmember Tolbert claims his Amendment will reduce building heights on the Ford site from 110 feet to 75 feet.

Not exactly.

What it does is put a gun to the head of neighborhood residents who have been demanding far more greenspace than what the City is currently proposing on the Ford Plant site.

Want more greenspace?

Under the Tolbert Amendment the only way you get it is if you agree to building heights of 110 feet or more.

That’s not an Amendment. 

That’s political blackmail.

Tolbert knows that this is an Amendment to nowhere.

It does nothing.  It accomplishes nothing.

Reducing the heights of buildings from 110 feet to 75 feet isn’t a compromise, either.

It’s cynical effort to suggest that he has “listened” to the community and its concerns about buildings blocking out the viewscape along the Mississippi River.

The rest of the “improvements” he writes about in a Sunday Op-ed in the Pioneer Press are all things the City typically requires on any major development project in St. Paul.

In other words, a pig with lipstick is still a pig.

The amendment does nothing to address the numerous failings of this zoning proposal:

• It doesn’t reduce density from 10,000 residents to far, far less.
• It doesn’t address the massive congestion that will take place on neighborhood streets from 30,000 more vehicle trips each day.
• It doesn’t address the gross lack of greenspace.
• It doesn’t protect Saint Paul taxpayers from the City giving away hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to private developers.
• It doesn’t provide for a robust mixed-use development on the Ford Plant site

This is an amendment that creates a false choice:  You can have greenspace but only if you agree to 11 story  buildings.

It is a cruel deception at best.

The right thing for Councilmember Tolbert to do is to move to delay the vote on the Ford Plant zoning plan until after the November Mayoral election.

Let a new Administration look at this plan with a fresh set of eyes.

That’s the right thing to do.

If you agree, please contact Councilmember Tolbert and tell him to DELAY the vote on the Saint Paul Ford Plant zoning plan.

Phone: 651.266.8630

Email: Chris.tolbert@ci.stpaul.mn.us and ward3@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Public service is an honorable profession.

It is one that we, as Americans, do not value enough.

Public service isn’t just about being a politician or an elected official.

Teacher, police officer, firefighter, EMS personnel, soldier, tree trimmer, city planner, legislative aide and a host of other jobs in and out of government, and not decided upon at the ballot box are important and vital areas of public service in American life.

Being an elected official, however, comes with its own duties and responsibilities.  In many ways those duties and responsibilities can affect the way we live our lives in our communities.

For good or bad.

Such is the Curious Case of Councilmember Chris Tolbert.

He is the Ward Three Councilmember who has the most impact on the outcome of the future zoning of the Ford Plant site in Highland Park.

The same City Councilmember who won’t delay a vote on the plan until after the next Mayor is sworn into office in January.

Why won’t he delay the vote?

He has suggested that it is because the Ford Motor Company will soon bring its property to market.

How he knows this, and why it matters, only he seems to know.

Our City Councilmember, who is entrusted with a vote that could decimate the value of your home, create a deluge of new car and truck traffic on currently quiet neighborhood roads and remove the one last remaining hope for a historic expansion of green space in Saint Paul, won’t tell us much of anything about his position on this issue.

Does he support 10-story high buildings on the Ford site?

Silence.

Does he support a radical expansion of park space, green space and recreational space on the Ford Site?

Silence.

Does he support reducing the amount of population density from 10,000 people on less than 140 acres of land to something reasonable and less radical?

Silence.

These questions were all asked of Councilmember Tolbert by myself and a few neighbors at his City Hall Office last week.

We even asked him to delay the vote to allow the people of St. Paul, and particularly those in his ward, to better understand the full impact of the city’s plan for zoning on the Ford site.

At this question he quickly found his voice.

NO.

But, I don’t need Chris Tolbert to tell me where he stands on the Ford Plant Zoning Plan anymore.

I will just take his public statements at face value.

And, his public support for the Saint Paul Ford Plant zoning plan tell me this.

• Chris Tolbert supports mass density on the Ford Plant site adding up to 10,000 more residents on less than 140 acres of land
• Chris Tolbert supports 10 story buildings on the Ford Plant site.
• Chris Tolbert supports 30,000 more vehicle trips EACH DAY on our neighborhood streets.
• Chris Tolbert supports hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to corporate development interests.

