Tent price too rich for the GOP?
TOM LYDEN ON FOX 9 NEWS REPORTS THAT, AS OF JULY 7, THE GOP HAS YET TO BITE ON THE MINNEAPOLIS PARK BOARD'S NEW $10,000 TENT FEE.
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July 22, 2008
July 17, 2008
MORE ABOUT $10,000 EVENT TENTS IN MINNEAPOLIS PARKS.
THE FOLLOWING ITEM APPEARED ON THE FOXNEWS WEBSITE:
EXPECTING 'BIG TENT' REPUBLICANS, MINNEAPOLIS SEES DOLLAR SIGNS by FoxNews.com Tuesday, July 8, 2008
When Republicans said they were a “big tent” party, city officials in Minneapolis apparently took them literally.
July 15, 2008
Timing of tent fee increase in city parks is no cause for political flap, officials say
By TERRY COLLINS, from the Star Tribune website
Last update: July 8, 2008 - 11:17 PM
Setting up an event tent in a Minneapolis park has gotten expensive -- as much as $10,000. And though the price hike arrived just months ahead of the Republican National Convention, the Minneapolis Park Board denies there is any connection.
July 11, 2008
Come GOP 'big tent' time, a big tent will cost $10,000 in Minneapolis
"Apparently when doing business with Superintendent Jon Gurban of the MPRB you can rent a tent and still get soaked. See the following article by Chris Steller that appeared in the Minnesota Independent on July 3."
Park Board gets (last?) laugh: Come GOP 'big tent' time, a big tent will cost $10,000 in Minneapolis By Chris Steller Jul 03 2008
In this MnIndy-edited video excerpt from a recent park board meeting ( see here ), Minneapolis Park Superintendent Jon Gurban and park commissioners share a laugh over what sounds like price-gouging of Republicans who will be in town for their national convention. The old tent fee of $60 is now $10,000—for a big tent. Is that a typo? Nope. In MInneapolis you can rent a big tent and still get soaked.
June 30, 2008
DELASALLE STADIUM PROJECT STILL STALLED
The following press release provides an update on the DeLaSalle Stadium project:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
info@ourbeautifulriver.org http://www.ourbeautifulriver.org
DELASALLE STADIUM FACES DIFFICULTIES BEYOND COURT DECISION
June 29, 2008
ADVERTISING IN THE PARKS--CONTINUED
The following item by Chris Steller appeared in the June 26, 2008, on-line issue of The Minnesota Independent, found at www.minnesotaindependent.com/view/illegal-pipes-not.
June 19, 2008
ADVERTISING IN THE PARKS
The following article from the June 16, 2008, issue of the Southwest Journal aptly describes the discussion that occurred at the June 4 Park Board meeting regarding the concerns that several commissioners expressed about the Lowe's donation that was given to the Park Board with strings attached.
Park Board accepts but struggles over $90,000 donation By Cristof Traudes
June 16, 2008
HEADS UP FOR THE JUNE 18, 2008 PARK BOARD MEETING
Some highlights:
5:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING.
Reports of officers.
The Board will be voting to approve the Lower Glen cooperative agreement with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District to repair the WPA walls at Minnehaha Falls and to restore the Lower Glen in Minnehaha Park for an amount not to exceed $2,871,000 from the Park Board.
June 02, 2008
HEADS UP FOR THE JUNE 4, 2008 PARK BOARD MEETING
Some highlights:
5:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING. The Board will be voting on the approval of a Lower Glen cooperative agreement with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District to cooperatively repair the WPA walls at Minnehaha Falls and to restore the Lower Glen in Minnehaha Park for an amount not to exceed $2,871,000 from the Park Board.
MPRB Meeting Highlights for 5-21-08
Regular Meeting 5:00
Agenda is changed to remove the New Business with the Twin City Catering issue ( they should have been paying taxes on the portion of the MPRB Headquarters building they lease for their headquarters ... will they re-negotiate their lease? will they be forgiven the back taxes? ) and to remove the motion regarding the agreement for Victory Memorial DR improvements to accommodate buses.
May 30, 2008
PARK BOARD NEEDS A POLICY ON ADVERTISING IN THE PARKS
A new low(e): Ads proposed for Minneapolis parks by: Chris Steller Wed May 28, 2008 at 2:42:13 PM from MN Monitor
May 21, 2008
HEADS-UP FOR THE MAY 21, 2008 PARK BOARD MEETING
Some highlights:
5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING. The agenda item to pay attention to is item 8.1 listed inexplicitly under unfinished business. Turns out that the Park Board's sole tenant, a for-profit company, has been in violation of the law and of its lease by not been paying its required personal property taxes. Read more about this issue on http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/
May 18, 2008
A PARK WATCH COMMENTARY
TWIN CITY CATERING IS ASKING THE PARK BOARD TO RENEGOTIATE ITS LEASE
May 12, 2008
Paradise backfilled: Making a mountain out of a river bed at Minnehaha Park
As originally published in the Minnesota Monitor Fri May 09, 2008 at 4:07:39 PM
by: Chris Steller
Minnesota law is supposed to protect the state's natural and historical resources, but enforcing those protections often falls to local units of government that have other priorities. Case in point: Since last year, an immense pile of dirt has obscured part of Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, one of the state's most popular parks, and neighbors are persisting in asking why. This is a story of local government embarking on an unauthorized side project while skirting public review to make what a residents' environmental committee calls "a major and unexpected change" to "a unique and significant geological feature" at Minnehaha Falls.
May 04, 2008
HEADS-UP FOR MAY 7, 2008 PARK BOARD MEETING
Some highlights:
5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING.
5:30 P.M. Open Time.
6:00 P.M. ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE COMMITTEE. The Committee will be voting on an exclusive ground lease agreement with Seed Academy/Harvest Prepatory School for Humboldt Triangle Park. Some questions here are is there compensation for this lease agreement and what is meant by "exclusive"?
SYNTHETIC TURF
As originally printed in the Star Tribune Letters to the Editor, Friday, May 2, 2008.
Make sure it's safe
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE APRIL 16, 2008 PARK BOARD MEETING
Some highlights:
REGULAR BOARD MEETING. It was announced that the new Minnehaha District Manager will be Obie Kipper. He will replace Eileen Kilpatrick who recently retired.
The Board voted to accept 23 bids totaling $350,000 for stump removal and $950,000 for tree removal through March 31, 2009.
May 03, 2008
Park Board to public data requests: Nothing to see here, folks
As originally printed in the Minnesota Monitor Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 3:46:57 PM
By Chris Steller
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has told residents who requested public data that at least two top staffers — superintendent Jon Gurban and general manager Don Siggelkow — now make a policy of regularly deleting their e-mail correspondence.
Selling Mississippi River bluff parkland tempts local towns big and small
As originally printed in the Minnesota Monitor Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 6:50:00 AM
by: Chris Steller
As state funding to local government shrinks, raising cash by selling off Mississipi River bluff parkland for development has proved tempting for both the metro's biggest city and one of its smallest urban entities.
Pork flies: Bill makes state pay for same land twice
As originally printed in the Minnesota Monitor Thu May 01, 2008 at 9:45:09 AM
by: Chris Steller
At the Minnesota Capitol, pigs -- or at least pork -- do fly. Some pork, like the proposed state subsidy for a new parking ramp at the Mall of America, flaps its wings loudly above bipartisan cheers. Other pork flies by more quietly, below the radar - like a bill legislators from both parties sent to the governor yesterday that would make the state pay for the same Minneapolis parkland twice.