1996-01-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I Council Meeting Minutes January 23, 1996 Page 2 State of the City Address. continued If we listen to the partisan fighting about how, not if, to balance the budget in Washington we might assume that our Country will become a third rate society, perhaps as early as Friday, if the Republicans, the Democrats, the Liberals, the Conservatives, or, fill in your favorite interest group, don't prevail, totally, on every issue. I DON'T BUY IT! Compromise is not a four-letter word! We cannot tolerate wasting scarce tax dollars on shameful shutdowns of critical programs such as the Superfund Program that we need to clean up polluted sites such as the Mac Gillis and Gibbs pole yard in New Brighton. If we listen to the stories coming out of St. Paul, we might assume that our senators and representatives are all irresponsible louts and/or crooks and we are in imminent danger of losing our family fortunes and first born children if we do not immediately approve: a) term limits, b) initiative and referendum, c) school vouchers, d) more worker's comp reform, e) property tax reform, f) more prisons, g) more cops, h) more or less sex education, and/or i) concurrent World Series and Super Bowl Championships. I DON'T THINK SO! Have people made grievous mistakes? Absolutely! Should we hold them accountable? Without question! Are the partisan critics Simon pure in their righteous indignation? I DON'T THINK SO! Now is the time for thoughtful, painful debate, not a lynch mob. Now is the time for setting long term visions for our Country and our State, not short term partisan political gain. SO, WHAT'S MY POINT? My point is simple. My point is that it is time we citizens reject the labeling and partisan posturing that debases the character of our national and state debates and weakens the very foundation of our society. We must get on with the task of identifying and solving our community problems if our grandchildren are to enjoy the benefits of our great Nation. We must recognize that extremist views, while frequently educational and occasionally amusing, seldom point us to the right course. We must recognize the difference between struggles for power and the honest leadership we need. It is time we insist that civility be restored to citizenship and to civic affairs. IT IS TIME! So, why is it that I've placed so much emphasis on partisan state and national affairs? After all, 1 am just the Mayor of a small town in suburbia. WHY? Because, quite simply, all of us suffer when citizens lose trust and confidence in the ability of government to solve community problems. Because, we are all part of government so we lose confidence in ourselves. If we are to survive in today's rapidly changing world, we cannot afford to lose our confidence. We cannot afford to let instantaneous communication lead to a rush to judgement. We need to think for ourselves and not let entertaining commentators replace civilized debate with ridicule. There are too many interrelated solutions to our problems that need collaboration, not conflict. Quite simply, our community interests are changing constantly, depending on the issue at hand, requiring that we think in broader contexts. It would be easy to go into a cocoon and ignore the problems over there. But we must think about our neighbors. We know our City boundaries are not physical barriers to problems of poverty and crime. If our boundaries were barriers, we would have had 243 fewer adult arrests between January 1994 and September 1995. Even if we had barrier boundaries, we would have arrested 86 juveniles from New Brighton in that same time period. THAT IS 86 TOO MANY! We had one tragic murder in New Brighton in 1995. THAT IS 1 TOO MANY! 1 do not buy the argument that we can't and shouldn't respond as a community. That is why we are a community. We are a community, by choice, so that we can take collective action. As I tell our children when visiting classrooms, it makes sense to work together to solve problems. After all, we all cannot afford our own police car or park or fire truck or school. But we need them. We can pool our resources. We elect our Council to decide which problems to solve and how. We expect our President and Congress and our Governor and Legislature to do the same.