What doesn’t Chris Tolbert support?

• Chris Tolbert does not support delaying the final vote on the Ford Plant Site.

I have voted for Chris Tolbert for his re-election to the City Council.  I believe I have supported his campaign financially.

I never expected anything from him in return for that support nor should I have expected anything.

I don’t pretend to know why a City Councilmember, on the most impactful issue in a generation in his Ward, cannot find his voice to tell the people he represents what he stands for – or what he stands against.

This much, however, I do know – you can make a difference.

First, tell the City Council you OPPOSE the Ford Site Zoning and Public Realm Master Plan by clicking the link below.

Make sure you make it clear that you OPPOSE the Ford Site Zoning and Public Realm Master Plan and you want the City Council to DELAY the vote until a new Mayor is sworn into office in January:

https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-economic-development/planning/ford-site-21st-century-community/provide-your-0

Second, contact City Councilmember Chris Tolbert at the following email addresses and phone number.

Ask Councilmember Tolbert to DELAY the vote on the Ford Plant Zoning Plan AND that you OPPOSE the current Ford Plant Zoning Plan.

Phone: 651.266.8630

Email: Chris.tolbert@ci.stpaul.mn.us and ward3@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Don’t wait until Chris Tolbert finds his voice.

Use yours now.

Before it’s too late.

 

 

 

 

It’s often been said that you can’t fight City Hall.

Yet, last evening, more than 200 of my neighbors showed up at a neighborhood bar to affirmatively state they can, and they will.

The issue?  The City of St. Paul’s incessant drive to rezone the former site of the St. Paul Ford Motor Company Plant into one of the most unremarkable and unoriginal mass density development projects in recent memory.

Not since the State of Minnesota built something called The Metrodome has such a hideous vision for the future been foisted upon the citizens of a community.

Imagine if you will up to 10,000 people crammed onto a piece of land that is 0.21875 of a square mile.

Goldfish have a better chance of thriving in a cereal bowl than 10,000 people do on 0.21875 of a square mile.

Last night more than 200 of my neighbors from throughout St. Paul came together to make it clear that they will not give up in their efforts to stop the City of St. Paul from implementing a zoning vision that will fail the “Once-in-a-Lifetime” opportunity on the Saint Paul Ford Plant site.

We were joined by six candidates for St. Paul Mayor:  Trahern Crews, Elizabeth Dickinson,Tom Goldstein, Pat Harris, Timothy Holden and Dai Thao.

Each of these candidates took time out from their campaigns to spend time with constituents, listening to them, not giving speeches.

It was a remarkable opportunity for citizens to get one-on-one personal contact with the men and women who may become our city’s next Mayor.

It underscored just how valuable it is in a democracy for the people to have these intimate moments of communication between those who are our elected officials, and those who seek to represent us.

Also in attendance, even though this project is nowhere near her City Council Ward, was 7^th Ward City Councilmember Jane Prince.

Like the candidates for Mayor who attended, Councilmember Prince came to listen and learn – not to endorse the vision or position of any particular person or group.

One cannot be more proud of elected officials like Councilmember Prince, and Mayoral Candidates Crews, Dickinson, Goldstein, Harris, Holden and Thao for taking the time to do just that:  Listen and learn.

We stand at a remarkable point in time as it pertains to the St. Paul Ford Plant site.

On one hand you have a zoning vision that does not have the support of the vast majority of the community.

On the other hand you have the Ford Motor Company dictating to some on the Saint Paul City Council, and presumably the Mayor’s Administration, what they will or won’t do to clean up land they polluted on the banks of the Mississippi River…

Not to mention surrounded by thousands of families and children who call St. Paul our home.

Fighting City Hall is never an enjoyable experience.  It is frustrating.  Maddening.

It sometimes challenges commonsense.

For, what are citizens to do if their elected officials will not disclose what they intend to do on the most important issue to their community in a generation?

It’s nearly inconceivable that any elected official would not tell his constituents anything about where he stands on a project that will exact a dreadful toll on tens of thousands of homeowners.

Last night I heard one neighbor after another ask, “Where is our Councilmember?” “Where does he stand?”  “Why won’t he make his voice heard?”

I don’t know.  I can’t speak for him.

Neighbors want a Ford Plant vision we can be proud of and that builds upon and expands the diversity of people, culture and history of St. Paul.

