Growth & Justice Blog

"Minnesota's Miracle" can inform a new generation

Policy enthusiasts and history buffs will enjoy "Minnesota's Miracle: Learning from the Government That Worked." It's a gem of a book on 1970s legislative policy-making, and Minnesota's golden age of bipartisan problem-solving, progressive reform, public investment and innovation. The writing, by Tom Berg, a former legislator and a strong Minnesota community leader on many fronts since then, is both careful and lively, sprinkled with delightful anecdotes such as the triumph of pioneering women legislators in gaining entry and membership in the once all-male St. Paul Athletic Club. For my money, the heart of the book is the chapter "Breakout Session," between pages 79 and 112, which contains an inspiring summary of lasting reform legislation that protected the environment, expanded access to education, and improved housing and metropolitan governance. Younger citizens in particular need to know this history, to know what is possible and to keep hope alive for constructive resolution of the demographic and economic challenges we face 40 years later. The book launch and celebration is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday evening at the Cowles Auditorium and the Hubert H. Humphrey Center.

--Dane Smith 

 

 

Mourning DeCramer and Kubly: Two ideal public servants from southwestern Minnesota

The passing over the last week of two outstanding public servants, each coincidentally named Gary and each serving with distinction in the state Legislature from rural southwestern Minnesota,  helps reinforce the other more important things in common  we loved about both of them.

Former state Sen. Gary DeCramer was a standout lawmaker and academic thinker, a key shaper of transportation and environmental policy in the state, including important progress in soil and water conservation.  DeCramer also had a distinguished career as a teacher and writer at the University of Minnesota's Humphey School and he was active in his Unitarian Universalist church.  He died unexpectedly while on a trip to western Minnesota.    

State Sen. Gary Kubly was also a man of faith, a Lutheran pastor who also stood out as a champion for the environment and conservation, including efforts to reduce pollution from giant agribusiness operations, and advocacy for renewable and wind energy.   He died after a courageous struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS.

The most important thing they had common was the intelligent respectfulness they brought to the rough-and-tumble politica area.   Both had reputations as diginfied practical progressives who worked hard to find common ground and constructive relationships with their adversaries on the Republican or conservative side of the aise.   They were kind and decent ment who left their state and communities  a better place.

Dane Smith

Check out "Soul of the Community,'' to see how Minnesotans love their amenities and aesthetics and public stuff

It's sometimes hard to get top business executives to locate to Minnesota -- what with the cold weather and progressive income taxes -- but once they've lived here awhile, it's even harder to get them to leave.  I've heard some version of that story many times in business quarters, most recently at a BioBusiness event in Rochester.

Those of us who have lived elsewhere have theories about this.  And my own conviction is that our attractiveness and our affection for this place is built on a stronger sense of community, inclusiveness and economic fairness than exists in other places.  We simply have had better public stuff, better schools, better parks and trails, better infrastructure overall, more publicly supported arts and cultural amenities, which all adds up to a state and cities that are classier and cooler than other places, not just colder (but I like that bracing climate too).  And in the end, it makes for a better business climate too, owing to a more productive and creative workforce.  More clues as to how this is true can be found in the Knight Foundation's lastest study, The Soul of the Community, which measures 26 U.S. cities from this refreshingtly distinct perspective:  how attached citizens are to their place, and why.  News articles on the study were published in the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the two papers offer interesting variations on the essential findings of the study.  Here's the bottom line of the report summary itself, as to why people become attached to their community:

While the economy is obviously the subject of much attention, the study has found that perceptions of the local economy do not have a very strong relationship to resident attachment.  Instead, attachment is most closely related to how accepting a community is of diversity, its wealth of social offerings, and its aesthetics.

And this excerpt from Chris Havens' STrib story adds a little texture to the analysis. 

St. Paul is a city that has welcomed poetry stamped into its sidewalks, a photography exhibit along bustling University Avenue and various music and ethnic festivals.  "It's a cool place to live," (Mayor Chris) Coleman said. "It's a unique place to live."  Sue Buchholz walked her Yorkie, Pandy, in downtown St. Paul's Rice Park on Monday. She moved into a downtown condo within the last year. "I knew this is where I wanted to be," she said. "There's always something to do."  She made a sweeping motion with her arm, pointing to the Central Library, Ordway Center for Performing Arts and Landmark Center.  A few blocks away runs the Mississippi River, which attracts joggers, bicyclists and others interested in the nature along the banks. There are more bike lanes and trails than ever before in the Twin Cities and suburbs.

We've known about this comparative advantage from our better public stuff  for some time.  We hope our new leaders in the governor's office and the Legislature do not lose sight of this bedrock economic asset when they begin to balance the budget shortfall next year.  (And by the way, the Knight report suggests that we are not that high in our regard for our leaders).

