The Blog from City Hall

Councilmember Ron Case has served the citizens of Eden Prairie as a member of the City Council for twelve years. I had a chance to sit down with Ron and three of his four kids last week to record a podcast for today about what it’s like to be the child of a City official. Ron also had a chance to say a few words about his tenure and possible upcoming plans.

You can cruise the photos while you listen to the podcast. The photo o the left is a shot of Ron at his last Council meeting on December 19. The photo to the right of that one is of me with Ron’s wife Kathie. Kathie attended Ron’s final Council meeting and said some nice things about him during the public forum part of the meeting. We snapped this photo of her at small reception we held for Ron and the Mayor for following the meeting. The photo to the right of Kathie Case is from the day that I recorded this podcast. From L-R in this photo are: Sam Case, Kiersten Case, me, Ron, and David Case. The photo on the right is Ron’s official Councilmember portrait taken in 2004.

Today’s podcast is shorter than last week’s 1/2 hour extravaganza. Enjoy!

Click play to listen. 4 minutes, 17 seconds

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President Gerald R. Ford died on Tuesday, December 26, 2006. He was the 38th President of the United States serving from August 9, 1974 to January 20, 1977.

You can learn more about President Ford’s presidency by reading his official White House biography at this link: President Gerald R. Ford.

Rest In Peace President Ford. You served your country well.

It’s unanimous. We’ve got a new budget.

That’s what happened last Tuesday night at the City Council’s final Council meeting of the year. On a unanimous vote of 5-0, the City Council approved the proposed City budget for 2007. Here’s a link to a short story in the Eden Prairie news about the vote and the budget. The unanimous vote of approval is significant. We haven’t had a unanimous budget vote since December 2002. For staff, it is a sign of support and unity from the Council for the direction of the City. That doesn’t mean carte blanche support by any means, but it is a statement. And in the political world, statements and votes are everything.

The City’s tax levy, which is term we use to describe the level of taxation we spread among our taxpayers, will go up 7.6% in 2007. The City’s five year average annual increase in the tax levy has been 4.1%. The total budgeted spending in 2007 will increase by 6.2% to $39,261,313. The City’s five year average annual spending increase is 4.3%. You might be asking why the City would raise its tax asking by 7.6% if spending is increasing by 6.2%. This apparent disconnection shows that we are expecting non-property tax revenues to decrease in 2007, which means that we will need to fill that gap with a higher reliance on property taxes.

Our general operations budget for 2007 will increase 5.7%. Our five year annual average increase is 5.1%. This budget excludes our debt service and capital improvements budget. Our capital spending is anticipated to increase in 2007 as we plan and execute a number of the projects approved by citizens in the 2005 Parks & Recreation Bond Referendum. Our debt service payments are budgeted to increase 14.5% in 2007. Our five year average annual increase in debt service has been 3.6%. The increase in debt payments reflects the fact that we are starting to make payments on the 2005 park bonds.

Property values in Eden Prairie increased for all classifications of property in 2006. Values increased for commercial and apartment properties more than they increased for residential properties. The ratio of value increases among these three main classifications of property changes each year. When I started working in Eden Prairie in 2002, the commercial property market was in the dumps and values were stuck or actually decreasing. That has turned around during these past two years. Commercial property in Eden Prairie is hot again. Residential property isn’t doing too bad either, but it’s not as hot as commercial.

All of this means that the property tax burden for 2007 has shifted a bit from residential to commercial and apartment properties. Even though our tax levy is increasing by 7.6%, the impact of that levy increase on the median valued residential property will be to increase its 2007 City property taxes by 3.4%. For the median valued commercial property, however, the 7.6% levy increase translates into a 12.7% property tax increase in 2007. For apartment properties, it translates into a 9.5% tax increase. The differential impact of how tax burden is spread among taxpayers is what we call property tax impact.

The property taxation scheme in Minnesota is complicated to explain. The property tax impact is where the rubber meets the road in the property tax world. It is the confluence of the matrix of local spending, local property values, and state property tax policy. The City Council controls local spending. The natural forces of the real estate market determine local property values. The State Legislature controls the property tax rules for local governments. There are many people involved in the property tax process, which dilutes everyone’s individual accountability, unfortunately.