A vision that makes our community the envy of the nation in harnessing the power of this polluted land into acres and acres of greenspace and recreational opportunity for generations to come.

An urban land development that combines the best of mixed use of retail, light industrial, affordable housing, multi-family housing and single-family housing that will expand our city’s tax base without stealing financial resources and opportunities from other neighbors and neighborhoods throughout St. Paul.

So, what can we do?

First, put Tuesday, August 29^th from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. on your calendar.  It’s the night that our City Councilmember Chris Tolbert will hold a Town Hall meeting on the proposed Ford Site Zoning Plan.

It will be held at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church at 700 Snelling Avenue South.

While we likely will not hear where our Councilmember stands on this issue, we should take the opportunity to respectfully honor our end of the bargain as citizens to make our voice heard with dignity and responsibility.

Second, you can contact Councilmember Tolbert now and tell him to “Stop the Ford Plan. Rethink the Development.” 

While he has been unclear and unwilling to share with neighbors his position on this project, he has been very clear and willing to let us know he will not seek to delay the planned September 27^th vote of the City Council on the Ford Plant zoning plan.

Call his office and email him below with this simple message:  “I oppose the Ford Plant zoning plan and I want you to delay the September 27^th City Council vote until after a new Mayor is sworn into office in January.”

Phone: 651-266-8630

Email Address: chris.tolbert@ci.stpaul.mn.us and ward3@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Third, you can get involved by putting up a lawn sign and helping us canvass Ward 3 in the days ahead.

To learn more please stay tuned and email Neighbors for a Livable St. Paul at livablesaintpaul@gmail.com

Fighting City Hall shouldn’t have to be the work of citizens.

City Hall should fight for us.

When it doesn’t we have two choices:  We can fight or we can complain.

More than 200 of St. Paul’s citizens came together last night to make it clear: We choose to fight.

I woke up this morning in Fargo, North Dakota after spending an evening with over 200 REALTORS with the Fargo-Moorhead Association of REALTORS (FM REALTORS).

The event was their annual Awards Gala in which they recognized their members for their outstanding contribution to the industry, but also to the community in which they live and work.

This October 7^th Spare Key, www.sparekey.org, will hold its first-ever gala in Fargo.  We are calling it “Carnivale for a Cause” and it promises to be a fun and exciting hybrid between Mardi Gras and Rio.

Bell Bank is the Presenting Sponsor of this fun event, and FM REALTORS is our Presenting Partner and we could not be prouder of the association that Spare Key has with both of these fine organizations.

At last night’s Awards Gala, I was struck by the passion and commitment of every single REALTOR in that room to give back to their community.

That passion is neither surprising or unexpected.

I have seen it from thousands of men and women in the REALTOR community, and the entire associated housing, banking, mortgage, title and financial services industry during my time as Executive Director of Spare Key.

REALTORS don’t just give back to the community they help build the community.

There were multiple awards last evening to recognize REALTORS who have gone above and beyond in building their community.

Scott Breidenbach was given the Distinguished Service Award.

Barb Grande received the Jim Fay Award.

Chad Johnson and Nate Anderson were the finalists for the Business Partner of the Year Candidate which was ultimately given to Chad.

Of all of the prestigious awards presented to REALTORS last night the one which reflects, most deeply, the commitment of a REALTOR to his or her community is the FM REALTOR of the Year Award.

For that there were four nominees:  Dawn Cruff, Kevin Fisher, Chris Feickert and Hollie Kietzer.

As I listened to each candidate be described for his or her efforts to make a difference in the lives of their industry, and their community, I was once again reminded of the goodness of people.

At Spare Key, during my nearly six years as Executive Director, I am reminded of that on a day-to-day basis.

Our mission of providing housing grants to families with critically ill or seriously injured children in the hospital is 20 years old this September.

By the end of this year we will have served almost 3,500 families with nearly $3.5 million in housing grants.

Of those grants, nearly 1,800 of them have been made since 2013 underscoring the remarkable journey this organization has taken, with REALTORS and so many others by our side.

Of the four nominees for REALTOR of the Year I know one of them, Chris Feickert, very well.

Chris has been leading the charge to help raise the profile of Spare Key and work to help us build awareness, excitement and enthusiasm for our “Carnivale for a Cause.”

