I’ve mentioned before how the 13th Floor is a daily reading must for me.

This was found while roaming that floor …

The following Thomas Jefferson quote is getting a lot of play these days in connection with transparency Web sites. Not that Jefferson was much of a computer user. But here goes:

            –Thomas Jefferson, 1802

 

When does someone decide they are going to go the City Council and speak?

When they are mad about something … Ninety percent of the time it is when they are mad about something.

When preparing to speak remember the words of Lawrence J Peter.

Speak when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.

So, have your remarks prepared.

Practice … practice … practice.

Take a deep breath before starting.

Then give’m hell.

(Of course if you had already read Moving Mountains and Molehills you would have known that.)

 

The League of Minnesota Cities is considering appointing an …  “on-staff ethical adviser — a kind of municipal Miss Manners.”

Why?

In White Bear Lake, the mayor calls the local VFW club “a bunch of old guys with guns.”

In Lake St. Croix Beach, a councilman is arrested for shouting obscenities in a meeting.

In Lake Elmo, a councilman calls the mayor a “God-damned bastard.”

In Greenfield, a councilman brings two handguns to a meeting, to his colleagues’ dismay.

This from a state which promotes itself as “Minnesota Nice?”

Why the change of attitude? The speculation from League Director Jim Miller is what he calls Third Ring Rage.

Many complaints come from small towns on the fringes of the metro area facing sudden development pressure. The city councils in these towns — including Lake Elmo and Lake St. Croix Beach — often are bitterly divided.

Typically, one side includes the Old Guard. “Some small towns are incredibly stable. Families have been there forever. People who have been saying forever, ‘I don’t like change,’ ” Miller said.

On the other side, Miller said, are those who say change is inevitable — arguing that it is best to control it. “Some of them want growth at any price,” Miller said.

I do not in any way approve, encourage or endorse such behavior. Especially the guns.

But, with that being said … a Civility Czar?

Does anyone think that would do any good at all?

 

Local Politics needs a logo.

Something that when you see it … you immediately think ” Local”Politics”.

Something that represents the importance of being informed and involved in the issues facing your city, county and school district.

Something like this …?

What do you think?

The more things change … the more things stay the same?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrBaV5MvX_4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]

I served with a City Council Representative who had a habit of coming to meetings a little tipsy. He would sometimes fart. One night I looked over and he was waving his Bic back and forth trying to burn off the odor.

It is not a “rule” but I highly advise against flicking your Bic during a meeting for this reason.

At every level, politics is a combat sport.  Even local politics. Maybe especially local politics. Combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement. It takes a thick skin and killer instinct to become real good at it.

That is why I like the words of recently departed Jack Kemp.

“Pro football gave me a good perspective. When I entered the political arena, I had already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded, and hung in effigy.”

So long Jack. You were a role model how the game should be played.

It is official …  Ronneby, MN  is no  more.

It isn’t very often we learn of a city that ceases to exist, but Ronneby died as of yesterday.

With an estimated population of just 32 people in 2007, Ronneby has struggled for years with not having a tax base to pay for expenses and finding people willing to run for public office.

“There’s nothing here,” said Marlene Anderson, a City Council member. Finding people to run for city offices is difficult, she said, because “they want to give you advice, but they don’t want to be on the council.”

Now that is what I call political apathy!

I am often asked what advice in Moving Mountains and Molehills is the “best advice” when dealing with local governments. That is a tough one. It is tough because different issues require different strategies for success.

While it may not be the “best advice” for all issues, making sure that any and all information you want local officials to consider  is presented to them in written form as early in the process as possible, is vital.

Think about it. Do you like to be presented with information and forced to make a decision immediately? Of course not. Everyone likes to think over information before making a decision.

 Be courteous and give your local officials time to contemplate your information/opinions before making a decision.  The more time the better.

 

Some people don’t like me.  I know that for certain.

In fact, some people REALLY don’t like me.

It should be the goal of every politician to have some people REALLY not like you.

Right Winston?

Do you have enemies? That’s good because it means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life. ~ Winston Churchill