Speed Gibson

I finished up walking the Willard Hay neighborhood, which is a big part of Legislative District 58B in Minneapolis. The incumbent "Willie" Dominguez was pushed aside by the DFL to endorse Bobby Joe Champion. Willie isn't going quietly, taking his case into the September 9th Primary.

I met "Willie" earlier this year, at a property tax reform hearing at North High School. I spoke my piece there, pointing out that I was likely the only Republican there. Somebody corrected me, noting that Dominguez's brother was the other exception. Maybe that was enough baggage to cost him the re-endorsement.

It was a brief meeting, but he was very personable, the kind of guy you'd enjoy talking to over a couple of beers. This nice guy doesn't intend to finish last, and so far, he's winning the lawn sign battle by about 3:2 or better I'd say.

Those Dominguez signs are recycled from last time as is usually done. The top line was "DFL / Labor Endorsed" but now a sticker overlay says "Re-elect DFL Incumbent / Labor Endorsed" though I wonder about that latter claim. Champion has at least two labor endorsements.

It's not my District, certainly not my Party, so I can't really endorse one over the other or explain why the DFL felt they needed to make a change. Champion seems very qualified (for a Democrat), even if he is a lawyer and endorsed by U.S. Representative Keith Ellison. On the other hand, he grew up loving Perry Mason, and I have to like that.

So, the Primary will likely decide the winner here, even if the Republican challenger Yoman Brunson isn't exacly Caucasian, either.

I've been using my new "Go To" card the past week, works great. I didn't realize this when I ordered it that I also no longer need paper transfers. The card knows, i.e., doesn't charge if you're within the 2.5 hour window. I therefore have to concede, happily, that Metro Transit did something right.

***

I finished up walking the Como neighborhood of Minneapolis, including lunch at Manning's. I ended up in Dinkytown and finally got my first ride on one of the new hybrid buses. It seemed smaller on the inside, but it has the usual 40 seats or so.

I was impressed with it, hybrid or not. Maybe my driver was more aggressive than most, but it seemed to have better acceleration and handled more nimbly. Supposedly it gets 10% better mileage, but I'm afraid to ask how much more these buses cost. Do they really save money over their lifetime or is this just Global Warming political pandering?

***

Why is it I only see these hybrid buses going to Bloomington, Edina, and St. Louis Park? I've taken the bus more often than not this summer, from the Brooklyn Center Transit Station that anchors three main routes 5 (Fremont), 19 (Penn), and 22 (Lyndale) through north Minneapolis, not to mention 6 local routes into Brooklyn Park, Crystal, New Hope, Robbinsdale, Fridley, Columbia Heights, and Roseville. So even though I take one, I see several each trip, and to date haven't seen a single hybrid.

There may be a logical explanation, like that the MTC garage nearby isn't tooled up for these models. But wouldn't running at least a few be good public relations? This way, it looks like redlining.

Washington County was one of five to enact the quarter-cent sales tax increment for Transit. It was a 3-2 vote by the Commissioners, which by the infamous Transit Tax bill passed over the Governor's veto precluded the usual referendum requirement.

The three who voted yes are now having second thoughts. Somebody ran the numbers, finding that a net $3 million is flowing out of Washington County, 3 of every 4 dollars raised by the new tax. To where? To Light Rail, of course, the Central Corridor line to be specific, "the finger that reaches to the east" as Peter McLaughlin put it. McLaughlin heads the new Counties Transit Improvement Board created by the Transit Tax bill.

That "finger" has no real value for Washington County's Forest Lake, which already has express bus service to Minneapolis. Plus, the existing 94D express bus (if allowed to continue after the trains start running) will beat the train by several minutes. True, these runs don't run during off-peak hours, but the 16 bus will handle those situations, and for far less per ride.

This was entirely predictable to anyone familiar with the high construction costs and deep operating deficits of Light Rail, particularly the Central Corridor. Further, the Metropolitan Council's long range plan has relatively little in the way of transit projects scheduled for the County.

Sadder but wiser, the County is now considering changing its mind.

I think most of us were surprised by Senator McCain's pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I'll let others weigh the pluses and minuses and focus on how the announcement was made as compared to last week's Democratic Party announcement of Senator Joe Biden.

It was literally night and day. Biden's name was leaked around midnight in advance of promised "first to know" text messages sent out starting at 3 AM. McCain's pick was kept secret practically to the end; even the airport watchers weren't sure. And, it was done at noon, timed beautifully to let the press hear McCain before the bottom of the hour break and Palin after.

This is why I put so much stock in executive ability, something neither Obama nor Biden have. Obama surrounds himself with inept leakers, to the point where Biden looks like a second or third choice behind others who turned Obama down. McCain's people keep their mouth shut, perhaps even engage in a little media misdirection in framing it as either Pawlenty or Romney. (Hugh Hewitt, call your office.)

Joe Biden's announcement and acceptance speeches have talk show host (1:00 AM KTLK-FM) Phil Hendie wondering if Joe was drunk. Hendrie is a registered Democrat and says he plans to vote for Obama. Regardless, neither was memorable, or rather, indicative of why he came in fifth in Iowa and had to drop out. And then there are all those sound bites of him dismissing Obama, praising McCain, praising himself, abusing others, plagiarism, and his three state Iraq plan.

Palin is just the opposite, giving a terrific account of herself today. Frankly, she was better than Pawlenty could have been and that's a high bar. She also seems to have boundless energy, like all the moose hunters I've met over the years.

As August closes out, what have we seen? Biden is named and the Republicans celebrate! Christmas, some called it. Palin is named and again, the Republicans are very pleased, some joyful in fact. Meanwhile, Captain Ed looks across the road tonight at the DFL State Fair booth and even nearly a week later, no Biden signs are in sight.

Biden's and Palin's abilities and electability aside, what you see here is a clear difference between Obama and McCain. That difference is executive ability, skill number one being hiring the best people. As Leo Rosten says, "first-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people."

Score August for McCain, big.

As I wrote yesterday, there won't be much coming from the new District 281 Financial Advisory Council until October or so. Judging by their first meeting, I don't think they will get as daring as I now will.

There are hard times ahead for the Robbinsdale Schools, District 281, harder than the past few that have seen many staff positions and programs cut. The District is seeking more money in a referendum this fall that would provide some relief but otherwise not address the undeniable trends. The Legislature is broke already and the State economy is sputtering behind the national averages for the first time in decades. Tax increases like the $ 1.7 billion that Rep. Mindy Greiling proposes to finally (!) fully (!) fund our public schools would be a huge political gamble, even for Democrats.

I've pointed to the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) before as portending the future of District 281 and see no reason to change that forecast. Just as North Minneapolis was largely abandoned, District 281 is again positioning to close a school or two, almost certainly in the eastern half of the District, continuing the westward compression. That won't solve the underlying problem, either.

The underlying problem is that the District is losing business. Enrollment is dropping every year, faster than the District can shed its fixed costs like buildings, a problem exacerbated by the State's byzantine accounting rules and funding formulas.