But we’ve got a budget for 2007. That means it’s time to start working on the next one.

This is a sign that I tape to my door during the final two weeks of every December. I’m an “open door” guy, so the fact that my door is closed and this sign is on the door, is eye catching to people who drop by for a visit. The message is tongue-in-cheek, but it is meant to convey that I’m busy doing something important right now.

This is performance review time of year. I think that performance reviews are important. I like to spend a fair amount of time on them because I want them to be valuable to the person receiving them. Sloppy or incomplete performance reviews aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

I personally do performance reviews for the Parks & Recreation Director, Community Development Director, Public Works Director, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Human Resources Manager, IT Manager, Finance Manager, Facilities Manager, Communications Manager, City Clerk, Assistant to the City Manager and my Executive Assistant. For those of you counting at home, that’s 13. They’re all due by January 1st each year. I’ll get most of them done by then, but not all, unfortunately.

OK. I’ve got to get back to work. I’ve got six done and seven more to go.

It’s been awhile since I last podcasted. No real good reason for that, other than it adds a couple of steps to the blogging process. I like doing a podcast and I get great reviews on them. I’ll try to be more regular about that in 2007.

I had the great opportunity today to do a joint facilitated podcast with three guys that I hold in high regard. That’s Chief of Police Dan Carlson in the photo on the left. Today was Dan’s final day in the office as the Chief of Police. He is taking some vacation over the next couple of weeks and retires on January 22, 2007 after 25 years of service to this community.

In the photo to the right of that one is Chief Carlson and Fire Chief George Esbensen. They have a great rapport. You’ll hear this in the podcast. To the right of that photo is my blog adviser Griff Wigley. Griff is also a blog adviser/coach to the two Chiefs as well. The photo to right is just the four of us in mid-podcast in my office. Thanks to our Communications Supervisor Pat Brink for snapping these photos today. (Click photos to enlarge.)

Chief Carlson is getting ready to move on. Today’s podcast is about him, primarily, and his decision to move on. We also talk a little bit about Dan’s next gig in life, which is going to be new initiative that he developed called Public Safety Ministries, Inc. I’ve included the link so that my readers can see Dan’s next venture in life. It’s something that he’s been passionate about for a long time.

So enjoy the podcast, and please join me in extending your best wishes to Chief Carlson on his mission in life. Cheers to you, Dan. Good Luck!

Click play to listen. 31 minutes, 30 seconds.

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That’s Claire and Jeff Lukens, daughter and husband of Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens. First Daughter and First Gentleman of our fair city, if you will. The photo on the far left was taken during the Mayor’s final Council meeting this week. Jeff and Claire stayed for the entire meeting. The photo to the right of that one was taken at a reception for the Mayor and Councilmember Case following the meeting. That’s nice photo of Jeff and Claire taken during the meeting when they were recognizing their wife/mother for her 12 years of public service and telling her how proud they were of her. Claire gave her mother a bouquet of flowers. It was touching.

The photo of the right is me with Claire at another farewell reception for the Mayor and Councilmember Case that was held last night. Pictures of kids are good mile markers for the passage of time. When I started working here in Eden Prairie in April 2002, little Claire Lukens was nearing the end of 7th grade. Now she’s a Junior in High School and getting ready to pick out a college. I have a photo with her when she was a 7th grader, but she persuaded me not to use it in the blog today. Claire, today I’ll defer to you. Who knows, with your genes, I might be working for you someday. You never know.

I’ve had the occasion, many occasions actually, to talk with Jeff and Claire over the Mayor’s tenure. They served as her official aide-de-camps at home. Answering the phone; taking messages; working on her campaigns, etc. Lots of etcetera, I’ll bet. They’ve been great supporters of the Mayor. And they may not have ever thought about it in this way before, but by supporting their wife and mother, Jeff and Claire were also supporting the efforts of 290+ city employees as well. On behalf of them, I want to thank you for your twelve years of public service too.

Being the spouse or kid of an elected official isn’t easy. You get some of the burden, but none of the glory. I don’t get to bestow much glory in this world, but today I’ll indulge myself and declare this day on my blog to be: Jeff and Claire Lukens Day. The glory is yours.

