The Blog from City Hall

Last Wednesday I went to court. The 3rd Division of the 4th District Court, to be exact. It's at the Ridgedale Service Center in Minnetonka adjacent to Ridgedale Mall. For the record, I was not, and am not, in any trouble.

No, I went to court to observe the a typical day in the life of our City Prosecutor Ms. Jennifer Inz. This was Eden Prairie City Court day at Ridgedale. It is the day that people charged with crimes by our Police Department come into Court to get adjudicated. There were people there with lawyers, but most of them came alone to represent themselves. Ms. Inz started the morning with 97 cases to resolve that day. I observed her until noon. By that time I'm guessing that she had resolved more than 30 of them.

Most of the crimes on her docket that day were traffic crimes. There was the guy who was caught doing 97 mph in a 60 mph zone. He pleaded not guilty because there was another car exactly like his in the exact same location at 2:00 am in the morning doing 97 in a 60. There was a student charged with assault. There was a guy charged with his 6th DUI. There were lots of DUI defendents. Most of them pleaded guilty. There was a lady who shoplifted some sunglasses and ended up paying a $300 fine. Another that took some water softener salt. And another that took some watches and jewelry.

Ms. Inz is talking to defendants, listening to the judge and fending off pesky defense attorneys all at the same time. She is interrupted constantly by defense attorneys asking some version of the question: " Hey Jennifer, what are the chances of………" She fielded questions from defendants about why they could not get public defenders and why they could not resolve their cases today and why they could not get out of their punishment. She even fielded questions from defense attorneys looking for Minnetonka City Court and Mound City Court cases.

I learned alot. I know what a C-WOP is: Continuance without a plea. That just means you get to/have to take another day off and come back to the Court to resolve your issue. It was unbelievable to me the amount of paper in the Court. We spend a fair amount of time in city government reducing our use of paper files. In the court system paper files and paper everything is everywhere. That made an impression on me.

Another impression I came away with was how much volume is moving through our Court system. The docket for the day was overflowing, and so was the docket for the next day, and so on. I'm not sure what the answer to that problem is, but I hope someone is thinking about it.

I've been thinking about going to observe City Court for a long time now. I could never really fit it into my schedule. But am I ever glad that I went. It was interesting and educational to see it close up. Now I will have to go again on a Wednesday afternoon to see City jury trials. That'll be interesting too.

I took the opportunity this week to sit down and talk with two of the City’s Recreation Division staff members, Beth Degree and Nicole Weedman, about a program they run together called Girls on the Run.

There are two things I’ve always liked about this program. First, I like the catchy program title. Kind of provocative. It makes you want to find out more about the program. And second, I like the way this program integrates physical fitness with other important life lessons for young girls.

As the father of three boys, I know nothing about parenting young girls - except that I think it must be more difficult than parenting young boys. Beth and Nicole, as young women themselves, know the challenges that young face and teach the girls strategies for addressing many of those challenges in this program through the discipline (and fun) of physical fitness.

That’s enough from me. I’ll let the Beth and Nicole explain the rest. The photos are from the program ending race that took place last weekend. Enjoy Girls on the Run.

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I attended the Police Department's annual awards and recognition ceremony last night.  Attending this event each year always reminds me how lucky I am to work in a city with such an outstanding Police Department.  As I told the Department employees at event last night, we've got the best people, the best resources, supportive elected officials and, most importantly, the trust of the community.  Eden Prairie is a good place to be a Police Officer, and that makes it a good place to live for our residents.

There were two big announcements at the event last night.  Chief Dan Carlson (pictured above) made one and I made the other. 

Chief Carlson announced his retirement.  He will be retiring on January 26, 2007.  He is leaving the Police Department to pursue his next stage of life in the Lutheran ministry.  I won't go too far into that right now.  I know that Dan plans to explain more about his plans in his blog and in the local newspapers.

Following the Chief's announcement, I made my big announcement.  The next Chief of Police will be our current Deputy Chief Rob Reynolds.  Not Interim Chief or Acting Chief.  Rob will be the Chief.  I will formally appoint Rob to his new job in January. 

Rob's appointment will come as no surprise to anyone in the Police Department.  He has prepared himself well to be successful as our next Chief of Police.  He'll do a great job.

We'll have more time to talk about one Chief leaving and another one stepping up between now and January 2007.  Until then, I offer my congratulations and gratitude to both men because they have helped to create and sustain what I believe is the best Police Department in the state of Minnesota. 

Well done gentlemen.

June 14 update: links added to the new weblog of Deputy Chief Rob Reynolds.

