Spotted: LMC Staff Hitting the Road for Safety (Photo)

League of Minnesota Cities staffers Chris White and Jack Hennen are packing up and headed out to Springfield and Willmar this week for our annual Safety & Loss Control Workshops. They—along with a host of other League employees—will be sharing tips with city employees about how to stay safe on the job.

Whether you are a city administrator, police officer, firefighter, someone who works for a small city, a public works or parks and rec professional, or an insurance agent who works with cities…the latest and greatest information about how to manage risk will be available to you. (And if you’ve been to these workshops before, you know they’re a great value at only $20—lunch included!)

So we hope to see you soon! After this week's stops, we’ll continue on the road throughout April bringing safety lessons to Duluth, Brooklyn Park, Rochester, St. Cloud, and St. Paul. (Special thanks to Bemidji and Fergus Falls for hosting us last week!)

Photo taken by LMC staff.

LMC to Honor a City for Engaging Residents in Budgeting

Many Minnesota residents are finding local property tax statements in their mailboxes this week.

The item they will most likely notice first is the box that shows last year's total tax amount compared to the amount due this year. That "bottom line" may be more, less, or roughly the same as the year before. Will that number be surprising?

Residents perennially wonder why the change from year to year. And, what exactly are those tax dollars used for?

But, if you're a city official doing a good job of communicating, those questions will be answered by the time residents get their tax bill. More than ever, it's important for you to engage residents when planning budgets and setting levies so taxpayers have at least a general picture of where their money is going—and where it's not. It's also important to learn from residents what city services and projects they most want the city to invest in.

Get recognized

Does your city have an original and effective way of engaging and informing residents throughout the budgeting process? Are you really getting at those perennial questions? If so, your work may be eligible for special recognition in the "Engaging Citizens in the Budget Process" topic category of the League's 2014 City of Excellence Awards competition.

Instead of or in addition to this topic, cities are also encouraged to submit general award nominations for honors among other cities in their population category.

General award nominations may include any city-led project or program that has:

• Improved the quality of a city service.
• Developed an effective or innovative way to solve an old or common problem.
• Modified a program from another community or organization to fit city needs.
• Saved city money while producing good results.
• Involved residents or city staff in making a decision.

Winning cities will be recognized at the League's Annual Conference in St. Cloud, and will receive a $1,000 check. Last year's winners were Woodbury; St. Anthony Village; and a joint entry that included Centerville, Circle Pines, and Lexington. Last year's topical category winner ("Promoting Economic Development") was Chatfield.

While the process of planning a city budget is never really over, the deadline for 2014 City of Excellence Awards nomination submission is April 30.

A Hole-istic Approach for Repairing Minnesota Streets

It's going to be a bumpy ride.

'Tis the season when drivers on Minnesota city streets and roads have (nearly) officially traded snow and ice for axle-jolting potholes. Though the appearances of roadway holes, fractures, and splits are typical post-winter sights in our beloved state, the past season—featuring multiple polar vortex visits—has proved to be particularly stressful for motorists.

Before you put a down payment on that Florida condo, though, consider this: the horrid winter weather should not get all of the blame for the condition of neighborhood streets in our Minnesota cities. Indeed, just as state government has fallen behind in making transportation investments in state-run highways, some cities faced with budget challenges in recent years have made the difficult decision to delay scheduled street projects that might have mitigated some of this season's March pothole madness. As League lobbyist Anne Finn noted in recent legislative testimony, "Much of the condition of our roads is a result of neglect. What we hear from city engineers is that they need the tools and resources to get the repairs done."

While the state has indeed proposed to grant an emergency allocation of $15 million for the latest spring pothole fixes, a longer-term solution is needed for city streets in Minnesota. League-backed Street Improvement District authority legislation has been introduced that would allow cities to collect fees from property owners to fund municipal street maintenance, construction, and reconstruction. The bill would help property owners in a community fund expensive street projects by paying relatively small fees over a period of time—a better alternative to special assessments.