Dane Smith

 

 

 

 

Round-up of good news and commentary for practical progressives

Here's a round-up of some particularly good fodder for practical progressives in the news recently:   

• Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus is continuing to develop as a thoughtful centrist heir to David Broder and she really hit the mark with her recent commentary (headlined in the Star Tribune, "If taxes never go up, we go down''). Marcus nailed Gov. Tim Pawlenty for his recent statement implying that the U.S. has higher taxes than most other nations, pointing out that our overall effective federal tax rate is much lower than it was a decade ago, and lower than all but Mexico, Turkey and South Korea among the 30 major world economies. Marcus skewered conservatives for continuing to claim that tax cuts actually produce more revenue and for their perennial complaint that "whatever level taxes are at, they are too high.'' Just a couple weeks ago, Marcus took on liberals and Democrats for refusing to acknowledge that some entitlement programs might have to be trimmed.
• One of the most refreshing "good that government does'' stories in recent memory landed on the St. Paul Pioneer Press front page over the weekend. An article headlined "Minnesota air pollution:  It's not as bad as you think,'' emphasized the rather astounding good news that since the landmark Clean Air Act of 1970, emissions from industrial polluters and vehicles have been slashed by 62 percent nationally and by half in Minnesota.
• Refuting a lot of conservative anti-Europe propaganda recently, author Steven Hill placed an op-ed in the Star Tribune pointing out that Japan and Europe and their more egalitarian market economies are doing quite well compared to the United States. Hill is the author of "Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age.''
• Finally, we think we offered a strong rebuttal to the false claim by some conservatives that government can't create jobs, or more broadly, that government is a net drain on the economy and can only consume wealth. Our Star Tribune "Counterpoint'' piece reviewed a long history of business-building investment and job creation in the U.S. and Minnesota.

— Dane Smith

Seifert on burning down the capitol, Bell on fighting cynicism, and how's that "Drill Baby Drill' thing workin' out for ya?

One of the most startling and perceptive quotes uttered by conservatives in recent days _  amid all the reckless talk about taking a nine-iron to our public institutions and the absurd assertion that we can eliminate as much as a third of our public sector budget _ was   Rep. Marty Seifert's frustration over some radicals in his party who "just say they want to burn the capitol to the ground.''    

He was speaking figuratively, of course.

Meanwhile, another conservative known for his intellect and perspective, Metropolitan Council Chairman Peter Bell, is pleading for a little less cynicsm, from conservatives as well as liberals and the media.   Bell offered equal scolding to progressives  who feed cynicism by over-promising what government can do and to conservatives for a "relentless effort to convince the public that the government can do nothing right.''   Bell noted that this falsehood "has taken a huge toll on government's ability to take on any big issues.''

Bell reserved a special place in his piece for the news media's constant questioning of motives.  And on another front, it's interesting how the often cynical news media, which often as not buys in to the anti-government premise, gets all huffy about the need for a stronger and more activist environmental watchdogging when an oil company screw-up threatens the entire Redneck Riviera  and perhaps much of the Atlantic Ocean and the East Coast too.  

The Obama administration has hit the pause button after it acquiesced to demands led by oil companies and conservatives to open up more offshore drilling.    Haven't heard much rom former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for her take on the biggest oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez badly scarred her own state.   She has fed the national cynicism with her wisecrack, "How's that hopey-changey thing workin' out for ya?" so maybe a little turnabout is fair play.   As in "Spill, Baby,  Spill!''   Or, "How's  that "Drill, Baby, Drill'' thing workin' out for ya.''

Dane Smith

New Orfield book "Region," and new OPEN Society leadership, make the case for smarter growth and racial integration

"Region: Planning the Future of the Twin Cities,'' is an impressive new policy textbook, hot off the University of Minnesota Press,  that surveys the state of the metropolitan area and offers prescriptions for smarter growth and reducing racial and economic segregation. The book, co-authored by metropolitan governance experts Myron Orfield and Thomas F. Luce, Jr., belongs on the desks of Minnesota policy enthusiasts everywhere.   With its colorful maps showing racial and income disparities, and intriguing overlays featuring such factors as travel times and environmentally sensitive areas,  the book also works as a coffee-table conversation starter.   Orfield is a law school professor and he and Luce are directors of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. An unveiling and book-signing event Thursday evening, featuring a panel discussion on the issues raised, is set at Magers & Quinn. Orfield is among our  advisers at Growth & Justice and has been a leading force in the state for stronger efforts at regional planning and containing sprawl, with special focus  on the damaging effects of de facto economic and racial segregation, since his days as a state legislator in the 1990s.    Joining the authors for the forum will be Meg Tuthill, the new council member for Ward 10 in Minneapolis; Dave VanHattum of the nonprofit organization Transit for Livable Communities; and Jesse Mortenson of the nonprofit MetroIBA, which supports independent businesses in the Twin Cities. 

On another front in the fight for justice and integration, a 30-year-old civil rights organization, Fund for an OPEN Society, is moving it's leadership and headquarters to Minnesota. The new executive director of the group is Caty Royce, an experienced progressive leader from Minneapolis who headed the Community Stablization Project, was a leader for Catholic Charities and served in the Peace Corps. Royce says "she is convinced that we must attack residential segregation at the same time we address school segregation,'' and that the much deplored "achievement gap in education is just part of a much broader and more complex racialized opportunity gap.'' The website for Fund for an OPEN Society  is in the process of being updated  but Royce can be reached at [email protected].  Royce cites john powell (lower-case for the name is his preference), founder of the U of M's Institute on Race and Poverty, and his call for equalizing access to "structures of opportunity,'' as an inspiration for her group's work.