I've been studying the District for about nine months now, and almost every month something or someone brings me back to the one thing that works here as in most any district: Neighborhood Schools. Early Childhood and Family Education (ECFE) may be little more than daycare but are tremendously popular. Talk of closing an Elementary brings a large response from parents and nearby taxpayers. This is what does work. This is where you invest your time, effort, and money to stem the decline.

I again point out that national politics are seldom discussed here at Speed Gibson, but this is one of those times.

Senator Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech at a sports stadium tonight, rather than at the convention hall. Were I a delegate, I would consider this an act of disrespect. I would say the same of Senator John McCain were he to pull an equivalent stunt.

National political party conventions have several purposes. There are the mechanics of nominating candidates. There is all that free TV and press coverage to exploit. But it is also the time to marshal, motivate and inspire the troops, the delegates, alternates, and other attendees who will return home to man the phones, pass the collection plate, and work the neighborhoods.

In turn, the convention is a special reward for such hard work to date, a pilgrimage of sorts granted to the party faithful. It's held in nice locales. It's an opportunity to make friends and contacts from around the country.

But today, Barack Obama tells these faithful that special as you are, I can do better. Why should I settle for an audience of thousands in a more intimate setting when I can get tens of thousands for a celebrity like me?

Correlate this with his canceling a visit with our wounded troops overseas because the cameras weren't allowed to follow him inside. There are other examples, but it seems clear to me that he has one eye on the teleprompter, the other for the camera with the red light on.

The TV cameras will pick him up at either venue. The press will cover him at either venue. The only difference is that he'd rather draw a crowd than pay a debt.

How best to spend a quiet Thursday evening? Watch pre-season football, the Vikings and the Cowboys? Watch Barack Obama worship himself at Invesco Field, accepting the nomination of his party for President of the United States? No, I passed all that up to kibitz the first meeting of the District 281 Financial Advisory Council.

Obviously this had to largely be an organizational meeting, members introducing themselves, receiving handouts and a preliminary briefing, setting up the calendar and the agenda and so on. The next meeting is in three weeks, on Thursday, September 18. I won't have much to report on until the third meeting I suspect, probably in early October.

The only notable change from plan was the departure of Assistant Superintendent Nancy Rajanen, one of the three District members specified in the by laws. Superintendent Stan Mack is filling that position given that Rajanen's job is not being replaced, at least not now.

Let me excerpt the quotes regarding the upcoming capital referendum for technology and training in District 279:

• Technology enables us to reach far and wide.
• There is no reason students can't have the globe as their resource.
• Technology allows students to contribute, share, and gather resources globally.
• We must prepare our students for the world they inhabit.
• Technology education fosters development in 21st-century skills.

What's wrong with this? Well, it is a bit trite, wouldn't you say? It would be if he had said anything. These are what propagandists call glittering generalities.

Such language was meaningful about twenty years ago, when the World Wide Web sprang from the forehead of Al Gore. That technology truly was breathtaking - at the time. Today it is a commodity. You buy a PC, call Qwest or Comcast, and have the Geek Squad hook it up if need be. Wi-Fi at your favorite coffee store is now expected, no longer remarkable.

District 281 says this about their upcoming referendums:

• Investing in the quality of local public schools is essential if we are to maintain a safe, thriving, vibrant community.

Again, there was a time when our schools truly were a partner in a community's quality of life, but by and large, for whatever the reasons, those days are gone, too. Such a statement therefore doesn't really resonate with the taxpayers.

It also seems off-message, making no mention of the students, missing the chance to resonate with the parents as well. Compare the above with this:

• Investing in quality education for our children is essential if we are to maintain a safe, thriving, vibrant community.

Either way, the word "invest" is particularly shopworn, used throughout the public sector these days, even for outright failures like Light Rail and Ethanol. Further, it implies that such investing is a new direction or strategy. Correcting this, with a little better phrasing at the end gives us:

• Continuing to provide quality education for our children is a hallmark of a safe, thriving, vibrant community.

The first example spoke of students needing 21st-century skills. Our schools are going to need 21st-century communications skills to win back 21st-century parents and taxpayers, and not just for referendums. The "capture" ratio is dropping, giving way to charter schools, private schools, and home schooling. Even the Legislature seems to be tuning out.

I'm hiding out, avoiding any scheduled TV coverage of the Democratic national convention this week. I'll probably do the same next week for the Republican national convention, especially if as I fear, Prime Minister Tim Pawlenty joins the ticket. I'm with Hugh Hewitt - Romney is the right choice for McCain.

I've got a lot of non-blogging work I've put off too long, which I can do with several taped episodes of "Law and Order" to watch in the background. Whatever I need to know, Rush, Hugh, Dennis, Laura, and Mark will excerpt.

The campaigns will start in earnest in about 10 days, and probably at levels we've never seen before. After about three weeks of that, I may go into hiding again.

The Beijing Olympics are over and what a show, beginning to end. I speak of the facilities, planning, and execution, all nearly flawless - and beautiful really. Sure there was air pollution, lip-syncing, maybe some eligibility questions, but that's forgotten now.

There was also very little politics, which is good, though I still miss hissing at those broad-shouldered East German swimmers. I remember nodding when people proposed making Athens, Greece the permanent home of the Olympic summer games, but that seems unthinkable now.

London and those that follow are no doubt already at work topping this but I wonder if it can be done. They don't really need to as long as the games themselves are well-run in Olympic-caliber facilities as they were here.

Congratulations to everyone involved, and especially, the Peoples Republic of China.

I've been keeping tabs on the neighboring public schools just north of us, District 279, a.k.a. Osseo. Like my own Robbinsdale Area Schools (281), they are back for another try this year. Last year, Osseo voters opted for just 1 of the 3 referendums put before them. This year, there are 2 questions, one of them for technology.

Specifically, they are asking for $5 million for 5 years of technology and training. As I hinted in a prior post, such requests overcome my normal inclination to vote yes and I think this one illustrates why. First, a little history gleaned from the annual reports available on the District 279 web site.

• 1998-1999: The District established a three year technology plan to upgrade administrative applications, upgrade the network infrastructure, install T-1 lines to all buildings and continue the investment in technology for teacher and student access.
  
• 2001-2002: The District invested about $ 3.5 million in additional technology.
  
• 2002-2003: The District invested almost $ 3.9 million in additional technology.
  
• 2003-2004: The District invested more than $ 3.9 million in additional technology.
  
• 2004-2005: The District invested almost $ 4.7 million in additional technology.
  
• 2005-2006: The District invested approximately $ 357 thousand in additional technology.
  
• 2006-2007: The District invested $ 5,258,309 in additional technology.
  

Other than a one year breather, the District has spent several million dollars each year. Some of the more expensive projects were done several years ago. So how is it that the District suddenly needs a jump start in technology?

It really isn't much of a jump start either, basically an additional million dollars a year, much less than their average annual spending on technology, well under one half of one percent of the District's total annual spending. What is it for? Equipment and training reports the Sun Post:

"Technology enables us to reach far and wide," Chief Technology Officer Tim Wilson said. "There is no reason students can't have the globe as their resource. Technology allows students to contribute, share, and gather resources globally."

