votewojcik.org

I don’t know if there is a way to embed KAAL (ABC 6) stories, but here is a link to their coverage here.  They once again went to the bottom of the barrel and interviewed me.

“Every year, the City of Rochester and Olmsted County send almost $90 million more to the State Treasury in taxes than they receive back in LGA, school aid, and other assistance,” said Governor Dayton.

“The reality is we send so much in income tax and sales tax up to Saint Paul and we get a pittance of that back,” says Rochester city council member, Michael Wojcik, who met with Governor Dayton on Thursday. While he’s happy with the Governor’s praise, he points out Rochester’s state contributions are a double-edged sword; especially, when programs like Local Government Aid are being slashed.

“We don’t have necessarily the means to keep funding the programs that we have and that’s why you see this constant budget struggle at the city and county level,” says Wojcik.

Well if she does we hope she sends the money to the right state.

The funniest part of this is that when she is reading off the list of events, she actually reads off a New York state event, but still doesn’t put two and two together. When I was searching for the above video I also found this nugget, below.

In fairness, I don’t know what the public said, or if there were just being clueless. We occasionally have some clueless folks at our city council meeting that get corrected or asked to sit down. But the fact that there was someone on the committee actually defending the witnesses tells me that Rep. Anderson was probably out of line.

Also today a judge threw out Holter’s request for a temporary restraining order. He must have been as unimpressed with Holter fantasy ownership as everyone else.

Jason Mehring has a nice little work of fiction in the Post Bulletin.  Lets check out his accuracy:

Mehring:

The other sad part of the story is us small business people and nonprofits who have to pay for such a lavish waste of money.

The truth:  Businesses are only paying for the replacement of the roadway and sidewalks.  This is required as the current stretch is in need of replacement.  There is nothing lavish about that.
Mehring:

We have been struggling to break even from year to year, and now after an 8.5 percent tax increase on each property, they are assessing our properties another $81,000 to pay for this unnecessary beautification project. This will take years upon years for us to even think about paying off.

The truth:  The assessment is at the same rates as every other business and we are offering payment over 10 years.  Not one penny of the $81,000 is going to unnecessary beautification.

Mehring:

We believe that there is a plan to take our property at below market rates because we will not be able to keep up with all of these extra expenses and we will be forced out by the bank.

The truth:  There is no such conspiracy.

Mehring:

Not only is this a huge financial burden on us, this project also calls for taking part of our lawn, shrubs, our very mature trees, taking out our street parking and cutting down our main access to our property.

The truth:  Not one square inch of this property is being take for this project and the property still has access.  The business raised the concern about the future access, so I tried the access in a Prius in a snowstorm and had absolutely no issue.

Mehring:

When asked for revisions during the many meetings leading up to the decision to go forth, our Council Member Michael Wojcik told us if we do not like it, we can move.

The truth:  Completely fictitious statement that was never said.  This statement is insulting and contradicts the public thanks received from several businesses through the process.

Mehring:

Why then are we the ones to take all the hardship on absurd projects like this one, especially in a poor economic market that we still find ourselves in.

The truth:  The market for rental housing near downtown is on fire, many new projects are getting started.  Rochester is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.  Maintaining a roadway is not absurd.

Completed in a few seconds…

At last Monday’s meeting the circus was back in town.  The local Tea Party “patriots” came loaded with talking points and were upset the the adults (including all 7 council members and the mayor) in the room instead relied on facts and logic.

Cindy Maves: That last post-bulletin survey 73% said no, 20% said it could wait.

Michael Wojcik:  You do know what a scientific poll is and an unscientific poll, though?

Cindy Maves:  It’s still a poll, it’s still a poll, I’m not saying those are factual numbers.

Wojcik:  Laughing.

I for one prefer factual numbers and choose responsibility for preserving our assets and minimizing out local taxes over pandering.

Here is Mary Allen as written in the Post-Bulletin:

Monday night I attended a frustrating meeting where the voices of many citizens were ignored by the council, especially Michael Wojcik. I would like to challenge him, since he likes to do research, he says, to come up with a list of $40 motels where poor people stay when coming to Mayo for treatment.

I haven’t seen a $40 motel for years, and if I did I certainly wouldn’t want to spend time in it while getting treatment at Mayo Clinic.

Here is the 1 minute it took be to answer this challenge:

What is so infuriating to me is that I have reached out to Cindy Maves in the past in an effort to get some help in eliminating developer subsidies and fighting LGA cuts both of which would help lower taxes and fees.  This group has shown no interest in any education or any real policies that could reduce local taxes of fees.  I have voted against more spending than anyone on the council the last three years.  My Tea Party reward is this clueless babble and absolutely no engagement.

Here is a piece that I wrote for fellow young elected officials on trying to get job creation via PACE loans.

http://www.yeonetwork.org/content/yeo-frontline-news-job-creation-wojcik Read the rest of this entry »

Here is CBS Coverage of the issue.

There is some discussion as to whether we should build a new bridge over West Circle Drive.

Post Bulletin Story on Pedestrian Bridge as covered by Jeff Pieters Read the rest of this entry »

Wow this was in the Post Bulletin Wednesday.  I only read the teaser online, but this is really disappointing.  I look forward to reading the rest of the story.

Two Rochester businesses were fined by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry for not complying with child labor laws. Read the rest of this entry »

When you write a letter to the editor typically the space is limited, but I wanted to add a couple of thoughts to the letter that was published today in the Post Bulletin. The basic idea that I wanted to communicate is that we need people to mentor to our kids.  We have a huge population of children that need good role models.  If you really are concerned about crime in our community, this is how you can help. Read the rest of this entry »