OK, I read the Strib story; it was there on their front page:
Parks think green, as in cash
Minneapolis' Park Board is looking at business partnerships and other ventures to bring in needed bucks.
By ALEX EBERT, Star Tribune
Last update: July 25, 2010 - 9:19 PM
Faced with a shrunken budget, Minneapolis park leaders hope a combination of bikes, burgers and an Italian sculptor named Brioschi will stave off further cuts to the popular and nationally known park system.
One reason republiCon Ron still has his job, is he's good at asking AND he's good at ducking. It's the GreedOverPrinciples Party's Golden Rule: "Do Unto Others But Don't Let Them Do Unto You."
I bring this up, because so many of us on the left side o' the aisle have a tendency to enjoy - if not laugh uproariously - when some brain-dead bootlicker in the "Family Values" party (they're called the "Family Values" party because they have so many of them; for instance, in the last presidential election the only candidate that had only been married once was the Mormon - go figure) does something incredibly hypocritical - such as David Vitter replacing the disgraced Bob Livingston in Congress, and Vitter later getting caught in figuratively if not literally the exact same (cheney)in' kind of scandal.
Well, since morckery, ridicule and scorn are heaped upon those on the right for the old-fashioned reason - they've EARNED it, it only seems fair to rip those on the left side of the aisle when they've done something incredibly hypocritical. It seems that they too should be roasted and toasted with the same types of mockery,ridicule, and scorn. And I was going to do just that, today, to an organization known as Parkwatch - but, I'm tracking down more information on them that's recently come in -- so that's going to have to wait for another day.
In the meantime, and to whet the whistle o' the Regular Readers, I'll end with a couple of thoughts. First, let's review what it says on the "About Us" page at ParkWatch:
(Note - this post was submitted by Charise Canales, a senior at Minneapolis' Southwest High School. To add your name to her website, link here).
Last summer, I heard about the Crown Hydro project from a school friend. I set up a meeting with their lobbyist, Nikki Carlson, in order to learn more about the project and to get involved. I immediately became a supporter, wondering why it had not yet been completed. I decided that I would do whatever possible in order to gain support from the community and get it built. My hope was that the project would be finished before I graduated from high school in June of this year.
I helped create a web site, PowerOfOneHundred, with the goal of finding 100 supporters. I thought that if I could get 100 people to show their support, the park board would listen and approve the project. If people want to join, they send me their picture and a statement of their support, and I put them up on the web site. Besides gaining supporters and maintaining the PowerOfOneHundred site, I have given presentations to environmental groups. Also, I have been interviewed by online bloggers, the Southwest journal, and I wrote an OpEd piece for the Star Tribune. I have made it my responsibility to promote small hydro projects, and demonstrate how much I believe in the Crown Hydro project. I believe it is the first step towards building a cleaner, greener world for the next few generations.
-- by Charise Canales, Minneapolis
(again, to add your name to Charise's website, link here).
The Crown Hydro Project proposes using the power of the St. Anthony Falls to generate clean and renewable electricity - link to Liberal in the Land of Conservative to see exactly what the "before" and "after" images of what the construction site does and will look like.
Throughout the Crown Hydro Project's long history, the major obstacle to construction has been the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. There are very loud and very local activists adamantly opposed to this project - and very clear that they feel only they should have any say in the matter. Here's what one Minneapolis resident had to say on the matter, on the Minneapolis Issues List:
Like it or not, the Crown Hydro project wants to use land that is owned by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and, that board is elected by residents of Minneapolis. They ought to concern themselves very much with what Minneapolis taxpayers say; they can pretty much ignore what taxpayers in Eden Prairie say.
This comment is typical of those opposed to Crown Hydro, even though the Park Board relies heavily on outside funding for it's operations and even though Crown Hydro would provide approximately $300,000 - annually - in additional Park Board funding.
How heavily does the Minneapolis Park Board rely on revenue other than property taxes for it's operations? In 2007, according to the Park Board, of the total 2007 Park Board revenues, 14.1% were Unrestricted Grants &
Contributions; 3.8% were Operating Grants & Contributions; and 13% were Capital Grants & Contributions - for a total of 30.9% of total revenue. Only 62.3% of 2007 Park Board revenues, according to the Park Board, were
generated by locally-paid property taxes.
