Reply to Councilman Osmek
This entry was posted on 9/24/2006 9:26 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Councilman Osmek of Mound wrote (see the full text in the comments section):
In response to "What have the incumbents accomplished?"...I would suggest: Quite a bit.
Look at downtown today and compare it against 4 years ago. What has changed? Boarded up buildings are gone, Mound Marketplace is open, Shoreline Drive is re-routed, and Phase 1 of downtown redevelopment is moving forward.
In the area of parks, 2 new play structures were installed, replacing old broken ones, using PRIVATELY dedicated money.
There are many more examples of progress.
The MOST important question to ask is: What are you doing to keep taxes down? I have been a fiscal hawk, cutting unneeded spending while making sure we provide the basic services our city needs. Bob Brown and I have been leaders in this area...others have just closed their eyes and let City Staff have anything they want.
Thanks for the opportunity to discuss these issues, Mr. Greenslit.
Greenslit writes:
My question about accomplishments was made to try to get the discussion going. I will say this about the Mound Market place. I see it helps Mound because I see the traffic and assumed revenue that it gets, but I do not recall if TIF was involved? Plus there is the transfer effect to enquire about. Simply moving Jubilee from its old location does not change anything. It is like moving the Mall of America to a few miles West. Does that create wealth or just transfer what you already had it to another part of town or the next town? I like what you are saying about being a fiscal hawk. Yes, that is what I want. I am in agreement with Councilman Osmek about the proposed new public works building. There must be an alternative.