I attended one day of the three day conference of the Minnesota City/County Management Association (MCMA) at Cragun's resort in the Brainerd Lakes area.  I came back earlier today to attend the Police Department's annual awards recognition event.  I'll tell you more about that event tomorrow.

At the conference I participated as a speaker on a panel about the use of technology to help build "community" in our communities.  This is Chaska City Administrator Dave Pokorney.  Dave was a speaker on the same panel.  Dave spoke about the way Chaska uses its municipal Wi-Fi system to build community.  I talked about, what else, the way I use my blog to build a sense of community in Eden Prairie.

There were two other speakers on the panel.  A duo from Stearns County that talked about the way they use their website for community-building and a speaker from Golden Valley that told us about a community-building software they use called "i-neighbors". 

Whether we use technology or we go about our community-building the old fashioned way (newsletter, cable tv, etc.), it's an important task for any city, especially for suburban cities. 

This is a view of the very top of the Staring Lake Park slide.  You see a beautiful blue sky and Staring Lake in the distance.  As you can see, the slide is under construction.  This is the slide that was destroyed by arsonist vandals last year.    

We have blocked the top of the slide for two reasons.  The biggest reason is that it's under construction and not ready for use.  We don't want anyone to get hurt.  The other reason is that we have reserved the first ride down this slide for a young man named Tucker Zhangs.  I've written about Tucker in this blog before.  He is a young Eden Prairie kid who raised over $1,500 for the City to replace the slide after it was destroyed.  We wanted to show our appreciation to Tucker for his efforts, so we decided that he could have the first ride at the dedication ceremony for the new slide.

Given new playground safety standards, we weren't sure that we'd be able to replace the former slide with one that was as tall, fast and fun.  This is a view from the top of the slide to its bottom at the base of the playground.  It's going to be a fun ride. 

We're looking forward to dedicating this new slide later this month and giving little Tucker his well deserved first ride.

This is an architect's rendering of the future Fire Station #4.  The new fire station will be located near the intersection of Dell Road and new T.H. 212. 

The new fire station project is under construction. The construction completed so far as been at ground level or below, so there's not really much to see yet.  If you drove over there today you would see the preparation going on for pouring footings.   

The contractor has told us that we can expect the project to be completed around Christmas time this year.  That sounds great to me.  A little optimistic maybe, but if they can deliver it in December 2006 I would be quite pleased.

During the state legislative session I receive email everyday from advocates for many different causes updating me on bills, amendments and the general status of things at the State Legislature. 

For today's post, I thought I'd share a sample of what one of these updates looks like.  This one is from the League of Minnesota Cities.  It's a long one, but it's a typical example.  Enjoy:

Read the rest of this entry »

I attended the 30th birthday party for the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club last night at Olympic Hills Country Club.  I've been a member of the Rotary Club since I came to Eden Prairie in 2002.  The celebration included several of the original founding club members sharing stories about what the club, and Eden Prairie, was like 30 years.  Both of grown up very nicely.

The philosophical base of the Rotary Club is the Four Way Test.  I found this on the Rotary International website.  I think it speaks for itself:

The Four-Way Test

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.

This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions:

"Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?

2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"

Whether you're a Rotary Club member or not, the Four Way Test is a good philosophical guide to live your life.  So Happy Birthday Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club.  Here's to another 30 productive years in the community!

Mary Keating works in the City's Housing and Human Services Division.  Mary, along with a group of local veterans, are collecting small items that men and women serving overseas in the U.S. Armed Forces need - some of which people might not think of as being necessities.

For example, items like local or sports magazines, paper and envelopes and paperback books can help pass the time.

Also welcome are personal care items such as lip balm, wet wipes, shampoo, hair conditioner, hand lotion, deodorant, sealable plastic bags, shower caps, and sun screen.

Because service members often travel, snacks that come in small packages that can be resealed - including protein bars, cookies and beef jerky - are much needed.

Mary said participants bringing gifts should bring only the items on the list. The military screens packages, and may not authorize a service member to receive something that is not approved.

The items can be dropped off at the Housing & Human Services Office in the lower level of the Eden Prairie Center mall on Friday, May 5, 2006.

Also on Friday, May 5, there will be a "Support Our Troops" event at the Office of Housing & Human Services that runs officially from 9:30 a.m. until Noon. If you have items that you would like to have sent to our troops, and can't get to the Mall in that time period, Mary Keating will be in her office until after 5 p.m. 

So stop by the Eden Prairie Center tomorrow (Friday, May 5), write a letter to a member of the Armed Services, donate some needed items or simply say 'Hello' to hard working employees that make up the City's Housing & Human Services team.