Wilson continued by stating "we must prepare our students for the world they inhabit" and "technology education fosters development in 21st-century skills."

If this prosaic prose answers a question, it would be why?, but the voters need to know what the money will actually be spent on.

They also need to understand why such a relatively small amount even need be put before them. What is it that just can't wait? (XP to Vista!?) To listen to the "CTO" one would think this is the beginning of Internet service in the District. The word "training" is also suspicious, but I'd settle for knowing who is being trained.

This is really just a time question. Anything worth doing the District would eventually do anyway, just maybe a year or two later and by then it will likely be cheaper. The computer marketplace hasn't seen much technical turbulence of late. I'm posting on a six year old PC running XP and plenty fast enough to keep up with the Comcast broadband. Sure, more speed, a DVD burner, and a flat screen HD monitor would be nice and I could get that for half what I paid for this system. But for what our family does with it, this is fine.

So is my my work PC, a three year old workhorse of a laptop, just upgraded to 2 GB ram in fact. Upgrading to a new laptop would be nicer, but provide no extra capabilities applicable to my job. Networks are also fairly stable, just cheaper and with a few more security bells and whistles.

Finally, remember that this money in fungible. By having dedicated funding for something you'd eventually buy anyway, you are creating budgetary room for other items, much as the Transit Tax bill pulled money out of the Bonding Bill to make more room for arenas, light rail, and other pork. Ultimately, would I as a taxpayer ever truly know where this $5 million is going?

It's not my District, but if it were, on the face of it my vote would be an easy and obvious NO on this referendum request.

No matter what you think of public education, good or bad, this is a stunner, from The Dallas Morning News via Glenn Beck:

Dallas public school students who flunk tests, blow off homework and miss assignment deadlines can make up the work without penalty, under new rules that have angered many teachers.

The new rules will be distributed when teachers return to their campuses next week. But many who have already seen the regulations say they are too lenient on slackers, and will come at the expense of kids who work hard.

For example, the new rules require teachers to accept late work and prevent them from penalizing students for missed deadlines. Homework grades that would drag down a student's overall average will be thrown out.

As I compose this post, I still can't believe it. I am at least gratified that the teachers are speaking up this time. They can't believe it, either.

"The purpose behind it is to ensure fair and credible evaluation of learning – from grade to grade and school to school," said Denise Collier, the district's chief academic officer.

This from someone whose title strongly suggests should be one of the smartest people in the district? As Dennis Prager says, you have to go to Graduate School to become this stupid.

The new guidelines were developed by district staff and did not require school board approval.

I don't quite understand that. The Board could simply summon the Superintendent and tell him that the firings will begin in five minutes, starting with his own. He'd have that long to explain rules like these:

• Homework grades should be given only when the grades will "raise a student's average, not lower it."


• Teachers must accept overdue assignments, and their principal will decide whether students are to be penalized for missing deadlines.


• Students who flunk tests can retake the exam and keep the higher grade.


• Teachers cannot give a zero on an assignment unless they call parents and make "efforts to assist students in completing the work."

You might think this can't happen here. I submit this is the tip of an iceberg, most of it lurking below the surface. It's already begun. Exhibit A: over one third of Minnesota public high school graduates need remedial work when they attend Minnesota public colleges.

After reading my last post on bus fares, I decided to do what I probably should have done months ago. Rather than figuring out how to keep several quarters in my pocket all the time, I ordered a Transit "Go To" card. It's a prepaid value card, just like my Caribou card. Plus, I get a discount, about 10%, which just about negates the coming 25 cent fare increase.

So now I have three ways to work - car, bus, and bike. The last three weeks, that's worked out to about 1 day driving, the other four split, mornings by bus and evenings by bike. The buses have a two slot bike rack, though it's happened twice already that it was already full. Rule one of bus riding though, is having a plan B for when the bus never comes.

The bus and bike have me paying maybe $2 a month less in gasoline taxes despite the big Transit tax increases. And the bike is saving me about $10 a week over the bus and car, paying for this year's and next year's fare increases to further fund light rail.

I only need a comfortable, "no nose" seat.

A certain Public School Superintendent perhaps imprudently referenced the latest education post up at Minnesota 2020: School Districts Falling Further Behind Financially. Minnesota 2020 is an admittedly progressive (i.e. liberal), unadmittedly political (viz. DFL) think tank.

It's a very professional, polished post, showing a disconsolate student and featuring some effective graphs splashed with red. It claims that school funding has not kept pace with inflation:

It's a number that should make Minnesotans cringe: four out of five Minnesota school districts have dropped in real per-pupil revenue since 2003. That means 80% of our schools are trying to do more with less but it's not working. Our schools are falling behind.

But look further, emphasis mine.

These findings are based on actual and projected revenue and pupil count data from the Minnesota Department of Education adjusted for inflation in government purchases.

See that? The government gets its own inflation rate, obviously a higher one than the Conssumer Price Index. This use of an inflated inflator appears to be a critical premise of this story, for the post goes on to say:

Of course, anti-tax ideologues will continue to claim that real per pupil school revenues are increasing. However, repeating a falsehood will not make it true. Claims regarding growing school revenues are generally based on incomplete measures of revenue, inappropriate inflation adjustments, or both. Based on the most inclusive measures of school revenue available and taking into account the real rate of inflation in government purchases, there is no doubt that school revenues have been falling during the era of "no new taxes."

This political outburst appears out of place in this otherwise well written post, again unscoring the need to use their inflation measure, one that tacitly accepts government inefficiency rather than force harder choices.

I think King Banian at SCSU would agree that there is no one perfect measure of inflation. But if we as a society are going to use such numbers, we have to settle on one, and clearly, empirically, that one should be the Consumer Price Index. We can't have one for Education, another for Health Care, still another for Agriculture and so on because utlimately they will devolve into serving their special situations.

That doesn't preclude the school districts from expanding their argument after applying the CPI, citing unusual factors like the fact that education can be disproportionately labor intensive. That is the approach Minnesota 2020 should have taken.

To the amazement of some of my commenters, I generally advocate voting yes on public school operating levy referendums. Here's my reasoning:

1. I fail to see why school districts cannot set their tax rates like the city and the county. The Board of Directors is elected, just like the City Council Members and County Commissioners.


2. As a result, the District spends considerable time and money preparing and promoting these referendums, resources lost to the original purpose of education.


3. It doesn't seem to be much of a fiscal brake. School spending has at least doubled in real dollars the past 40 years regardless.


4. As a result, we don't have hard accountability for disappointing results. The District can claim it was a result of inadequate funds.


5. The kids suffer while the adults argue, for the District won't cut the budget where levy opponents expect them to cut.


6. School financial statements are hard to understand, on purpose it would seem, and therefore it is difficult for the average voter to assess.

