Eden Prairie citizens will have the opportunity to vote tomorrow (Tuesday, November 
in a special referendum. Voters will decide the fate of four individual proposals that would add to the City’s system of parks and recreation amenities and increase property taxes to finance it all. You can find detailed information about where & how to vote and the four referendum questions on the City’s website at: 2005 Special Referendum Voting Information.
Basically, the four questions that voters will see on the ballot break down like this:
1. Shall the City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $6,500,000 for additions and improvements to the Community Center?
2. If Question 1 is approved, shall the City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $3,300,000, for additions and improvements to the existing indoor swimming pool located at the Community Center?
3. Shall the City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $4,695,000, for the acquisition of additional park land and improvements to existing parks?
4. Shall the City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds in an amount not exceed $2,000,000 for improvements to and expansion of the trail system?
A referendum such as this one is an important opportunity for a city government to connect directly with its citizens. The language of the ballot questions themselves reinforce that our government is based on the concept that citizens consent to being governed. Unless the citizens grant their consent to these special referendum questions, the City will not provide the proposed amenities. Put another way, the City cannot provide the proposed amenities without voter consent. That’s the way the system works.
Public employees in Minnesota are prohibited by state law from actively engaging in advocacy for special referendums and the like. We must be as responsive to the “Vote No” citizens as we are to those on the “Vote Yes” side. They’re all taxpayers and due that amount of fairness in the way their respective tax dollars are spent.
The improvements to our Community Center and the other amenities that would be created by an affirmative result of tomorrow’s special referendum would add to the quality of life in Eden Prairie. There’s no doubt about that. I hope that voters approve them all, but if they don’t – Eden Prairie will still be the premier city in which to live and work in the Twin Cities on Wednesday morning.
Above all else, send us a message: Vote.