Dane Smith

Infrastructure investment could raise its sights

A recent commentary by Chip Halbeck, executive director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership, asks: what is infrastructure?

If it means the basic physical makeup that enables a community to function, I argue that housing fits the definition. Fortunately, for the most part the free market has provided communities with the needed housing component of infrastructure. But there is a sizable and growing segment of the population for which the market cannot provide homes that are both affordable and safe.

Halbeck's piece suggests a new federal stimulus package that would fund local government grants to make low-income housing safe and more energy-efficient. He argues that such rehab work would also provide more low-skilled and entry-level jobs in more places than would large scale infrastructure projects. (Architecture 2030 has proposed a similar national stimulus buy-down program for residential buildings and an accelerated-depreciation program for commercial buildings.)

Whatever you think of his proposal, the larger point is apt.

The nation's financial woes are rooted in a housing catastrophe that has dumped thousands of foreclosed homes on the Twin Cities market alone. Vacancies and abandonments threaten the fabric of neighborhoods. Yet, instead of recognizing this impact, there's a transportation-centric coloring to our view of infrastructure spending. Roads, bridges, transit and auto companies dominate the discussions.

Moving people and goods more efficiently from place to place is a worthy economic goal — but we cannot ignore the condition of those places. And we know that more lanes and extensions into exurbia  can ultimately increase energy use and environmental impact.

What's more, transportation only consumes 29 percent of the nation's energy, while more than 51 percent goes to electricity generation and residential and commercial heat and power. Increasing the energy efficiency of our building infrastructure could provide long-term paybacks for building owners, renters and the environment.

It can also provide long-term savings for the public.

One recent example is the recently built Schaar's Bluff Gathering Center in Dakota County’s Spring Lake Park Reserve. The structure is 90-95 percent more energy efficient than comparable parks facilities, and ranks within the top 1 percent of all sustainable structures as compared to the U.S. Green Building Council's registered buildings.

It generates its own power with an onsite wind turbine, reuses rainwater to flush its toilets, and incorporates wood reclaimed from a sawmill that park employees once operated on the site.

The building is designed to react to current weather conditions. Its HVAC system is linked to operable windows so that the two don’t work against each other; automated shading devices react to the sun’s path. It even feeds local animals with its edible landscaping.

[design: MS&R photos: Andrea Rugg]

The designer, Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, was the first Minnesota architecture firm to sign on to Architecture 2030's standards for meeting fossil fuel, greenhouse gas emission and energy consumption goals.

The project began as a conventional building, but evolved through a design process that tapped  an inspiring site, a parks manager's passion for sustainability and the County Board's openness to a non-traditional approach.

Conventional procurement would have focused on managing the design/build budget and been leery of innovation. The major difference at Schaar's Bluff was a county staff dedicated to the environment who felt secure enough to encourage the unconventional and take it to the public for their input.

Starting from a carbon neutral "energy budget" helped lead to a building that stayed within the fiscal limits while delivering a long-term a balance of economic, aesthetic, environmental and social values.

In the desire to create economic stimulus, we should not labor only to lay rebar and concrete. Dakota County has shown how visionary government can render enduring beauty and public utility in difficult times.

— Charlie Quimby

Building the will to invest in our environment

As a relatively young and modest-sized organization that deals in depth with statewide issues, Growth & Justice tackles one big project at a time. That's so we can do each one ... justice.

Our mission says we are "committed to making Minnesota’s economy simultaneously more prosperous, fair and environmentally sustainable." Having started with workforce development, tax fairness, strategic investment and education, we haven't yet, with any comprehensive study, worked our way over to the crucial principle expressed at the end of that sentence.

But this year environmental sustainability will be on policy makers' minds — and possibly on the ballot — in more ways than one.

Gas tax discussions will be about both preserving the environment and sustainably funding transportation. Conservation interests will be back making their case for sustainable funding for clean water and habitat preservation. Ironically, boosting production of biofuels is one reason the state's wildlife habitat is in peril, as outdoors columnist Dennis Anderson points out, so throw farm policy and land use into the mix, too.

Environmental groups, represented by the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, favor a version of a constitutional amendment that dedicates a portion of state sales tax to fund clean energy and arts in addition to the wildlife, land preservation and clean water focus on the conservation agenda. Neither group got its way last session, so the competing amendments will be back for another hearing.

Sustainable funding isn't just one group's issue. Roads and bridges, clean water and energy, hunters and fishermen, and transit and cultural interests will all be making a case in the coming year.

Present levels of public funding can't sustain even one of these, and private initiatives can't pay the bills, either. So the discussion has to address how much more we can afford and who pays.

Constitutional amendments that dedicate funding can be problematical, especially as they lock up more of the budget and reduce flexibility to deal with change and the unforeseen. Before we tackle more amendments, the bigger issue in Minnesota right now is finding the will to invest more in our state.

We’re dedicated and working hard to helping build that political will.   

Then we can argue over where it goes.

— Charlie Quimby