Archive: September 2011

Yes, that’s Mayor Jim Hovland doing the “movie camera” with Dexter, the do-groove guy from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota’s ‘do’ campaign.  The purpose of the ’do’ campaign was to get us all up and moving to increase our level …
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Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s announced their decision today to downgrade their credit rating for the State of Minnesota from their highest/best rating (Aaa) to their second highest/best rating (Aa+).  You can read a short news story about the …
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I just got back last night from the 2011 annual conference of the International City/County Management Association.  This year’s conference was held at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The conference is billed as “The world’s foremost professional development …
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Inspiring a more collaborative culture within the city government of the City of Edina is one of my goals. It can create more value for the money we already spend and produce more cost effective outcomes for our residents. I …
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In my post last week about the Market Value Homestead Credit program transformation into the Market Value Homestead Exclusion program, I made a reference to another local government finance program in Minnesota that I am not fond of.  That program …
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At their meeting earlier this week, the City Council adopted Resolution 2011-89 entitled “Joining the National Remembrance of the 10th Anniversary of September 11th”.  For today’s post, I want to share that resolution with the readers of this blog.   WHEREAS, …
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Nice article in today’s Star Tribune about the conversations and actions going on in Edina concerning solar energy.  The Council and the City’s Energy & Environment Commission are interested in the City leading the community toward greater use of solar …
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Historically, there have been two local government finance issues in Minnesota that really bug me.  One of them has changed dramatically and the other may be about to change dramatically. The one that has changed is the Market Value Homestead Credit program.  This …
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There was a good article by Katie Mintz in the Aug 31 Edina Sun about an expansion of the Minnesota State University-Mankato campus here in Edina.  I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to tour the facility with MSU …
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