The city of which I speak is St. Louis Park, a first-ring suburb west of Minneapolis. Although the community is nowhere near as deep blue as Minneapolis, it's still pretty skewed toward the left-side of the political spectrum. I would estimate somewhere around a 60%-40% (at least) split in favor of the Dems, an advantage that seems to grow by the year.
But when it comes to city government, it's probably more like 90%-10%. Since our elected leaders are supposedly non-partisan (heh, heh), we don't actually know their party affiliation. However, their actions provide a reliable indicator.
Despite the fact that the city has been regularly howling about how they're on the verge of bankruptcy because mean ol' Pawlenty cut their precious state subsidy (a.k.a. LGA) some years ago, there never seems to be a shortage of new ways to spend our money. Their attitude can be summarized as: what can we do for you next? Or: what area of your life that we have no legitimate business being involved in can we intrude in next?
The aforementioned WiFi program is but one example. Despite the fact that St. Louis Park residents have a couple of high speed internet options already available to them, the city decided that it needed to step in and provide citywide WiFi. Why?
Because they could and because most people thought the idea of a city-provided and subsidized service sounded pretty good to them. Never mind the residents who will be forced to pay for something that they don't have the ability or inclination to use.
After running a pilot program in a couple of neighborhoods, the city began a wider rollout. Now, the solar-powered WiFi antennas are ubiquitous throughout the city.
Ubiquitous as in it seems like there's one every couple of hundred feet.
And they ain't pretty either. How'd you like to have one of these babies planted in your front yard?
Apparently a number of St. Louis park residents did. According to a city newsletter, once word that eco-friendly WiFi was on the way hit the streets, several citizens called the city and VOLUNTEERED to have these hideous WiFi antennas installed in their yards.
It's one thing to support the notion of city-provided WiFi or to take advantage of the service once it's available. But what would possess someone to go out of their way to beg to have their property despoiled in such a manner? Do they view the WiFi antenna as some sort of totem as proof of their eco-purity and concern? Can you imagine how they explain this to others?
"That's too bad the city put that antenna in your yard. It kind of spoils the view of your house."
"Actually, Seth and I asked the city to install it. You see, we care deeply about the environment..."
Sickos. And some of these people are my neighbors.
The most recent area of concern for St. Louis Park is housing foreclosures. The city newsletter devoted a full page to the topic and further research ($) is expected. In addition to providing stats about the number and type of foreclosures in the city, the newsletter also examines the causes:
Mortgage bankers and housing advocates cannot point to a single cause of the problem, but cite several factors:
- Relaxed home lending standards...
- Rising short-term interest rates...
- Stagnant sale prices...
I'm not a mortgage banker or a housing advocate, but I always thought the main cause of foreclosures was people making bad decisions, getting in over their heads, and NOT PAYING THEIR FRICKIN' BILLS! Thankfully the city is there to research the matter for me and explain the real causes. What would I do without my city?
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