There is no question that Chris is passionate about her industry, and her community.  She oozes passion for serving others.

From the first time you meet her until the next time you meet her there is no question that Chris gets things done and she expects nothing back in return.

I suspect the same is true of the recipient of this year’s FM REALTOR of the Year Award, Kevin Fisher.

In listening to the description of each of the candidates there is no doubt they represent the highest qualities necessary to have been nominees for this award and to be the ultimate recipient of the award.

Being a nominee or the recipient of the REALTOR of the Year Award isn’t about how many houses you sell, it’s about how many lives you change.

Which is why Spare Key is so proud to be associated with the FM REALTORS Association.

For those of you wanting to learn more about the “Carnivale for a Cause” please go to this link:  https://www.sparekey.org/events/carnivale-for-a-cause

Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome will be our band, Cori Jensen from BIG 98.7 will be our Master of Ceremonies, Shane Cullen will be our Auctioneer and hundreds of REALTORS and others from the Fargo-Moorhead Community will be our guests.

If you want cool music set against a background of Mardi Gras and Rio infused food, drinks and entertainment you can’t do much better than Carnivale for a Cause.

It will be a great time and great event to raise money for a great cause – Spare Key.

Most of all it will be a great time to be reminded, once again, that behind every family that Spare Key serves stands a company, an association an individual who doesn’t just work hard or build a business or make or create a living for themselves or someone else.

They are all building a community.

In doing so, they help us all “Bounce and not Break.”

What do you do when your President’s a racist?

It’s a question I never imagined ever having to ask myself.  Yet, today there is absolutely no question in my mind that President Donald Trump is a racist.

Just writing that and reading it back to myself sickens and nauseates me.

I am not new to the disdain for Donald Trump party.

My thoughts about this feckless leader of America have been uneasy from the first days of his election as our nation’s President.

Despite my opposition to him, I felt obligated to give him a chance as America’s President.

In fact, I argued across at the home of Sir Richard Branson, across his dinner table, for over an hour as to why he and others, including myself, should give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

I encouraged many of my friends, including my own children, to give Trump an opportunity to prove us all wrong.  That, perhaps, the Office of President would transform him in some necessary way to be the leader America, and the world, needed him to be.

It was my hope that those surrounding Trump, apart from the likes of Steve Bannon, would not just temper Trump, but would create a space in which he could learn to not just act Presidential, but be Presidential.

I was wrong.

President Donald Trump is a racist.

He is an anti-Semite.  He is a misogynist.

He is a threat to America.  To Democracy.  And, to the world.

I have many, many friends who supported Donald Trump. 

I had many friends who supported Hillary Clinton. 

I chose not to support either Trump or Clinton.

For those who voted for Donald Trump I know it wasn’t an endorsement of Donald Trump as racist, anti-Semite or misogynist.

They had legitimate reasons for voting for him and I respect those reasons.

I also know that many of them are as appalled as I am by who he has revealed himself to be.

Even more so disappointed that he cannot actually be the President he promised them he would be. 

Incapable of focusing on the job he was elected to do.  Unable to be the leader they wanted him to be.

I don’t speak for them.  Or anybody else.

I speak for myself.

But, I also speak as the father of two children who cannot accept that a man like this will be allowed to continue to be the President of the United States of America.

Two children who see in this man nothing they believe in about the world that they live in or the beliefs that define their young lives.

I am no longer able, or willing, to give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt.

There is a red line that human beings cross.

Donald Trump may be President but he is a human being.

That red line has been crossed by Donald Trump, the human being.

It has been crossed by Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America.

So, what do you do when your President’s a racist?

You focus on what must be done to remove a racist President.

It is now time for members of Congress – particularly Republicans in the House and Senate – to disavow this racist President.

Not just to disavow them but to join with their colleagues across the aisle to determine how to remove him from office in a way that is consistent with the Rule of Law and respects the Constitution of the United States of America.

The more Republicans that publicly disavow this President the weaker his credibility.  The weaker his capacity to govern.  The weaker his justification for remaining in office.

This is not, despite the media’s best efforts to make it so, a Republican “problem.” 

It is not a Democratic “opportunity”.

This is a threat to American democracy and both parties, and its leaders, must do what America needs them to do.