That doesn't mean I won't vote no if I think the District is being deceptive, greedy, or lazy. I have found that referendums for "investments in technology" are often highly suspect for one or more of those reasons, for example.

Since 2004, there is a new reason to vote no: inflation clauses. Prime Minister Pawlenty uncharacteristically stood firm when the Legislature tried to put similar automatic spending increases in one or more state spending bills. Inflation is a reality, but to simply write it in without considering alternatives is, well, lazy.

In the case of referendums, it isn't even necessary. Calculate the expected inflation over its term and raise the levy amount accordingly. If you feel uncomfortable projecting that 5, 7 or 10 years out, shorten the term to where you are comfortable. If you would otherwise bump up against the maximum levy (on which I strongly disagreed with Pawlenty), you're being deceptive, especially when you're not using the standard Consumer Price Index.

The referendum language adopted tonight by District 281 includes such an inflation clause. My normally automatic "yea" vote is on hold while I study it further.

Per Channel 12 News, the New Hope Ice Arena will need significant repairs soon.

Underneath one of the arena's two rinks is a sand and steel foundation. It's an outdated system that has held up pretty well for more than 30 years, but inevitably, it will soon need to be replaced.

New Hope Mayor Martin Opem, Sr. says it will cost roughly $1.5 million to update the rink, money the city doesn't have.

"We don't have the funds to support the sheet of ice," explained Opem. "The ideal situation in my mind is that the Youth Hockey Association and the 281 School District figure out how to come up with the cash for the repair."

District 281 has been cutting athletics as part of budget crises, so Mayor Opem can forget about that.

What's interesting here is that New Hope likely lured and promoted having Armstrong, Cooper (and Robbinsdale?) High School playing there when it opened. The city was in its ascendancy and high school hockey had just eclipsed high school basketball in popularity. That and the supporting youth programs and figure skaters meant that nobody was likely worried about money, not enough to escrow for later major repairs or replacement.

The bill has nonetheless come due. Now, those "customers" who did indeed make the arena a success are now expected to fork over another $1.5 million. Continuing from Channel 12:

Opem points out that [they] serve seven area cities, yet New Hope alone foots the ice arena bill. He says it's a cost New Hope should not have to cover alone.

Really?

You patronize a theater for years, and the roof finally starts giving way. The owner tells you that because of your regular attendance, you are now obligated to him to help pay for a new roof. Me, I'd find another theater.

Of course, what will most likely happen is that veteran State Senator Ann Rest will slide this into the 2010 bonding bill.

The new school year is about to start, time to again look in on Independent School District 352, the Gopherville Public Schools. In the first ten chapters, we met their Board and their frustrated Superintendent, Will Kennicott. His frustration ends when a philanthropic favorite son Paul Riesling offers to close the deficits, avoiding layoffs and avoiding merger with the nearby Zenith district. We resume now at a table in the Circle R where Kennicott and his Zenith counterpart are talking shop over their after dinner coffee.

"Let's back up," said Will Kennicott, Superindent of the Gopherville Public Schools. "You say that you're not going to crawl any more. Do I crawl? Or did I crawl before?"

"Poor choice of word," replied Claire Andrews, Superintendent of the Zenith Public Schools. "I think I said 'beg' initially, and I'll stand by that."

"Still a poor choice of word. I ..."

"No, begging is the word. That's all we really do these days and you know it."

"Claire, Claire," said Kennicott, taking a sip of coffee and leaning back. "Claire, I would have agreed with you even a few weeks ago. I felt much the same as you, I think, perhaps more so. I was thinking of quitting, maybe teach at the college or something."

"And then Paul shows us up and all is forgotten," said Andrews, with the first noticeable edge to her voice all evening.

"Yes, Paul came to my rescue. Not Paul's money, Paul. What you don't know that Paul's first action was to tell me to stop whining and do my job. I damn near threw him out of my office. Once we got that settled - he was right, you know - only then did he go on to make his offer."

"Wow," said Claire softly. "Shows what I know." She straightend. "No, yes, that shows what exactly I'm talking about. We never seem to ever get past the money in this business."

"I'd appreciate you're keeping that in confidence, for Paul's sake."

Andrews smiled. "Of course. But tell me more about what you and Paul got settled."

"He told me to do my job."

"What is your job?"

"He asked me that same question. I said something syrupy about educating our students. He chuckled, told me that's why I was unhappy."

"I don't follow."

"My job is hire those that do educate our students. That takes money. I get that money, anywhere I can get it. That's my job. Oh, I have all those legal and administrative things the laws tell us we need to do. We hand out the diplomas. But ultimately, we sit down at the Wurlitzer, press the various keys, and make it rain money on our District."

"Now I follow. When times are good, you get to do the fun parts. When money's tight, you don't."

"And you myopically start blaming the money itself. It's the only reason you exist. An assistant principal could do the rest."

Andrews finished her coffee. "I wish I'd been there. Maybe Paul would like to give a command performance, for me?" She signaled the waiter.

"Sorry, but I think I'll have to do," chuckled Will Kennicott. The waiter arrived and at her urging, they both ordered a small dish of vanilla ice cream.

"Now let's get back to my plan. I'm going to budget next year based on this year's actual receipts, pure and simple. My Finance Director will do the rest. He'll probably bring in more than we need, and we'll bank the difference."

"Or spend it on diesel for the buses, perhaps."

"Sure. I said I'd budget this way, which gives me reserves to handle surprises like that."

"It's bold. I like it. And you'll be fired in a week."

"Maybe not. Not if you don't tell them. I certainly won't." Their ice cream arrived and she explained her plan in more detail.

"You've thought this through, no question. OK, you'll be fired in two weeks." They both laughed.

A number of Minnesota's public school districts will be seeking additional property tax revenue via referendums on the November 2008 ballot. My own District 281 (Robbinsdale) is one of them. To be fair, the Board and the Administration were inclined to wait until 2009, given the observed lower approval rates in Presidential election years. They are honoring the input received during its recently completed Strategic Planning process, plus a submitted petition from the Unite 281 group.

Consensus on the ballot questions was reached at the District 281 Board Work Session on August 11th, and is now on the August 18th Regular Board Meeting agenda for adoption. As proposed, there are two questions. The first replaces the existing 10 year operating levy adopted in 2001 with a new, higher 7 year levy.

SCHOOL DISTRICT BALLOT QUESTION 1REVOKING EXISTING REFERENDUM REVENUEAUTHORIZATION; APPROVING NEW AUTHORIZATION
The board of Independent School District No. 281 (Robbinsdale Area Schools) has proposed to revoke the school district’s existing referendum revenue authorization of $848.25 per pupil and to replace that authorization with a new authorization of $1,360.35 per pupil. The proposed new referendum revenue authorization would increase each year by the rate of inflation and be applicable for seven years unless otherwise revoked or reduced as provided by law.

Shall the school district’s existing referendum revenue authorizations be revoked and the increase in the revenue proposed by the board of Independent School District No. 281 be approved?