The St. Cloud Times Editorial Board weighed in on the subject of regional parks funding at the state level, today. Let's look at part of what they said:
(Editor's note: more, and a YouTube too, beyond the fold)
I first started writing about the proposed Crown Hydro Project back on February 10th, and have been looking for a legitimate reason to oppose the project since. One meme the objectionists continually pounded is "danger to the cap rock" near the St. Anthony Falls - which was essentially debunked by the Minneapolis Park Board's "Mill Ruins Park, Tunnel Stabilization Project." This project involved building a new water takeout from the Mississippi River, at essentially the same spot Crown Hydro would be sited, running a pipe down and through a tunnel and discharging the water in the tailrace so tourists can see what water in the tailrace looks like. For those that would like to see what this project looks like, link to Liberal in the Land of Conservative (LitLoC), here. It's the top picture. And for comparison, take a look at the bottom image too.
And it needs to be noted that this project, the Tunnel Stabilization Project, was built by the Park Board without an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW). Which begs the question: where were the objectionists, then? If they were so concerned about the cap rock, why did they meekly stand by, during the Tunnel Stabilization project?
As an aside, another objection to Crown was that it would divert water from over the falls; the Tunnel Stabilization already does that, at the same site Crown would use. Crown Hydro can generate clean and green electricity utilizing water the Park Board already takes out, and release the water to the same spot the Park Board now does, with no net loss of water over the falls. That's a fact the objectionists seem to ignore.
So, with so many of their objections debunked, what's a meme to morph to?
Earthquakes. Yes, "earthquakes." Apparently, the new objection to the Crown Hydro Project is fear of earthquakes. I'll let noted objectionist Wizard Marks explain, in her own words:
Today's Avista Capital Partner'sStrib has a story about the Mpls Park Board; apparently, Park Board President Tom Nordyke doesn't think it's an appropriate use of Park Board property for the City's Charter Commission to hold meetings at said property when the topic to be discussed is the possible elimination the Park Board.
Seems like these days, a lot of people are taking shots at the Park Board. In the course of investigating the Crown Hydro Project, one group that seems to especially get in the Park Board's face*, is a group called ParkWatch.org, who's whole schtick seems to be "the Park and Rec Board is filled with incompetents, liars, and thieves and you can't trust them or believe anything they say - EXCEPT when it comes to Crown Hydro."
And I couldn't believe the amount of paperwork ParkWatch.org demands. I asked for information regarding data requests from the Park Board; I simply couldn't believe what ParkWatch.org wanted. Let's look!
I've been looking at engineering drawings, received from the Park Board via a Request for Public Data, for the Mill Ruins Park Tunnel Stabilization Project that was completed 3 years ago. In a nutshell, the Park Board draws water out of the Mississippii River, at essentially the same spot the Crown Hydro Project would, and runs water under the boardwalk through a 3 foot diameter pipe so tourists can see what water coming out at the tailrace looks like.
I had asked the Park Board about water taken from the Mississippi River and channeled through the tailrace near the proposed Crown Hydro project by the MPRB for the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The response I got from the Park Board is, and I quote:
When Jimmy Carter entered the Oval Office, there were many crisis to deal with; one of which was dependence on foreign energy. Jimmy Carter turned down the thermostat, put on a cardigan, and installed a solar panel on the roof.
Compare that with Ronald Reagan, who upon taking office walked into The White House, took off his jacket, turned up the thermostat, and eventually tore that solar panel off the roof.
That's why we're in the mess we're in, today. Thom Hartman discusses this at length in an essay just a few years ago, over at CommonDreams.org.
Back to Jimmy Carter. Shortly after taking office, Carter gave a speech regarding the energy crisis; Jimmy Carter laid out 10 Principles - "The fifth principle is that we must be fair. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, every interest group." We'll get back to that principle, below the fold.
Mondale was in the inside, helping Carter get the nation's energy affairs in order; then Mondale was on the outside, watching as Uncle Ronnie led the slide backwards. While I have a ton of respect for Vice-President Mondale - he (like the rest of us tundra trudgers) only walks on (frozen) water in January; in July? Not so much. IOW - he ain't perfect. Let's take a look at the letter Vice-President Mondale wrote on December 19th, 2007:
..."That was then; this is NOW!!!" The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board ("MPRB") is again in the news; the Avista Strib has a story about the Park Board and the Minneapolis Charter Commission (the "Charter" is the city government's "constitution"). Last night, the Charter Commission voted 9 - 1 to (among other things) hold hearings on abolishing the MPRB, and bring it's functions into and under the City's jurisdiction. The Southwest Journal also has a story on last night's events. But, I'm not going to talk about the City versus Park Board - today. Later, maybe; today, no. Today, I'm going to talk about "That was then; this is NOW!!!'