Finn notes that quick passage of the legislation could save cities millions of dollars down the road. In fact, for every dollar spent on maintenance, a road authority saves about $7 in repairs at a later date—a staggering difference in cost for local taxpayers in the state. Pothole prevention is substantially less expensive than pothole remediation.

Unfortunately, the Street Improvement District authority legislation is currently stalled in the House and Senate tax committees. It's possible though, that with enough city officials and city residents contacting legislators to express support, legislation could resurface at a later date as part of an omnibus bill, or as a stand-alone bill. Something to think about while you're between calls to auto repair shops to get realignment estimates.

Watch LMC's video on Street Improvement Districts featuring Minnesota city officials:

Research Q of the Week: Primary Election Newbies (3/27)

Question: Can our city have a primary election? We have never had one before.

Answer: Yes, a city council can choose to have a municipal primary election for the purpose of nominating elective officers prior to the municipal general election. 

For most cities, elective officers are the mayor and councilmembers. However, some cities have elected clerks and even more rarely an elected treasurer. 

Some cities choose to hold a primary because they regularly get a lot of candidates filing for office or because their city charters require it. 

If you think your city would benefit from a primary election, it's time to get the process underway. First, your council must pass a resolution or ordinance calling for the primary election. The resolution or ordinance must be adopted by April 15 and is effective for all future primary elections until the council revokes it.

The city clerk is responsible for notifying the county auditor and Minnesota Secretary of State within 30 days of the council adopting the resolution or ordinance.

The municipal primary election must be held in conjunction with the state primary election, which in 2014 is on Aug. 12. So while it may create more administrative work for the city, at least there will not be an additional election day the city would be responsible for.

Who advances
After the city council has canvassed the primary election results, the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes (or a number of candidates equal to twice the number of individuals to be elected to the office) are the individuals listed on the ballot during the general election. For example, on the general election ballot there would be two candidates listed for mayor. If the city was electing two councilmembers then there would be four candidates listed on the ballot to choose from. These individuals do not need to pay an additional filing fee to be on the general election ballot.

For more information, see Minn. Stat. § 205.065.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information.

Falling in Love With Our Cities

What do you love most about where you live? For most of us, a little laundry list of favorite things about where we call home likely pops into our head. For Peter Kageyama, this is a bigger and more central question he explores in his work.

Peter Kageyama

Peter is the co-founder and producer of The Creative Cities Summit—an ongoing exploration into the complex problems and remarkable opportunities that our cities provide—and author of For the Love of Cities. He delves into the love affair between people and their places, and illustrates for city leaders what little things matter in the relationship with place-making.

This June, Peter will be the opening keynote speaker at LMC’s Annual Conference, where he will discuss how you can create more engaged citizens without major resources, which are the “most lovable” cities and what we can learn from them, and how a small number of people who are “in love” with their city can have major impacts.

Peter recently took some time to answer our questions about people and their places:

What kinds of things create strong emotional connections between residents and their places? On the flip side, what kinds of things turn people off?
I have seen over and over again that small, often silly things, create enduring emotional connections between people and their places. I call them “love notes” in my book. Things like dog parks and farmers’ markets are great examples. Public art is another. And these types of things are often the first things cut as budgets shrink because they are seen as nice to have and not must have. As for the flip side, it is less about turn off than it is about tune out. Much of what cities want to offer us—like parking decks, paved roads, big box retail, and chain restaurants—just blends together and does nothing to excite or emotionally engage us. 

When budgets are tight, how can cities make these kinds of lovable projects a priority?
We have to get beyond the purely financial method of accounting because in purely financial terms, you will never justify anything like public art or landscaping. Think about how many potholes you could fix for the cost of that piece of public art.  We need to consider the value of things as well as just their cost—and in that type of accounting, things like beauty, art, and fun have tremendous value. The value of the dog park and the farmers’ market is in the social connections we make, in the smiles generated, and the positive attitude we have because of the experiences.  And remember that—compared to things like roads and stadiums—these love notes are incredibly cost effective in their emotional return on investment.