SCHOOL DISTRICT BALLOT QUESTION 2APPROVAL OF SCHOOL DISTRICTREFERENDUM REVENUE AUTHORIZATION
The board of Independent School District No. 281 (Robbinsdale Area Schools) has also proposed to increase its general education revenue by $119.46 per pupil. The proposed referendum revenue authorization would be applicable for seven years unless otherwise revoked or reduced as provided by law.

If School District Ballot Question 1 is approved, shall the increase proposed by the board of Independent School District No. 281 also be approved?

You'll note that Question 1 has an inflationary adjustment, meaning that the levy can be raised much like a cost of living adjustment ("COLA") clause does in employment contracts. This is further explained in the Resolution text, "the annual inflationary increase calculated under Minnesota Statutes, Section 126C.17, Subdivision 2, paragraph (b)." To wit::

For purposes of this subdivision, for fiscal year 2005 and later, "inflationary increase" means one plus the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers, as prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Standards, for the current fiscal year to fiscal year 2004. For fiscal years 2009 and later, for purposes of paragraph (a), clause (1), the inflationary increase equals the inflationary increase for fiscal year 2008 plus one-fourth of the percentage increase in the formula allowance for that year compared with the formula allowance for fiscal
year 2008.

I can't get through these words to do the math, but it sure looks to me that this means the CPI you and I know plus something more, something most voters will not know.

Again, this is proposed, not adopted, but I feel the need to make one more comment. No matter the intent, that second question to add still more to the levy could bring trouble later. Based on what happened in another district, I fear that the voters might infer that they won't see another referendum for the stated 7 years of these referendums. As I look at the projections, that doesn't seem likely.

There was never a doubt, merely formality in holding public hearings on the recently approved 25 cent Transit fare increase. For most riders, that means $2.25 instead of $2.00, so now they will have to start trafficking in quarters. Even off-peak riders will have to find extra quarters now, that fare rising from $1.50 to $1.75.

I should note that the proposed expansion of morning peak hours to start at 5:30 AM instead of 6:00 AM was not adopted. I'm inclined to think this was never in doubt either, just a red herring to pretend that Transit actually responded to the public input. It wasn't discussed at all at either of the sessions I attended.

Incidentally, I am now referring to Metro Transit and their opt-out partners like Maple Grove as simply "Transit" from now on. It isn't "mass transit" as it doesn't serve masses, only a few percent of the masses. It isn't "public transit" either for that same reason and because it doesn't serve any public purpose over and above what private companies would otherwise provide.

A recent Al Franken ad warns us that his opponent, U. S. Senator Norm Coleman works for "special interests" while he would "fight" for "working families." It is an excellent example of a recent Dennis Prager-ism:

"Anytime you hear the words 'special interests' you know that nothing is being said."

The same applies for "working families" as well. My brood is a working family, but somehow I don't think Mr. Franken is thinking of us. And who are the non-working families that he presumably would be fighting? Surely not the disabled, the unemployed, the retired, or the indolent. Who could he possibly be referring to?

As for special interests, what is the Democratic Party but a coalition of special interests? They simply refer to them as activists, communities, groups, caucuses, and unions. In fact, all political parties fit this definition, hence the whole term is meaningless as Prager so eloquently said.

"Educrats Never Sleep" reports The Big Stink over at the Freedom Dogs. As I've noted, the Robbinsdale Area Schools are giving us another chance to raise our taxes this November. The exact ballot language and the amount to be sought are now being developed, and as "Stink" reports, they hired consultants to test the waters. The consultants did a telephone survey of 400 registered voters about two weeks ago and reported their findings to the School Board at its August 11th Work Session.

For the record, I disagree with most in the MOB who generally vote no on public school operating referendums. I typically vote yes for reasons I have given before and will again near election day.

"Stink" was particularly critical of the District hiring Public Relations help with our tax money to get still more of our tax money. It's not a fair fight, even if David did beat Goliath last year, for David has to rely entirely on private, voluntary contributions.

I was at that Work Session and received a copy of the survey results in the form of a 31 slide Powerpoint presentation. Yes, it cost us thousands of dollars, but the fact that that money didn't provide any useful information, well that's the rest of the story.

What did the survey tell us? Asking for less money improves the chance of passage, the threshold being around $200 a year for an average homeowner. The laws involved don't really allow us to ask for much more than that anyway, and a curious non-linearity in the formulas says we get the most net money if we stop a little short of the maximum levy. In other words, we paid for what common sense already told us.

They tested some language, but the results were again predictable and therefore not helpful. For example, over 90 % agreed that "investing in the quality of the local public schools is essential if we are to maintain a safe, thriving, vibrant community." Oh, I'd love to take that statement apart word by word, but I'll simply ask: so what? I think The Big Stink, Chad the Elder, and I would agree with this, but is spending still more money on methods that don't seem to be working an investment? And wouldn't investing in the local students produce the same or better results?

Finally, having endured well over a thousand such presentations, I have to say that this one was second-rate. There were too many slides and too many graphs. The text layout was annoyingly small for no reason even with half the page unused. The presenter had to spend several minutes explaining a couple of the confusing graphs. Were I on the Board, I would have asked that they at least re-do the presentation before paying the bill. It was that bad.

The District needs to be a better shopper than they apparently were here, for it could make a voter question how they buy everything else.

At a short Special Meeting preceding a Work Session this evening, the Robbinsdale Area School Board named six citizens to its new Financial Advisory Council (FAC). I was one of the 13 other "excellent" applicants. Truth be told, I wasn't even close, for two alternates were also named. There had been some thought of increasing the citizen contingent to eight, but they elected to stay with the six in the by-laws. The names will soon be up on the District web site.

I am disappointed, no question about it. My best guess is that what I see this Council doing is not what they want done. OK, maybe I just wasn't excellent enough. No matter what, the Board had to disappoint at least 11 applicants and it really doesn't matter now whether the rest of us were 9th or 19th this round.

The good news in all this is that I'm now free to pursue my "consumer-oriented" financial statements as you'll see. I won't have any help or sanction, so it will take a lot of my time, but it's possible that the FAC may come up with some applicable information for me. This also leaves me free to work on District communications, which I think most would agree needs improvement as the Strategic Plan identifies.

This also means I don't have to pull any punches here on the blog, not that I have, not that I would as junk scientists, junk economists, junk environmentalists, certain Legislators and a certain Governor can attest. But here in 281, I only see good people trying to do what they think is right and I will continue to give them the benefit of the doubt - and another point of view.

I'll try to sit in on at least the first few FAC meetings, to see if they will try to function independently of the Board and/or the Administration. There have been several signs along the way that tell me that the FAC is expected to be "supportive" of the District. Indeed, many reports prepared by other such commissions in other districts have no insight and are little more than rubber stamp approvals. I expect more from our group.

That's why I and others balked at the initial draft of the FAC By-Laws, where the citizen representatives would have had very little say. So while I'll be missing out on the fun for at least two years, I can at least take some pride in that I have helped give these six citizen appointees of the 2008 FAC the power to elect their own chair and the votes to set their own course.