Many organizations do internal fund raising campaigns encouraging their employees to make payroll deduction charitable causes. We do one each year. Employees are encouraged to contribute to our charitable contribution program which channels funds to one of three charitable organizations: United Way, Community Health Charities, or our local food shelf - PROP.

We don’t twist anyone’s arm to contribute, but we do encourage it. I think it’s the right thing to do. We usually try to come up with some kind of promotion to spur employee interest in contributing. This year our Human Resources Division (good work Karen Kurt & staff) came up with a new idea for our program. They divided our employees into work teams and then set up a contest that would reward the work team with the greatest increase in employee participation in the program. The reward would be a waffle breakfast prepared by me and the Department Directors.

Today was reward day. The winners: the Police Investigative/Office of the Police Chief team. That’s a few of the lucky winners in the photo on the left. The photo on the right is the Waffle Chefs. Left to right: Janet Jeremiah, George Esbensen, Gene Dietz, me, and Dan Carlson.

As an organization, our employees increased their annual charitable giving this year by 39.6% and the number of employees participating in the program by 76.7%. It was a good year to the right thing.

And the waffles were delicious, so I’m told.

The Mayor and I hosted a small press conference yesterday to announce a new energy initiative for the City that we are calling the 20-40-15 plan. The objective of the plan is to increase the overall efficiency of the City government’s use of electricity, fuel and other energy resources. The plan calls for increased energy efficiency in City-owned facilities by 20 percent; increased fuel efficiency in the City’s fleet of vehicles by 40 percent; and accomplishing these goals by the year 2015. Get it? 20-40-15.

The City will measure its success for meeting the goals against benchmark information from 2005. Each year we’ll measure our energy consumption and report the progress toward meeting the goals to the City’s citizen advisory Conservation Commission and then also to the City Council.

We’re already well on the way toward meeting our goals under the 20-40-15 plan. Some of the actions the City has already taken include replacing standard stop lights with light-emitting diode (LED) stop lights that use 90-percent less energy. In the Police Department, traffic officers have improved fuel efficiency by reducing the amount of time their vehicles idle. Repairs to City buildings have helped reduce the amount of heated and cooled air that escapes to the outside.

The 20-40-15 plan is not the kind of plan where the boss figures the whole thing out and then announces The Big Plan to the employees to go implement. The 20-40-15 is something that we (staff, Council, advisory commission members, and citizens) are going to figure out together. It’s a plan under construction. We have established the goals. Now we’ll establish the path to get to the goals together.

Look for more information on the 20-40-15 plan soon.

There is plenty of holiday season discord at City Hall in Maplewood, according to an article in today’s Star Tribune. For those of us in city government biz, we’ve been watching the discord grow and bloom for a couple of years now. For example, I think it was just last week that I got an email message from a Maplewood city staff member asking me if our City Department Directors were “organized” (i.e. - represented by a union or professional association). And if they weren’t currently organized, have they ever considered it? Wow. The answers are: No, they are not represented by a union or professional association. And, No, they’ve never formally considered it here.

The volume of the debate, if you can call it that, has grown loud enough to be heard by the Star Tribune and other metro media. Now former city officials and even Ramsey County officials might get involved in their city’s local politics in an attempt to bring them some peace and common-sense.

In places where personal political agendas overtake good government, they like to say that “democracy can be messy”. Personally, I think that attitude can sometimes be cover for those who enjoy making the mess in the first place. OK. Democracy can be difficult. Democracy can be plodding. It can even be frustrating sometimes. I’ve worked in city government my entire adult life. I know that. But democracy can also be inspiring, and civil, and can lead to positive change in a community. It seems to me that there’s too much of the former and not enough of the latter in Maplewood right now.

I hope the citizens of Maplewood, their elected officials and their City staff can overcome their current level of rancor and move their city forward to a more comfortable equilibrium again. That would be a great gift for all involved there during this holiday season.

“A good time was had by all”. That about says it all, doesn’t it? It’s a phrase commonly used in small town newspapers when they are describing the results of last week’s bridge tournament at your Aunt Mabel’s house over in Smalltown, USA.