How do we motivate citizens to step up and do sometimes extraordinary things for their communities?
Bottom-up community development begins when people realize that city building is not just something that mayors, councilmembers, and city managers do. City building can be a very small, hyper-local effort that can be fun as well as meaningful.  Once people start thinking about the lighter, faster, cheaper things they can do—and not wait for the city to lead on—they open the door to bottom-up participation.  These efforts become expressions of people’s emotional connection to their place. They start small, get some experience and some confidence, and then tackle something bigger and bigger. Iterate this a few times, and you may have game-changing, citizen-led projects for your community.

Like what you’ve read? Don’t miss your chance to hear Peter in person when he opens up the 2014 LMC Annual Conference! He’ll speak on Thursday, June 19 from 9-10:30 a.m. Hope to see you this summer!

Getting On Board with Freight Rail Safety

Photos: Officials from the cities of Wayzata, Big Lake, Glyndon, Winona, and staff from the League of Minnesota Cities met with Congressman Tim Walz (top right) and other rail safety stakeholders this week. 

Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN) met with city officials and other stakeholders on Wednesday at the League of Minnesota Cities to talk about freight rail shipping safety and what cities need to better prepare for rail-related disasters.

While only a small fraction of freight rail travel each year is impacted by failures such as leaks, explosions and derailments, the impact of these incidents can be catastrophic—think of the Quebec derailment that killed 47 people last year.

Recent headlines regarding spills of dangerous chemicals and derailments have clustered in the northern US and Canada. A boom in the oil industry has in part driven an increase in regional freight rail traffic, said Walz. And while freight rail use has gone up, things like inspections and equipment upgrades may not have kept pace.

City officials at the hearing voiced a need for communication and coordination of training opportunities for local police and fire—those who would be first on the scene of a derailment, fire, or spill. They also stressed that the average city does not have the resources such as compressed air foam to fight a large oil fire for more than a few minutes.

Just getting the range of perspectives present into the same room was a big deal. State, city and rail industry representatives all thanked Walz and each other for the opportunity to work together.
Walz said that action taken in Minnesota could ultimately influence policy on a federal level—meaning that the feedback provided by Minnesota cities today could result in better safety policies and procedures for all U.S. cities in the future. All aboard? Thought so.

• Learn about a recently announced rail safety initiative

• See coverage of the hearing from KMSP

Research Q of the Week: Help with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (3/20)

Question: A citizen requested copies of some city records, and staff isn't sure whether the information is public data. We've checked with the city attorney, who reviewed the law, but the answer is still unclear. What now?

Answer: Well, one of your city council’s options is to request a free advisory opinion from the Information Policy Analysis Division (IPAD).

The commissioner of the Department of Administration uses IPAD to issue non-binding, advisory opinions on questions about the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. This includes questions about public access to data, the rights of data subjects, and the classification of data. For example, here’s a recent advisory opinion  addressing the classification of data a city maintained on driving offenses: (IPAD 13-013)

To request an advisory opinion:

• Send a letter or an email to the Commissioner of Administration, c/o IPAD at 201 Administration Building, 50 Sherburne Ave, St. Paul, MN 55155 or info.ipad@state.mn.us.
• State that you are requesting an advisory opinion.
• Explain the facts briefly and state the issue or issues that you want addressed.
• Provide copies of any related documents or correspondence, including citations to any relevant statutes, rules, or case law.

After receiving the request, IPAD will:

• Mail you a letter within five business days if it chooses not to issue an advisory opinion.  (The Commissioner has the right to refuse to issue an opinion.)
• Contact the city if more information is needed.
• Send the city a confirmation letter if your request is accepted.

For more information about cities and the Data Practices Act, see the LMC information memo, Data Practices: Analyze, Classify and Respond.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information.