This is my final installment presenting and commenting on the recently adopted 2008 District 281 Strategic Plan. It's two pages. Page one I covered in Part 1, the Mission, Vision, and Core Values. In Part 2, I went through the first three priorities, which focused on teaching.

Now, let me review the last two Priorities, which concern the District's relationship with the community.

Priority #4: Strengthen relationships among students, staff, families and community members.

1. Build trust in district administration and the Board of Education.
2. Develop innovative, targeted communication that is clear, concise, and compelling.
3. Create a marketing plan that engages engages our communities and builds pride in the district.
4. Establish citizen ambassadors to share information and provide community feedback.
5. Monitor progress on the Strategic Plan and report results to the community.

Some of this will simply take care of itself if results improve as outlined in the first three priorities. I'm otherwise in full agreement here, particularly point B on communications.

Priority #5: Maximize resources and demonstrate financial accountability.

1. Establish a financial advisory council.
2. Evaluate existing systems to ensure maximum efficiency, effectiveness and cost-benefit.
3. Seek stable, predictable funding to support comprehensive educational programs.
4. Increase funding through local referenda and supplemental resources.
5. Create a facilities plan that meets the needs of our students and our communities.
6. Identify and engage volunteers to provide specialized services for district initiatives.

The "Financial Advisory Council" (Point A) should have its first meeting this August, the roster to be adopted August 11th. Point E (facilities plan) seems like an excellent starting assignment for this group. It's not too early to lay out a plan for eventually rebuilding our aging schools, almost all built before 1970. The Board needs to set a policy to go with that, defining levels of service the parents can expect.

I know many could do without the tax increases (points C and D), but this was definitely the consensus of the Strategic Planning group.

As a resident and as part of this process, I am pleased with this document. I've read many such plans on the web and I think this one is better than any of them. It's concise and has clear mandates for much of what must change. It took a little longer than planned, but it also cost a bit less. Next time, let's keep the consultant around to help us finish it on time. Otherwise...

"Jean Phillipe, open Hell's Kitchen!"

I was out doing my usual Saturday walk, now working the Como neighborhood and walked by the Brasa Premium Rotisserie restaurant just up the road from Keegan's on East Hennepin. I liked the setup, took a look at the menu, and returned in the evening with my wife.

It's a simple menu: rotisserie chicken, beef, and pork, sides and dessert. I had the pork and chicken combination, with creamed spinach and red beans for sides, plus a Grain Belt beer. The meat was great, sides very good, and we split a good peach shortcake.

It's all housed in an old service station, the old pump area providing outdoor seating, simple and efficient. The portions were right, priced right, and we'll be back.

With the Mission, Vision, and Core Values established in Part 1, it's time for the specifics. They are organized as five priorities, each with component 4-6 goals. The first three largely concern the school district itself.

Priority #1: Enrich and accelerate academic achievement.

1. Raise expectations and increase academic rigor for all students.
2. Monitor student growth and design educational plans to accelerate achievement.
3. Reduce race-based and poverty-based achievement gaps.
4. Increase the percentage of students prepared for post-secondary opportunities.
5. Provide all students opportunities in fine arts, activities, athletics, and specialized programs (i.e., IB, AP).

Most of this is what any District should continually try to do. I do look forward to how this will be measured.

Point C stands out. The wording is a little awkward, implying that race and poverty cause lower achievement, but I like its boldness: Reduce the gaps. Don't just study, don't just identify, don't just analyze. Just do it. Get those kids - all kids - an education.

Priority #2: Provide high quality, engaging teaching that challenges every student.

1. Attract, develop, support, and retain exceptional teachers and staff.
2. Provide innovative and research-based methods, materials, programs and technology.
3. Establish clear expectations at every level and insist upon results.
4. Provide more frequent observation and evaluation of teaching practices.

Again, I applaud the daring, especially point C, but there are significant matters of state regulations and union contracts here.

Priority #3: Cultivate learning environments characterized by mutual respect and personal responsibility.

1. Improve students' sense of belonging at school.
2. Ensure a safe and orderly learning environment.
Minimize classroom disruptions that interfere with learning.
3. Encourage and help families partner with schools to ensure student success.
4. Encourage and help families partner with schools to ensure student success.

Again, this is largely what any district should be about. But again, a daring point C: discipline.

This is a pretty tall order: closing achievement gaps, insisting on results, and discipline. It's more than many other such plans have laid out. If successful, it would vault the Robbinsdale district back into the top five in the state, where it once was.

Next post, I'll finish with Priorities 4 and 5 that address the community.

Three years ago, Powerline's John Hinderaker and former Minnesota GOP chair Ron Eibensteiner said this via the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is the best thing that has happened to Minnesota and our party in a long time. He is as smart as anyone in politics, and is a likable guy who has connected with Minnesota’s voters. In challenging times, he is doing a superb job.

I wonder if they still feel the same way, that Mr. Pawlenty is the best Governor in recent memory?

I stopped calling him Governor some time ago when Eric Eskola so correctly observed that he was behaving more like a Prime Minister. He has had his moments, but his maverick ways and numerous unforced errors (always toward the Left) continue to frustrate much of the Republican base. His latest? Our Conservative ideas are old, tired, not workable in the Party of Pawlenty. We're too ideological (principled), too stuck in the past (educated), too inflexible (responsible).

Details with appropriate reaction and scorn were posted at Residual Forces, Nihilist in Golf Pants and Our House. Let me quote Lady Margaret in particular:

Pawlenty says that the ideas "are tired." I'm sorry, but having watched his career for some time now, I can say with some degree of confidence that Tim Pawlenty wouldn't know an idea if it bit him in the ass. For Pawlenty, if the politics works, the ideas work.

I do next to no graphics here at Speed Gibson, but I'm tempted to put up a picture of our Prime Minister with a big red FAIL in the corner.

Yes, Tim Pawlenty is a failure. He has reached his level of political incompetence. Incredibly, some score him atop the Veep leader board, but then, look who's making the decision...

Sure, he had a great opening two years, closing the mega-honking deficit, but really, what choice did he have? It was too soon to raise taxes, given the 2002 Convention where he pried the nomination away from Brian Sullivan, claiming he was a Conservative, too.

Years three and four? He got rolled by the DFL, raised taxes, then openly and defiantly lied to us about it. And he got rolled by Dean Johnson, who has maybe a tenth the political skills of Pawlenty. Johnson simply lied his way through and Pawlenty couldn't find the words - or his spine.

Years five and six? First, there really shouldn't have been more than four years of Pawlenty. He was barely re-elected and only because Mike Hatch fumbled on the goal line, over-reacting to a minor gaffe by his running mate. That said, yes he vetoed a lot of bad DFL legislation. Friends, even Hatch would have had to veto some of those bills. The real hero of 2007 was House Minority Leader Marty Siefert, incidentally. We also have to thank Larry Pogemiller for overplaying his hand.