Lead America.

Stand together to remove this threat to America.

If Donald Trump won’t leave office because Republicans have abandoned him then it is time to take the next logical step and impeach this President.

A President is in the White House who is a racist.  An anti-Semite.  A misogynist.

If all of these things are not impeachable offenses in America then we have lost our reason for being.

Donald Trump may be the President of the United States of America.

Donald Trump should not be the President of the United States of America.

It’s time to tell Donald Trump “You’re Fired!”

 

 

Don’t call them Nazi sympathizers.  Call them what they are:  Nazis.

Don’t call them White Nationalists.  Call them what they are:  Terrorists.

I don’t need Donald Trump to tell me what a Nazi is, or for that matter, what qualifies as a terrorist.

If he isn’t capable of knowing the difference then shame on him.

If we aren’t willing to call it out for what it is then shame on us.

I watched the video and images of these patriotic fakers and selective constitutionalists with their Tiki torches and “I live in my parent’s basement”  Xbox chants of “Blood and Soil” and I shake my head.

If this is the start of a new movement in America we had best be prepared for a wave of idiocy we haven’t seen the likes of since the days grown adults walked around with sheets over their body to hide their cowardice from the outside world.

The snarling faces of men and women who claim they fear the loss of the white race in America are no less a threat to our democracy than a radical Islamic terrorist who seeks to destroy our way of life.

Those gathered in Virginia and marched with their hands raised in Nazi salutes walked through the blood of American patriots who defended freedom and liberty from fascism.

The same blood that gave them the right to defile the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of American men and women.

White punks marched in a show of force to prove that they have something to say. 

All we should have heard was this word:  HATE.

That’s all they represent.  Hate.

Lots of it.  And, hate towards anybody who doesn’t look like them.  Sound like them. Believe like them.

These are people who claim they live their life by the Constitution.  That they are only standing up for the Constitution and their rights as American citizens.

They believe in nothing but themselves.

And, their hate.

Senator John McCain has called these false actors of democracy nothing more than “Traitors.”

He is, of course, right.

They are traitors.

Traitors to anything and everything they claim to stand for.

There are other traitors in our midst.  Those who hide behind clever rhetoric and sneer at those who don’t “get it” when it comes to America.

They are the so-called “Nationalists” who mock “Globalists” and whatever else it is that the alt-Right thinks they are smarter and better at than the rest of America.

Deep down these are fearful men and women.  They lack courage.  Conviction.  They lack any true belief other than they resent anyone else who doesn’t look like them or act like them.

There are no larger principles that khaki and military clad faux patriotic racists and fascists stood for in Virginia.

They stood for Hitler.  They stood for Fascism.  They stood for Terror.

I have often written that we should call Evil by its name.

It is time we call these people by their names.

Nazis. Fascists.  Terrorists.

I don’t need anybody to educate me about why they feel the way they feel.

It’s a feeling called hate.

Whatever the reason for their hate there is no justification for them to believe they are entitled to harness it against those they hate.

America has had many bad days in its history.

We have seen African Americans hung from trees by white cowards in white sheets who then laughed at their treachery.

Native Americans have been murdered and slaughtered and forced from their lands to make way for white men and women.

Hispanics are hounded and harassed by those who want them to return to their native land and to be forcefully deported if necessary.

Muslims, Somalians, Hmong and millions of other newer generations of American immigrants have been persecuted and punished for simply wishing to live in a country that promised them a better life.

These are our many, many bad days.

Add to those bad days Charlottesville, Virginia.

But, we have had many good days in our nation’s history.

Times when brave and courageous Americans stood against tyrants.  When fearful Americans summoned the conviction to march against war – take a stand against racism – and rise against injustice and inequality.

Those are the times we need right now.

I don’t need any President to tell me what my obligation is an American.

Nor do you.

 

It’s often been said that “What you don’t know can hurt you.”

When it comes to the City of St. Paul’s proposed radical mass density development scheme for the empty St. Paul Ford Plant site there’s an awful lot we don’t know.

In fact, any number of data practices requests have been submitted to the City of St. Paul trying to get information that St. Paul taxpayers entitled to know.

Information that might explain why politicians and policymakers are hell bent on getting the St. Paul City Council to rubberstamp the vote of the St. Paul Planning Commission to create an urban development nightmare of epic proportions.

