Being good at governing not only requires a sense of priorities and a commitment to getting things right - it requires second- and third-level thinking and planning. It's not enough to just capably "get the road fixed" - one must also think in terms of doing it in ways that disrupt the public least, disrupt the businesses least, prepare the businesses in advance, have a plan for supporting them so they can survive, during, and a plan for helping them recover, after. Otherwise , businesses go out of business, and "this is why we can't have nice things". It's not just Mpls or Henn. Co. - just this summer a huge stretch of Grand Ave in St. P. was torn up in the spring... and then (inexplicably, to me...) sat that way literally for months while, most of that time, little if any visible work was being done. It just re-opened recently. For what it's worth, the Hennepin "takes forever" rebuild had more than a little of that, too...
This article is the second time I read this week (the first was an article about a different street rebuild) where a business owner complained that a significant part of the "business survival" problem is just getting reliably true information in a timely manner from government authorities. A businessperson in the earlier piece mentioned that she eventually learned that to get straight info, it was necessary to quit calling the city, and just go outside and ask the workers... who usually knew, weeks or even months in advance, what was going to happen, and when - even when the authorities claimed not to know. I nearly spit out my coffee reading that... But that is what happens when government leaders fail to understand that the boring, basic things need to be their top priorities, and the sexy, "shiny object" new programs should properly take a back seat.
This "functional competence" (as opposed to ideological matters) gets very little "play" in our election campaigns. In future, it'd be good if it got more.
Thank you for covering the Jungle Theater. I remember watching Two Gentlemen from Verona (the Shakespeare play with a dog playing a prominent role). The dog stole the show. Twin Cites has excellent theater - may be the best in the country.
Being good at governing not only requires a sense of priorities and a commitment to getting things right - it requires second- and third-level thinking and planning. It's not enough to just capably "get the road fixed" - one must also think in terms of doing it in ways that disrupt the public least, disrupt the businesses least, prepare the businesses in advance, have a plan for supporting them so they can survive, during, and a plan for helping them recover, after. Otherwise , businesses go out of business, and "this is why we can't have nice things". It's not just Mpls or Henn. Co. - just this summer a huge stretch of Grand Ave in St. P. was torn up in the spring... and then (inexplicably, to me...) sat that way literally for months while, most of that time, little if any visible work was being done. It just re-opened recently. For what it's worth, the Hennepin "takes forever" rebuild had more than a little of that, too...
This article is the second time I read this week (the first was an article about a different street rebuild) where a business owner complained that a significant part of the "business survival" problem is just getting reliably true information in a timely manner from government authorities. A businessperson in the earlier piece mentioned that she eventually learned that to get straight info, it was necessary to quit calling the city, and just go outside and ask the workers... who usually knew, weeks or even months in advance, what was going to happen, and when - even when the authorities claimed not to know. I nearly spit out my coffee reading that... But that is what happens when government leaders fail to understand that the boring, basic things need to be their top priorities, and the sexy, "shiny object" new programs should properly take a back seat.
This "functional competence" (as opposed to ideological matters) gets very little "play" in our election campaigns. In future, it'd be good if it got more.
Well said
Terry, Christina & Rachel ~ This discussion is fantastic! Let’s keep talking…
and where is the discussion today at 4:30?
Thank you for covering the Jungle Theater. I remember watching Two Gentlemen from Verona (the Shakespeare play with a dog playing a prominent role). The dog stole the show. Twin Cites has excellent theater - may be the best in the country.