State spending is still shooting up faster than inflation, personal income or GDP, and faster than it did under Arne Carlson who was no Conservative, either. Meanwhile, we also got a junk science Smoking Ban to put dozens of establishments out of business and a stadium for billionaire Carl Pohlad. And we have his absurd and unworkable energy legislation that almost certainly will have to be repealed as the due dates approach.

Can Pawlenty win a third term? Maybe if the DFL nominates Sonia Pitt, but with the base angry again, by his own words, a Primary challenge looms large, and defeat all but certain even if he makes it to November.

The Party of Pawlenty is over. His future has to be in Washington now.

The 2008 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) scores are out, and the number of Minnesota schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) has increased. Even once stellar Edina made the list this time. So how did my own district 281 do? See the excellent grid in the online Minneapolis Star Tribune.

I summed the mathematics scores by Elementary, Middle, and High School. I really don't see a significant change over last year. There would appear to be a slight gain versus two years ago. What I find far more interesting though, are these weighted (math) averages:

• Elementary: 71%
• Middle: 56%
• High: 36%

This sort of trend has been observed in other writings. American and European students are about equal through the 4th grade, after which we fall behind, the gap quite dramatic by 12th grade.

I have my own pet theory about this: size matters. Small schools work better than large schools, as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has found. And the smaller the school, the closer to your home. That's why I think Robbinsdale (and the rest) need to better understand and exploit the neighborhood school concept.

At our National Night Out, I met a young teacher, starting his third year at a nearby high school. I was very impressed with him, which made it doubly concerting to hear some of his concerns. The big one for him is discipline, that his administration lacks the power or courage or will to enforce it. The disruptive kids know all too well how to scam the system, and he gave us several examples. But, like I said, this teacher was impressive and upbeat and dedicated, finding a couple of interesting ways on his own around "the system" to truly help at least some of those problematic students. Now that's a teacher.

In July, the Robbinsdale Area School Board approved the final 2008 Strategic Plan - "our system" - that identifies a number of goals and ways to get there over the next five years or so. Let's review it, starting with the mission statement that "the Robbinsdale Area Schools [will] inspire and educate all learners to discover their potential and positively contribute to their community." I wanted "Beat Wayzata!" but I have no problem with this statement.

Next comes the Vision, what we want to have happen, where "every student, staff member, parent, and community member takes pride in [the] Robbinsdale Area Schools because of its:

• Outstanding academic achievement. A challenging and comprehensive educational program engages all learners and helps them to reach their potential.
  
  
• Nationally acclaimed programs. Fine arts, activities, athletics and specialized programs contribute to the development of a well-rounded student.
  
  
• Positive learning environment. Every student, family and staff member takes personal responsibility for creating supportive, orderly, and safe schools.
  
  
• Extraordinary staff. Administrators, teachers and staff inspire achievement, engage every student and constantly reach for excellence.
  
  
• Sound fiscal management. Fiscal accountability and wise resource management allow for consistent, equitable and quality educational services for all students.
  
  
• Sustained community support. Active support from the entire community provides for a comprehensive, respected and sustainable education program.
  
  
• Culture of innovation. Innovation fosters an environment that encourages collaboration, creative ideas and dynamic new practices.
  

Again, I have no real disagreement with this, for it is a vision of what we would like to see happen, i.e., what we're aiming for.

I'm not really sure why our consultant (and others) like listing "core values" but here they are:

• Respectful of one another
• Responsible for one's actions
• Responsive to the needs of others
• Results that exceed expectations

The mixed grammar is deliberate I was told, three predicate adjectives that lead to results, a noun.

That's the backdrop. Yes, it reads like many others out there, yes there's some rhetoric and hyperbole, and yes it brings to mind Pollyanna. But it's very workable for what follows, the specific Priorities and Goals that follow staring in Part 2 of this series.

As has been noted more than once, the money spent on building the Hiawatha Line could have bought every rider a car and the gas to go with it. The same will be true of the Central Corridor. It's an accurate perspective, but hardly a realistic alternative.

One that is, however, is simply better bus service: better buses running better routes on better schedules. It would cost far less, be much more flexible, plus be quieter and more comfortable. Most commuters would prefer that even if it did take 5-10 minutes longer than LRT.

But how do you sell that as an alternative? The Metropolitan Council has access to our tax money to develop campaigns, literature, even fancy computer simulations, inside and out. We could make a pretty good case, too, but we don't get a similar grant to develop it. Where's the equal time, i.e., equal money to refute or propose an alternative for Light Rail? The process is backwards. The decision is made (by politicians, not transportation engineers), then the graphic artists go to work.

Imagine a law that says that for any project over $100 million, one percent has to be made available to alternative proposals. Who allocates that? Those members of the group that voted against the winning proposal. Don't sweat the details here, I'm illustrating a point.

For Central Corridor, that would produce about $15 million that could be spent on research and presentations. In fact, we could buy a couple of upscale buses like those serving Eden Prairie and Carver County and start running them as a parallel line, call it Route 160. We charge a dollar more per ride or so, to match the limited supply with the demand, but everybody who currently uses the 16 bus can try it once or twice to get the feel of it.

Imagine a quiet ride with tinted windows, air conditioning and heat that works, comfortable seats with leg room, and drivers who must pass through a charm school to get such an assignment and the pay raise that goes with it.

Imagine a line with many if not most stops altered so that the buses can pull over without holding up traffic. Major stops have schedules and computer displays showing what's coming when.

Imagine the route planners freed from having to genuflect before the downtown centric model, taking people to places they really want to go without the time and hassle of coming all the way downtown.

Why not try that, a prototype like businesses often employ to try quietly test a new strategy? It takes a little money, but $15 million won't be missed in a $1.5 billion project.

The Central Corridor Light Rail project is supposedly obvious and essential to our overall transportation system. But for a project that will spend more that $1 billion to build and require maybe $25-50 million in annual operating subsidies, there sure are a lot of major unanswered questions. The latest: parking along University Avenue.

KTCA's Almanac program featured a segment with Steve Boland of the Greater Frogtown Community Development Corporation and Robin Caufman, Central Corridor Project Manager.

Erik Eskola: "Parking was a big issue during a public hearing on Monday. The math is simple. If you take up two lanes for rail and two lanes in each direction for cars and buses, that doesn't leave much room for on street parking and University Avenue businesses depend on that parking."

Steve Boland (edited for clarity): "... we're looking at nearly a thousand spaces of surface parking being removed from community businesses [...] about 83 to 85 percent depending on which part of the Avenue you're looking at. It's almost all of the surface parking on the street. Now there's off-street parking options for some businesses, but [many of] the smaller businesses in the Frogtown neighborhoods are landlocked. They rely on the on-street parking in front of their business and we need to do something to restore some of that."

Robin Caufman: (edited for clarity): "We did know that there was going to be some loss of on-street parking. What has happened over the last year or so is we've had a pretty extensive public involvement process and through that process we've learned that the community has concerns about safety and the ability to cross the street at every block. So as we've been going through the planning process we've added some amenities and some features that ended up in that additional loss of parking. So what has happened is that we've really listened to the community and this loss has actually been a result of the process and not the lack of a process."