What is it we don’t know that we should know about the current state of the Ford Plant site in St. Paul?

More importantly, what should we know that hasn’t been disclosed to the media or taxpayers about the real reasons behind the City of St. Paul’s incessant march to passing a zoning plan for a piece of property they don’t own?

What is the true level of pollution at the Ford Plant site?

We know that the City of St. Paul, Ford Motor Company and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency have agreed that current mitigation plans are sufficient to address pollution at the Ford Plant site to accommodate certain types of development.

What we don’t know is to what level of mitigation would taxpayers expect to be achieved if the City of St. Paul were to insist that Ford Motor Company clean the site up to a state in which more single-family housing could be built on the site.

Additionally, under other circumstances would it not make sense to demand that Ford Motor Company clean up their site to a much higher level given the environmental sensitivity of the Mississippi River bluffs and the groundwater systems that feed directly into the river?

There is great controversy in northern Minnesota about a mining project and the potential impact of runoff into the groundwater and the BWCA.

Yet, we have yet to hear any conclusive statements from the City of St. Paul or Ford Motor Company that the types of pollutants and contaminants that were dumped into the ground over nearly 100 years will not leach into the groundwater or the Mississippi River.

Furthermore, why won’t the City of St. Paul and Ford Motor Company come clean about the real reasons for the decision not to build more single-family housing on the Ford Plant site?

It’s not because the market won’t support more single-family housing.  The fact is the controversy over tear-downs in the neighborhoods surrounding the Ford Plant site prove that argument to be false.  The reason for the tear downs is because the current single-family housing stock is not meeting market demand.

The real reason is that Ford Motor Company doesn’t want to pay for a level of brownfield mitigation that would not only cost them more money but might make them liable for future damages if they do not achieve a much higher level of mitigation.

That the City of St. Paul would allow this is striking given the current Mayor’s strong environmental record and advocacy and the tremendously fragile ecosystem in the area surrounding the Saint Paul Ford Plant site.

Is the significant history of Native American activity in this area being adequately explored?

Even a casual observer understands the enormous spiritual and historical significance of the Mississippi River to Native Americans in Minnesota.

The history of the Dakota tribe in and along the Mississippi River might well be directly impacted by the plans of the City of St. Paul to develop the Ford Plant site in the way they are pursuing.

While there are no clear records that prove that the Ford Plant site is historically significant to Native American tribes in Minnesota there is clear evidence that Native American activity and trading took place in this area.

To the extent that this area has been examined by state and federal entities to ensure that the rights and claims of Native Americans are being protected has yet to be disclosed by the City of St. Paul or the Ford Motor Company.

Any potential developer is going to want to be assured with absolute certainty that any project they may pursue is not going to run into the prospect that the Ford Motor site may contain historically and spiritually significant claims by Native Americans.

Saint Paul residents will want the same assurance.  Far too many Native American sites in Minnesota, and across the country, have been simply ignored or destroyed for the sake of “progress”.  The loss to the Native American community and our state and nation is immeasurable.

It ought to be a priority of the City of St. Paul, Ford Motor Company and the St. Paul community to have complete assurance that this matter has been fully reviewed and considered.

What has been the cost to taxpayers so far?

Public relations consultants, outside development consultants, travels to Europe and elsewhere, staff costs are just a few of the things that the City of St. Paul has spent money on so far as it relates to the St. Paul Ford Plant site.

While it is true that some outside entities have helped cover these costs there shouldn’t be any reason not to include those expenses, as well as those expended by the City, and presented to the public.

Are we talking a few thousand dollars?  A few million dollars?

Where did the money come from?  Who made the decision to spend that money?  Was it diverted from other projects that were put on the backburner while advocates for the City’s Ford Plant vision pumped more and more money into the project?

Where are the contracts for outside consultants?  How about the communication involved with those contracts? 

In addition, what are the plans, strategies and tactics that were developed and executed by the city and those consultants?  Is the public entitled to see them and examine them and any communication between the consultants and city officials?

It would seem a reasonable request that should be easily provided to the public and to the media.

What role does Fresh Energy, District Energy, Every-Green Energy and Xcel Energy have in this project?

Fresh Energy is a non-profit that has been at the center of driving the radical mass density vision of the St. Paul Ford Plant site.  So, too, has District Energy and its subsidiary, Ever-Green Energy.