It is also the perfect phrase to describe our annual employee holiday luncheon here at the City of Eden Prairie. It was yesterday. It’s a long tradition here. We hold the event during December in the Garden Room in City Center. We eat in shifts so that we can continue to be open for business during the luncheon. That’s a great shot of the dessert table mid-event yesterday. Employees bring in all the desserts. They are fantastic. You could have a filling meal of just desserts, if you cared to.

That’s City Engineer Al Gray next to Mayor Tyra-Lukens. Al is the Chief Turkey Engineer for the luncheon. He cooks them every year. He’s an expert in such things. The Mayor makes a mean tiaramasu for the dessert table. It’s delicious. There’s just not enough of it for me + the 280 other people that are there to eat too.

That’s me (in the Irish Santa hat) next to Chief of Police Dan Carlson. I was feigning the “bad cop” look to Dan’s “good cop” in this photo. Dan is retiring in January, so this is his final holiday luncheon as our Chief of Police. We invite retirees to this event. I think there’s a good chance we’ll see him next year for a lunch. I hope we will anyway.

The final photo is just a group shot of the room from yesterday. It is such a nice event. Employees really look forward to it each year. It gives everyone a chance to sit and talk together in a pleasant atmosphere. It helps us reconnect after a busy year, at the busiest time of the year. Department Directors, Division Managers and I serve the meal on a buffet line. In addition to doing the luncheon over the lunch hour, which is good for most of our City employees, a few of us always come back in the evening to serve up the same meal to our employees (police, water plant workers, dispatchers, etc.) who work in the evening. They appreciate that. The opportunity for leadership to serve those we work with is important. It gives us the opportunity to thank employees for a good year and to extend our personal holiday greetings to them as well.

“A good time was had by all.” I can’t improve on that description. Happy Holidays.

Hennepin County Board approves 2007 budget, tax levy

The Hennepin County Board today (Tuesday) adopted a 2007 county budget aimed at maintaining the county’s financial health as the demand for services continues to rise.

The board approved a budget of nearly $1.5 billion, with a net property tax levy of $565.2 million, an increase of 5.5 percent from the 2006 levy.

The vote was six to one, with Commissioners Mike Opat, Mark Stenglein, Gail Dorfman, Peter McLaughlin, Randy Johnson and Linda Koblick voting in favor of the budget, and Commissioner Penny Steele voting no.

In addition to adopting the budget for county government, the board approved a 2007 budget of $505.7 million for Hennepin County Medical Center. The HCMC budget is separate from the county budget because of a change in governance at the hospital, effective Jan. 1, 2007.

On that date, the board of Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc. — a new public subsidiary corporation — assumes primary responsibility for the day-to-day operations of HCMC and its four clinics. Despite the change in governance, HCMC will remain a public hospital, with the County Board retaining final policy control, including approval of the budget and oversight of HCMC’s mission of providing care to those most in need.

“Next year’s county budget represents good work that puts us on course to maintain our financial health,” said County Board Chair Randy Johnson. “As stewards

of the public’s assets, the county government is striving to bring down the cost of doing business — without losing quality and the ability to serve our customers — at a time when the demand for almost every one of our services is increasing.”

Increased service demands, federal and state funding reductions, and the rising costs of energy and health care are major factors driving the 2007 budget. Human services and public safety programs continue to consume the bulk of new property taxes, as has been the case in recent years.

Some specifics of the 2007 budget:

n Additional funding to areas needing more resources, especially the Sheriff’s Office, human services and corrections, following significant state reductions in recent years.

n Continued funding of the bituminous-overlay and concrete-repair programs for much-needed maintenance on county roads and highways.

n Implementation of a new 10-year library plan that includes cutting-edge facilities and operations.

n Investing in new technology.

“A primary goal of the budget is reforming and transforming services,” said County Administrator Sandra L. Vargas. “Departments are employing new tactics, partnerships and technologies to respond to challenges and improve service coordination and efficiency for county residents.”

The county, for example, is now placing a geographic emphasis on service delivery, such as the planning taking place at NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center to relocate and restructure health and human services for the North Minneapolis community. Based on estimates, the county government’s portion of 2007 property taxes on a median-valued home in Minneapolis will increase by $62, or 11 percent, from 2006, and taxes on a median-valued home in the suburbs will increase by $18, or 2 percent. In addition to the increase in the property tax levy, factors having an impact on homeowners’ taxes are a shift in tax burden from commercial and industrial properties to residential properties, the phase-out of limited market value on properties and increased property values for many homeowners.

