This Edition of Isantian looks a little bit different due to my goal of adding greater transparency to our City Government. We have taken each City department and explained how your taxpayer dollars are being used to fund City services. Many duties are self-evident such as police stopping speeders or public works plowing streets. Many other state mandated duties and expenses are not such as our City Planner making sure we do not allow spot zoning which could cost the City significantly in legal and future development cost. Our HR person has to make sure we comply with comparable worth and a litany of other State mandates. Our Police Department is not only busy catching the bad guys but also helps with such things as infant car seat inspections and lockout assistance. I believe it is important each Citizen and Taxpayer has a complete view of what their City government is doing and how their money is being spent.
Another topic we need to discuss is the ever changing landscape of our City. Isanti has gone from 74% our tax base being owner occupied homes in 2010, to 65% in 2011. This is a significant shift and shows the trend of our housing stock being converted into rental properties. This is a foreseen outcome of the foreclosure crisis our Nation has been plagued with. When I was elected Mayor in 2006 I made a rental and maintenance ordinance a high priority so Isanti would be well positioned to deal with the coming changes. Isanti may very well see 50% of our housing stock converted into rental properties. This will lead to many challenges, which we have seen in other communities where rental property owners try to force communities to lower their standards and increase their profits at the City’s cost. Future Mayors and Councils must not allow an eroding of community standards to profit a few at the expense of families that invested so much in making Isanti a wonderful place to live.
On this same topic there is a trend occurring centering around the theme of ‘times are tough, Isanti should take anything they can get’. This would be disastrous to the long term health and vitality of our community. Residential proposals allowing new tiny cheap homes in established neighborhoods would not only hurt existing property values but would never generate enough future property taxes to help pay for City services thus increasing the burden on existing homeowners. Only the developer would make money on this type of deal. We see it on the commercial property side as well. Proposals to build low value additions along TH 65 that would never provide decent paying jobs, tax base or services our community needs. Times are hard and will continue to be for years to come but we must not allow short term fear to drive long term policy. The approval of any type of ‘growth proposal’ is what got Isanti in such a mess to begin with and has left us paying millions in debt that we have inherited. Long term city planning is like planting trees - we do it for the generations to come.
2012 will see exciting events and changes in Isanti. Redistricting has placed our City in a new State Representative district as well as a new County Commissioner District. These changes highlight the need to have good representation for our community at each level of government. There is not one seat on the School Board or County Board occupied by a City resident.
We are hosting State tournaments for soccer and BMX, along with numerous weekly games and rides this summer. Our State Champion Redbirds will be playing in a tougher division this year and will continue to make us proud. These two groups alone bring in tens of thousands of spectators and participants and highlight the great strengths of our community. Rodeo Jubilee Days along with other numerous events make Isanti such a wonderful community.
If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact me at 763-442-8749 or email me at George@georgewimmer.com . You may also follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/mayorwimmer Facebook at facebook.com/GeorgeAWimmer or my blog at georgewimmer.blogspot.com
2 comments:
I'm concerned over your views on the size of potential homes in Isanti. Years ago I went to a meeting put on by the state of Minnesota concerning affordable housing. They said most houses are to big,they said they should be less than a 1000 sq ft. You call this "junk" housing that will bring down the value of Isanti. I disagree. Some people don't want a mansion to take care of.
first of all I never called it junk housing... that is your made up statement not mine. My position is that the City developed a plan over multiple years... before I ever was elected Mayor and this plan if followed will serve us well. The City has 4 main residential zoning districts several of which allow less than a 1000 square feet. R1 only calls for 1,200 square feet as a minimum... hardly a mansion by any stretch of the imagination. if you place much smaller homes in R1 you will pull down the value of those homes already built which is not fair to the people that already live here... the only that makes money is the developer....
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