Each of these entities stands to gain something form the current vision at the Ford Plant site.  It is no secret that many Fresh Energy staff are publicly associated with advocacy of the radical mass density vision of the St. Paul Ford Plant site.

What is less known is what is the arrangement between Fresh Energy – District Energy – Ever-Green Energy – and Xcel Energy?

What agreements have been reached as to the development of energy delivery on the Ford Plant site with any or all of these entities?  What City Staff are leading these conversations?

What is the financial benefit to these organizations and who has authorized them to pursue agreements outside of the public eye?

There is clearly a desire by City planners to achieve what is euphemistically termed a “zero carbon footprint” on the Ford Plant site.

Ironically in creating a “zero carbon footprint” on less than 140 acres of land they expose tens of thousands of other St. Paul residents with a measurably higher carbon footprint as soon as the upwards of 10,000 new residents, workers and visitors take one step off the Ford Plant site.

Few public discussions have taken place about how is energy going to be created and delivered on the Ford Plant site.  Energy doesn’t just show up.  It doesn’t grow on trees.

Someone is leading these conversations with these companies and their leadership.  Who is it?  What are the discussions?  The agreements?  And, if contracts and plans are being negotiated why are they not being done in the light of public scrutiny?

Who is the developer in this project and what conversations has the City of St. Paul, the Port Authority and the Ford Motor Company had about the sale of this land?

Much has been made that Ford Motor Company intends to put this property on the market sometime this year or in 2018.

What hasn’t been talked about is what conversations they, the City of St. Paul and the St. Paul Port Authority have already had with prospective developers.

More importantly, who is leading those conversations with the City of St. Paul and the Port Authority and what is the right of the public to know about these conversations?

Whether those conversations are being held formally or informally – as in ex parte communications – the fact is that they are likely leading up to some pre-arranged agreement among some or all of these entities – two of them public and one of them private.

What conversations is the City of St. Paul and/or the Port Authority having with Ford Motor Company about the timing of their decision to put this property on the market? 

Equally important, how much influence has Ford Motor Company had on the City’s zoning changes throughout this process?

One has to wonder why the City of St. Paul cares what Ford Motor Company claims it will or won’t do with respect to cleaning up pollution on their site.

If the City did not have such a single-minded obsession with its radical mass density vision on this property they would be telling Ford Motor Company what they must do to clean up the site – not listening to Ford Motor Company tell the City what they won’t do to clean up the site and land they polluted.

It’s completely amazing that any municipality would permit a corporation to tell them they won’t clean up their pollution to the highest level possible.

Ford Motor Company has allegedly told the City they will only clean the land to a level in which certain type of development will be allowed on the property.  Where are those documents?  Where is the record of those conversations?  Who has had those conversations and why hasn’t the public been given access to the content of those discussions?

What is driving the timeline for the City Council to vote on this project before the next Mayor is elected to office?

Finally, one must wonder why the City of St. Paul has been pushing this project with such ferocity this year.

There is no deadline. There are not timelines that have to be met to receive funds from some government entity. There is no pressing event horizon that will have any impact on the outcome of the City’s zoning proposal for this site.

Yet, despite significant opposition from the neighborhood – a blatant misrepresentation of public opposition to the project on the City’s own public website – and deep-rooted questions about the impact of this project on the neighborhood – the City Council is prepared to vote on this project in September.

Why?

Why can’t a vote on this project wait until a new Mayor is elected in St. Paul?

Given the nature of concerns being expressed what can possibly be driving the timeline for elected officials to plow ahead on this project?

Is it the current Mayor’s gubernatorial ambitions?  Is there some behind-the-scenes timeline that the public hasn’t been made aware of?  Are City Councilmembers concerned that further details of this project being disclosed may derail the momentum they have tried to build behind getting it passed?

It’s a fair question and one that has yet to be answered by the City of St. Paul.

A reasonable request would be to delay any further work on this project until a new Mayor is elected and given the opportunity to sit down and talk with the broader St. Paul community about the impact this will have citywide.

An unreasonable reaction is to ignore that altogether and vote to proceed without regard to public opposition.

There’s a lot of questions that still must have to be answered.