Due to the fiscal disparities program, Hennepin County must share 40 percent of the growth in value of its commercial and industrial property with communities across the Twin Cities metro area. This results in Hennepin taxpayers contributing $29.4 million to pay for services in Anoka, Carver, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties.

County government funding sources include the federal and state governments, property taxes, licenses, fees, reimbursements for medical care and other revenue.

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This is a press release that I received from Hennepin County concerning their 2007 budget. Our city budget for 2007 comes before the City Council for final approval at the Council’s December 19 meeting, which is the Council’s final regular meeting of the year. We’re looking at a general budget increase of 6.2% in 2007. Our tax levy is projected to increase 7.6%. Our tax rate is projected to decrease from 28.557% to 27.842%. The tax impact on our median residential taxpayer is projected to be an increase in taxes payable of 3.52%. This final stat is really where the “rubber meets the road” when it comes to property taxation. This is what the median residential taxpayer will pay in increased property taxes due to the City’s taxing & spending decisions. All in all, not too bad.

This is the future Lake Smetana Business Center - Building B as seen from the 10400 Building at 10400 Viking Drive. Doesn’t it look so real? And yet it’s only an architect’s rendering of what the finished building will look like, perhaps during the late summer of 2007.

The building is under construction right now. If you drive I-494, you can look across Lake Smetana and see it today. What’s unique about this building, however, can’t be seen at 70 mph from 494. The Lake Smetana Business Center - Building B is going to be a LEED-certified building.

LEED is an acronym. It stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design. It is a system for rating the environmental impact (both initially and on an on-going basis) of buildings. It was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. According to their website, the USGBC created the LEED program to assist design professionals; to define what it meant to do “green” design; to recognize leaders in sustainable building operations; to establish a recognizable “brand” for environmental design; to stimulate competition for green products and practices; and to promote whole-building integrated design processes.

So what does it mean to be a LEED-certified building? The certification process is complex. A building owner must complete a series of forms and submit them, essentially, to be judged. The LEED people judge the elements of the building’s design and operations by awarding it points. If the building’s points achieve a certain threshold level, the building owner can claim to have a LEED-certified building.

How do you get LEED points? You get points for having automatic energy management systems in the building that will reduce energy consumption. You can get points for having CO2 sensors to increase the continuous fresh air exchange. For having showers and locker rooms to encourage people to walk or bike to work. For minimizing the amount of construction waste at the site. For dedicating space in the building for recycling. And so on and so forth.

The Lake Smetana project is being developed by Liberty Property Trust. Liberty is a national Real Estate Invest Trust (REIT). They have offices throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom. Their Minnesota office is here in Eden Prairie. They are the largest single owner of real estate in Eden Prairie - and the city’s largest single taxpayer. They are professional real estate investors who invest for the long term. They tell us that Eden Prairie is a good place to own real estate and they like being in our city.

They are building this LEED-certified building because it fits with a national strategy to invest in environmentally-sustainable real estate. They believe it’s a good investment. They also want to do what’s best for the environment. But they also tell me that they believe this building will be worth more in the future because it is being built to be a LEED-certification than if it were not. I think that’s a good sign for the future.

Liberty’s local leader is David Jellison. David got some of his staff together a couple of weeks ago to meet with a group of city officials that included the Mayor, two members of our Conservation Commission, our Environmental Coordinator and me. They gave us a full presentation about the building, what’s special about it, and talked about why they decided to build it here in Eden Prairie. Liberty is a good corporate citizen. We are fortunate to have them in the community. They are leading the way toward building a more environmentally-sustainable economy in Eden Prairie.

The following is a press release that was released by the City one week ago today:

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On Monday, Dec. 4 at approximately 9 p.m., Eden Prairie Police officers responded to a call of a suicidal 24-year-old adult white male who was reportedly threatening to kill himself.

A person familiar with the individual made the initial call to Eden Prairie Police. The preliminary investigation indicates that officers arrived on the scene at 6422 City West Parkway and attempted to make contact with the individual who was uncooperative.

