Las week I predicted that Governor Pawlenty would begrudgingly allow the 2007 Tax Bill to become law simply by ignoring it. Unlike other states where failing to sign a bill is sometimes called the Governor’s “pocket veto”, in Minnesota an act of the State Legislature becomes law if the Governor signs it or fails to [...]
Monthly Archives: May 2007
City Manager Performance Goals for 2007-2008
May 30, 2007 – 5:41 am
Each year I present my proposed performance goals for the upcoming year to the City Council. I want the Council to know what I see as important and I want to get their unofficial blessing of that vision. I think that’s important because my performance goals tend to trickle down through the organization. At least [...]
Award Winning Communications Division
May 25, 2007 – 7:51 am
We have an award winning Communications team here at the City of Eden Prairie. The Communications Division won four awards this week at the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators annual Northern Lights Awards ceremony. The City of Eden Prairie tied with the cities of Minneapolis and Bloomington for the highest number of awards.
Communications staff took [...]
What’s In the Tax Bill For You?
May 24, 2007 – 1:02 pm
The Omnibus Tax Bill in the Minnesota State legislature is more technically known as House File 2268. The bill is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature or veto. Governor Pawlenty has been very open with the public that he does not like the bill. He has said clearly that he is “likely” to veto it. He’s [...]
Spring Building Maintenance
May 21, 2007 – 4:37 am
This is a view of the main entrance into the City offices here at Eden Prairie City Center. The brick walls that line the concrete stairs coming into our building deteriorated to the point were small chucks of brick had dislodged and broken off. It became noticeable during this past winter. Our Facilities team organized [...]
It’s Friday
May 18, 2007 – 11:29 am
It’s Friday. Here’s my weekly Friday Report that I shared with the City Council today:
Office of the City Manager | Friday Report
DATE: May 18, 2007
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Scott H. Neal, City Manager
RE: Friday Report for May 18, 2007
1. Joint Meeting with School District- The spring joint meeting between the School Board [...]
A Positive Performance Review
May 17, 2007 – 6:03 am
I received the final word on my 2006-2007 annual performance review this week at the City Council meeting. The Council met in Closed Session in advance of the regular Council meeting to conduct the review. The review is coordinated by a private personnel consultant named Harry Brull. Mr. Brull works for Personnel Decisions, Inc. (PDI). [...]
National Police Week
May 16, 2007 – 4:46 am
Flags at all City of Eden Prairie facilities were lowered to half-staff yesterday, Tuesday, May 15, in honor of the federal, state, and municipal officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty, in accordance with a proclamation issued by Governor Pawlenty. The City Council adopted an official proclamation at last night’s [...]
The City and The Airport
May 11, 2007 – 12:30 pm
There are times in life when I really do wish that I could “un-ring” the bell. I’m currently having one of those times right now. I said/wrote something about the City’s relationship with Flying Cloud Airport that I wish now that I had not said/written. I wish that because what I said wasn’t a fair [...]
The Board & Commission Banquet
May 10, 2007 – 8:05 am
We honored our many volunteer board, commission and task force volunteers last night at the City’s 2007 Board & Commission Recognition Banquet. It was a wonderful event. There were approximately 150 people in the Garden Room last night to enjoy a good meal and to recognize and appreciate the voluntary service of Eden Prairie residents [...]
Taxing and Spending
May 8, 2007 – 7:56 am
All levels of government tax. All levels of government spend. It doesn’t matter if it’s federal, state or local government. It doesn’t matter if it’s a government controlled by Democrats or Republicans or Independents. Governments tax and spend. That’s what they do. The more important questions about government taxing and spending are: “What is government [...]
2006 QLS: Planes, Trains, Lakes and Liquor
May 4, 2007 – 5:15 am
This is my final installment of the week long blog series that I’ve been writing about the City’s 2006 Quality of Life Survey. As part of our contract with the Decision Resources, Ltd (the survey consultant who conducted the 2006 QLS) we will receive a fairly lengthy report that provides more detail about the individual [...]
2006 QLS: Do Eden Prairie Residents Feel Safe in Eden Prairie?
May 3, 2007 – 5:02 am
The answer to the question posed in my blog title today is very simple: Yes. Residents have a strong feeling of safety and security in Eden Prairie. I think it’s one of the top reasons that people move here. Take a look at these graphs from the 2006 Quality of Life Survey. Click on any [...]
2006 QLS: What do Residents think of City Staff?
May 2, 2007 – 6:00 am
The 2006 Quality of Life Survey (QLS) asked residents several questions that tried to get at what they thought of City services and City staff. Here’s what we learned:
This is a graph of the responses that residents gave to this question: “Please tell me whether you would rate the quality of the service as excellent, [...]
2006 QLS: What Do Residents Like and How Much Do They Like It?
May 1, 2007 – 1:45 pm
The 2006 Quality of Life Survey (yes, I know it says 2007 on the slide) provided us good information about what residents like about their city and how much they like it. For example, in the pie graph to the left (click on it to see it in a larger size) residents were asked by [...]