One hopes that policymakers – perhaps prodded by the media who might ask some of these questions – would finally respond to some of these questions.

By refusing to do so they raise red flags among tens of thousands of neighbors who cannot understand why a project with so little support – so few advocates – and so many unanswered questions continues to move forward.

In roughly 14 days the filing window to file as a candidate for Mayor of St. Paul will close.

In 1993 there were more than a dozen candidates for Mayor to fill the shoes of Mayor Jim Schiebel who had announced he would not run for re-election.

In 2001 there were more than a half-dozen candidates for Mayor to fill the shoes of Mayor Norm Coleman who had announced he would not run for re-election.

To date there are only five candidates running for the office that won’t have an incumbent for the first time in 12 years.

Will that change?

We will find out in the next 14 days.

I am struggling in this year’s election for Mayor.

Of the five candidates, there are only two who I am finding myself considering supporting.

Who I do or don’t support for Mayor doesn’t matter to anybody but me. 

I know that. 

But, because it matters to me I find myself continuing to wonder why it’s is so difficult for me to bring myself to support one of those two candidates.

I have worked with Pat Harris in many different roles throughout the years.  He has been an active member of our community.  His efforts in supporting non-profits and charity isn’t just window dressing. 

It is deep, substantial and meaningful.

Through his philanthropic efforts, aided in equal parts by his wife, Laura, Pat has made a difference in Saint Paul and improved the lives of untold thousands of people.

Pat has been endorsed by several organizations who I have had the privilege of working with in my own career in St. Paul City government and politics – the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, the Saint Paul Police Federation and the Saint Paul Firefighters Local 21.

While Pat was on the City Council he was the least liberal of liberals on a City Council full of liberals.

Those political tendencies show in the positions he has taken on issues which, frequently, conflict with some of the same groups who have endorsed him.

In a City in which the current City Council is so far left of center that we should start digging in our heels to keep from sliding down the banks of the Mississippi River I have serious concerns about whether Pat, if elected, can keep us from ending up in the deepest part of the river.

Then there is Tom Goldstein. 

My history with Tom goes back to 1999 when then Mayor Norm Coleman wanted to bring the Minnesota Twins to St. Paul.

Tom was the leader of the effort to stop Norm from doing just that.

Despite spending a $1 million to convince St. Paul voters that a Twins stadium would be a great benefit to the City it was Tom Goldstein – not Mayor Norm Coleman – who won that battle.

Tom is running an uphill campaign for Mayor against candidates with more money.  More connections.  And, more support from the political establishment in labor, business and elsewhere.

Tom’s not afraid to tell people where he stands on issues.  Even if what he tells them doesn’t endear him to them or their political agenda and priorities.

One issue that matters a great deal to voters in Wards 2, 3 and 4 – the development of the Saint Paul Ford Plant – Tom has been the most vocal and outspoken proponent on behalf of the neighborhood.

While Pat Harris has publicly expressed mild concerns about density it has been Tom Goldstein who has been vocal and visible in saying the plan doesn’t have the support of the community and should be shelved in its current form.

Tom and I agree on a lot of issues, just as I do with Pat, but I disagree strenuously with his worldview on many other issues. 

So, 14 days out from the filing deadline I remain stuck in place when it comes to making a decision on the Mayor’s race.

Could there be other candidates that make it easier for me to decide?  Perhaps.

But, it is just as likely there will not be and I will have to decide before November about how I will cast my vote for Mayor.

The direction of St. Paul is at a crossroads.  There are those boosters who believe the City has never been more robust, vibrant and business friendly.

There are even those who are quick to criticize those who raise concerns about the condition of the city’s neighborhoods, including its downtown, and insist that only positive things should be said about Saint Paul and its political leadership.

I choose to believe that Saint Paul, under Mayor Chris Coleman, has seen its fair share of success over the past 12 years. 

I also choose to believe that he will leave Saint Paul largely a better place than when he became Mayor.

Yet, even in his success there are deep problems facing St. Paul’s future.

The lack of strong political leadership is high on the list of those problems.

Whether Tom Goldstein or Pat Harris can fill that leadership void remains to be seen.

So, too, is the question of whether other candidates will file before filings close in two weeks.

One way or another some choices need to be made in the next two weeks and then choices will need to be made before November about the direction of St. Paul.

We’ll see.