As officers attempted to handle the situation with the 24-year-old male, he charged the officers, assaulted Sgt. Chris Wood and attempted to assault other officers. Officer Patrick Kenyon responded to the assaults by shooting the 24-year-old male in the torso. He is being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Sgt. Wood sustained injuries in the assault and was treated and released from Hennepin County Medical Center.

Officer Kenyon has been a police officer for more than four years, beginning his career with the Hopkins, Minn. Police Department in May 2002, and starting with the Eden Prairie Police Department Oct. 30, 2006. Prior to his career in law enforcement, Officer Kenyon served in the United States Army from 1993 to 1997.

Per department policy, Officer Kenyon is on paid administrative duty and the incident is under investigation by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Eden Prairie Police Department.

“When an officer has to fire his or her weapon in the line of duty, it is a very serious event for all parties involved,” said Police Chief Dan Carlson. “However, we train extensively for this type of situation and I am confident that when the investigation is completed the officers will be found to have carried out their responsibilities in accordance with department standards, policies and procedures.”

Any specific information regarding the investigation will be provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

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Sometimes people think that Police officers in Eden Prairie have got it easy. It’s a nice, affluent community. Residents, by and large, respect and like the Police. It has a low crime rate, etc. But “low crime” isn’t “no crime”. Our officers face the same sorts of risks and dangers faced by Police officers in any other city. The incident described above is just an example of the kinds of incidents that our officers must be prepared to face everyday. I sympathize with the family of the person who was shot, but I feel relieved that none of our officers involved were seriously injured. They had to make a very difficult life-or-death decision in the blink of an eye - something most of us will never have to do.

In an officer involved shooting, such as this one, the incident must be investigated by a law enforcement agency other than us, for obvious reasons. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this incident. They will issue a final report sometime in the near future which explains the circumstances of the use of deadly force by the officer and renders a judgment on whether or not the circumstances justified the actions.

We look forward to receiving this report soon.

I snapped this photo of the mountains east of Reno out the window of my 7th floor hotel room. The sun was dropping quickly and was casting a shadow on the city, but showering a beautiful sunset on the mountains.

I spent most of the day inside today at the National League of Cities (NLC) conference. The morning started out with a keynote address from former Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Henry Cisneros. Another former HUD Secretary, Jack Kemp, was supposed to be a co-presenter with Cisneros, but he was suffering from complications from a recent knee surgery and was not able to attend the conference. Cisneros was good. He is an articulate spokesman for affordable housing initiatives across the country.

After lunch, I attended a workshop session on strategies to elicit greater citizen participation in local government. One of the presenters was a Councilmember from nearby Sparks, NV. They use a Citizens Advisory Committee that might be of interest to the upcoming City Council in Eden Prairie. Setting up some sort of citizen’s budget committee is a priority of Mayor-elect Young, Councilmember-elect Duckstad, and Councilmember Aho. Three votes will get it done, so I’m starting to look for models of such a committee that might work well in Eden Prairie.

Following the session on citizen participation, I attended a workshop on emerging challenges in storm water management. I know. It probably doesn’t sound very interesting to many people, but the presenters were good and the information was relevant for our future in Eden Prairie. I learned about the positive aspects of Low Impact Development (LID) techniques, ideas to control source pollution, and discussed the intergovernmental challenges of storm water management. Our storm water problems my be caused by a source in another community.

Councilmember Phil Young is also attending the conference. He and I went to different workshops. That’s always been the custom with Eden Prairie Councilmembers. It allows us, as a group, to get more information (and benefit) from the conference. It’s about time for dinner with Councilmember Young, and possibly Chanhassen Mayor Tom Furlong and City Manager Todd Gerhardt. We’ll touch base about what we learned today and plan for tomorrow.

I’m attending the National League of Cities annual conference in Reno, Nevada this week. Today was Day 1 of the conference. The big event today was the opening of the show room floor. There were over 100 vendors of all sorts. I picked up information from vendors selling products for trail maintenance, new lapel pins, software products for our cable television shows, the newest “photo-cop” products, tazers, microphones for Council Chambers applications, and so on and so on.

Tomorrow is the first day of actual training sessions. The keynote address tomorrow morning is being delivered by two former secretaries of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development: Henry Cisneros and Jack Kemp. I’m looking forward to it.