Now I'm not an attorney and this setting is not even a deposition, but I'd characterize this as a non-responsive answer. Boland further clarified that parking wasn't really brought up in all those briefings.

It's a good interview that you should watch on the Internet, ending with this:

Erik Eskola: "What's the goal of the [Central Corridor] Line itself? I realize it's getting people from point A to point B, but what is the integration with the neighbor and the businesses and the residents? What's the overall vision?"

Robin Caufman: (edited for clarity): "The overall vision for the Corridor is that we will be projecting to have about 42,000 riders a day, that would be connecting some of the very popular destinations in the region, with the University of Minnesota, the Midtown area, the Capitol area and of course, the two downtowns.

"Another thing we find is that there's a lot of social services in this Corridor. In our outreach efforts we've talked a lot to them and found out that they are really excited about this project because they see it as another opportunity for their clients, a lot of which don't have the option of driving. They can't drive or they don't drive or they can't afford to drive. And so in talking to some of those, like Goodwill and ARC of Minnesota and Model Cities, they are really excited about this opportunity for their clients."

Again, this is non-responsive. That last point is pure jibberish. Any transportation service these clients will receive on the Central Corridor LRT is available now on the #16 bus, better service in fact for those who will now need to walk further to the LRT stations.

Since Ms. Caufman had no answers, I'll give Mr. Boland the last word:

"We think a good mix of off-street parking and transit solutions is important, but if you take street parking out of this mix completely and put big "No Parking" signs on University Avenue it becomes a thoroughfare. It's suddenly a place you go through, and not a place you go to, and we need people to stop and patronize and be part of this immigrant community."

I was riding the #4 bus on Hennepin Ave toward my walking objective this morning in Northeast Minneapolis. I was listening to the David Strom show on my Sony Walkman. The topic of the hour was our public transit system. And there in the window was the Shubert Theatre, then the Light Rail terminus a block later. It's hard to say which is the whiter elephant.

I've been reading some interesting material about the Osseo School District, #279. You may remember that a citizens group actually sued to get district emails last year. They won and have posted some portions on their news group. The citizens group (District 279 United) was unhappy about taxes, referendums, school closings, and the Superintendent. Sound familiar? Like at about half the Public School districts in Minnesota?

Reading through some of the email excerpts, accepting them at face value, there would appear to be some problems. With one exception, I'm inclined to consider them largely matters of style and imperfect communications by the Board and the Superintendent. The 279 voters can make the appropriate changes this fall if necessary.

But one issue is important, the hiring of a consulting firm (Teamworks) to make their hard budget cutting decisions. As one email excerpt noted, the intent was clearly to deflect parent, voter, and staff reaction. District 281 and others are doing it the hard way, the right way, i.e., directly, and taking the heat.

It looks like the strategy may have worked, for Superintendent Susan Hintz received "a near perfect evaluation" and a new three year contract with a pay increase. Her score was 4.4 out of 5. In District 281, Superintendent Stan Mack was scored at 3.4 out of 5. No matter what you might think of either Superintendent or the jobs they did, I have to believe that ducking the hard questions resulted in a little grade inflation for Hintz.

Congress is in recess for about five weeks. Normally, that's a good thing. On balance, it probably still is. But domestic oil production needs to be unshackled and soon. As the Allstate man says, even if it's not a recession, it sure feels like one, and energy prices have a lot to do with that.

As several on the right have observed, this is a winning issue for Republicans. There is no reason to settle for a "Gang of Ten" McCain-style compromise. Quite the opposite, go further to get the fast-tracking authority around those who abuse our environmental laws to delay and deny the investments that lifting the Congressional bans would otherwise enable.

The Democrats will not be idle these five weeks, either. I think what they're really stalling about is how to wet their beaks even more as part of whatever compromise is reached. Senator Obama has tipped this hand a couple of times already, for example.

Republicans have to be ready, for the Democrats would love to turn the tables, with the GOP voting no. On something like nuclear power, it's difficult to communicate with the public with understands comparatively little of the technology or the business or how it might affect their lives.

With oil and gasoline however, we can point to a couple of numbers that the public now understands very well. The price of oil is our leading indicator and the price of gasoline is our lagging indicator of whatever actions are next taken.

Those hated speculators will tell us when they think that Democrats are serious. Those hated oil companies will charge us less when the Republicans (and some courageous Democrats) do what's right for America.

They say you never forget how to ride a bicycle. I find that you do have to reacquaint yourself with some of the fine points. I've been riding for eight consecutive days now, at least 6 miles a day. I like it, but I'm going to have to switch to a more comfortable (more padded) seat. I have no real idea what my range is yet, for posterior "fatigue" never lets me get past maybe 8 miles without a break.

This past week, that was every night home from work and this morning, to work. That hadn't been my plan, but the bus's bike rack already had two on it. So rather than wheel it on board, I simply did the 5.5 miles to work. All told, that saved me $10.00 in bus fare, meaning my first 40 trips after the October fare increase are paid for. It also avoids my share of the $6 billion dollar tax increase for light rail and other pork.

I now remember things like lawn sprinklers and low hanging branches over the sidewalks. I also now remember why we electrical and mechanical engineering students used to rib the civil engineering students at the U. At the risk of sounding like a city planning bureaucrat, our roads aren't exactly bicycle friendly.

Most concrete corners for example have the nice ramps, but on larger intersections, these often don't line up, absurdly so in some cases, i.e., with no obvious safety or terrain issue. You have to slow to wobbling speed to make the turns required without stopping, which would be foolish in a couple of cases where the angles don't give you a good look at the traffic. Often, a semaphore pole is in the way, too.

Another surprising feature when the cuts do align is to find the walk button on the semaphore on the opposite side. It makes no difference to walkers, but what about motorized wheelchair users? It's just as inconvenient for them.

Trails are nice, but need better signage as I posted previously. When you're surrounded by trees or along side railroad tracks below street grade, you can't see any landmarks to guide you and the sun is no help if it's overcast. Even their associated web site maps are surprisingly less helpful than they should be.

That said, this is great fun and good exercise. All I need now is a good dose of global warming to extend the season well into November.

What shall it profit a man to listen to:

• 20 years of Jeremiah Wright?
• Or 20 years of Rush Limbaugh?

Congratulations, Rush on twenty years in the can, now safely ensconced in the Limbaugh Broadcast Museum.

The summer heat has finally arrived, but so has August, when beaches start closing, schools start opening, and the State Fair looms to end our summer retreats from reality.

But it was a good July, thanks in part to Chad the Elder's suggestion that we all take July off from politics. I may have been the only adherent, but it was a nice break.

Oh, I followed the news and blogs of course, but really, not much happened. The best observation I heard, if I understood his comment correctly, was from David Strom of the Minnesota Free Market Institute. Sooner or later said Strom, people are going to discover that Senator Obama is a jerk. The question is when - before or after Election Day.

There's still a little summer left, but I'm rested and ready for more public school research and another election cycle.