Mayors Speak at April Full Committee Dinner Meeting

Bloomington Mayor, Gene Winstead, and Edina Mayor, Jim Hovland, were the speakers at the April Full Committee meeting on April 26^th. The format was a town hall discussion with questions submitted in advance and taken from the floor. 

Mayors Jim Hovland and Gene Winstead take questions from the Full Committee Meeting audience

Hovland was elected to the Edina City Council in 1996 and was elected mayor in 2004. Winstead was elected to the Bloomington City Council in 1995, was elected mayor in 1999, and was re-elected in 2003.

BLOOMINGTON

Winstead noted that Bloomington, which has three senate districts, is a diverse community – racially, housing, and businesses (from the Mall of America to the corner store). The hospitality industry, which has 20,000 employees, is the single largest employer group. There are 7000 hotel rooms which is more than Minneapolis and St. Paul combined. This industry is recovering. The room rates and occupancy rates are back to pre-9/11 levels.

Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead speaks of future development to the assembled group

Light rail runs to the Mall of America (MOA). Since its start in December the weekend traffic has exceeded projections. MOA has 4.2 million square feet. Phase 2 will add 3 million square feet. A casino has been proposed at MOA and the city is opposed to it. The Central Station Development is being developed on 40 acres in east Bloomington. Projects planned include a 17-story, all-glass condo complex (222 out of 277 units have been sold), a $700 million development with another 1000 housing units, a 400-room hotel, and a corporate campus for a Fortune 500 company. It will take 10-20 years to complete and will develop like a third core city.

The City has surpassed $10.4 billion in assessed market value. By comparison, Duluth has $4.5 billion and Rochester has $6.4 billion, both with the same population. Bloomington is one of only 20 cities out of 800,000 in the U.S to carry a AAA rating from all three rating agencies – S & P, Moody’s, and Fitch. The budget has averaged a 3% increase per year over the last 10 years. 50% of the budget was funded from the industrial tax base. That has now shifted to a majority from residential property taxes.

EDINA

Road construction used to be assessed 100% to property owners. Some residents could be assessed as much as $16,500 for road construction in front of their properties. Many can’t afford the cost. The city needs to find a better way to finance the work.

Edina Mayor Jim Hovland answers a question from the audience concerning traffic congestion

The Council has been dealing with numerous re-development plans. The proposed plan at 50^th & France needs tweaking. The mixed use of residential and retail required a change in zoning. The project proposes one story of retail and 3 stories of condos with 23 units. What is approved here will have affect on other proposed projects including 70^th & Cahill, Valley View & Wooddale, and 44^th & France.  There are two new gymnasiums being built at the Edina Community Center. Target wants to add 200,000 square feet for a Super Target at 70^th and York. The Southdale area is looking at how to stay economically viable with medical, retail, commercial, and transportation. PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) is being explored.

Hovland currently chairs both the I-494 Corridor Commission and the MNPASS System Study Steering Committee and is a member of the Transportation Advisory Board of the Metropolitan Council. There is a Senate bill proposing a gas tax increase of $.07 ($.04 now and $.03 in 2008) to provide new funding for transportation. He expects that something will happen this year. The MNPASS system will be used first on 394. This system may be used around the region. Hovland spent nine months reviewing the system. MNPASS won’t pay for itself but it will pay 25% of the cost.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

Q – Why is a city monopoly on liquor a good idea?

Hovland – It provides the city with control to keep liquor away from minors. Plus it provides $1 million in net income to the city to pay for city services.

Q – Chanhassen has wireless Internet. What are our cities doing?

Winstead – Much fiber optics have been laid in Bloomington. Time Warner and Comcast have wireless Internet available. There hasn’t been an interest and it would be very expensive.

Q – Congressman Tom Tancredo (R- Colorado) spoke at the Third District fundraiser. He urged delegates to ask their elected officials what they are doing about illegal immigrants. So – What are you doing about illegal immigrants?

Winstead – There have been complaints about several families sharing one house, basements with no egress, and too many cars in the yard. They have looked at ordinances but haven’t waded into it. They are not checking on whether or not residents are illegal. Latinos hold many jobs in hospitality and construction. They have done training and awareness with the police department. The city has not taken a position on illegal aliens.

Hovland - This has been an issue in the school district but not with the city. 

Q – Regarding Truth in Taxation, there is an idea to include a survey with the annual tax bill asking if the property owner supports the amount listed. If 20% or more say they do not support the amount, there would need to be a referendum. What do you think?

Winstead – This is an interesting concept to get people involved. These are complicated issues. Does this include businesses? The city council has already approved the budget once these bills are sent.

Hovland – The timing of this survey would be problematic. Budgeting is done in the fall and the survey would be sent in the spring. We do have a process to appeal. The city has had 15 appeals and the process has worked well.

Q – Both cities have new city halls which are very expensive. Is the expense justified?

Winstead – “My palace is bigger than Jim’s palace!” (said jokingly!) The old city hall was built in the 1960’s on the

Mayor Gene Winstead, State Sen. Geoff Michel, and SD41 Co-Chair Jerry Paar discuss local issues before dinner

cheap and was no longer meeting the needs of the city. An addition was put on in the 1970’s. In 1990 they knew they had to do something. The roof was leaking and the HVAC system was gone. There was a bond referendum and the citizens said “No!” So the city started to pay itself rent to reserve the money for a new city hall. Also the State of Minnesota decided to roll all the police pension funds to the state. Through legislation, the city got $25 million returned to the city for public safety. (They used $15 million for the new police department.) The new building is expected to last 50-100 years and will require no additional tax money.

Hovland - The city originally planned to remodel city hall and move the police to the old library. It would have cost $2-4 million to remodel. The city was advised not to bother because it wasn’t worth it. They decided to go with a single building. It cost $173 per square foot for a total of $12 million. The new building is expected to last 60-100 years.

Q – Does the Edina City Council plan to make Country Club a gated community to prevent traffic going through the area?

Hovland – No. The Transportation Commission has a plan on how to deal with speed and volume. Residents of Morningside are worried that Country Club residents have an undue influence on the city council which they do not. The city has created a toolbox for dealing with these situations. They might use street closures as one of the tools.

Q – There was a meeting in Bloomington informing citizens about a level 3 sex offender and the offender was at the meeting. 

Winstead – All sex offenders must register with the police. Bloomington has 123 sex offenders, 2 of whom are level 3 (the worst). Gene was at the meeting. The offender’s picture was on the screen up front. When we saw his picture he starting telling everyone that was him. The offender was drunk. He fought with police and resisted arrest. He is spending 30 days in the workhouse. There were 15-20 police officers at the meeting. “Remember, the smart and lucky ones are still out there. The dumb and unlucky ones were caught.”

Q – What health care plan is the city using?

Winstead – One third of our employees are in a union. We have a commitment to keep equal union and non-union employees. The health care plan is capped. The city pays up to a certain amount and the employees pay the difference. The city’s exposure is capped. The most the city pays is $600 a month. Medical Savings Plans are optional

Hovland – Edina has a similar plan. Both “represented” and “non-represented” employees have plans in lockstep with each other and the city’s exposure is capped.