About Me

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I have served the City of Isanti as Mayor since 2007. We have accomplished great things together and I look forward to building on our success. United, we move forward to a better future. You may contact me at 763-442-8749 or e-mail me at george@georgewimmer.com.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

3 Positions opening on Planning and Park and Recreation


2 Park and Recreation Board terms expire end of December 2012 ... If interested in serving please contact me at George@georgewimmer.com

The non-resident Planning Commission seat will be up for appointment in January. If interested please contact me. George@georgewimmer.com

Isanti Hotel Partners, LLC Press Release

The Isanti-Cambridge area currently is under served by one hotel and that is located in the City of Cambridge. Isanti Hotel Partners, LLC has been working with the City of Isanti as well as a local contractor to bring a hotel to the City of Isanti to meet the demand of the region. The City of Isanti approved the Site Plan for a 33 unit hotel with a pool and has strong public support by the City of Isanti.  Work on the project began in 2011 and a Development Agreement between Isanti Hotel Partners, LLC and the City of Isanti providing $600,000 in public investment to the Developer was executed in June 2012 paving the way for the project to commence.  A permit was pulled for the project shortly after in June of 2012 and preliminary work was completed on the site.  Special Tax Increment Financing legislation gave the City of Isanti the ability to provide the initial significant public investment and the City supported it due to the high priority and demand of the hotel for the City and the region.   The project appears to have stalled when the “contractor” and majority investor backed out in October 2012. There is still time to complete the necessary work in 2012 to move the project forward and to open in 2013 but committed investors are needed.

Isanti Hotel Partners, LLC has not given up on this project as it certainly is needed in the area.  However, with the present economic environment many investors appear to be balking at this type of investment regardless of the illustration of need and positive pro forma income statements.   Isanti Hotel Partners, LLC has hired a prominent hotel organizer, Troy Hoekstra, to lead the project.  Troy has organized and financed a number of these projects across the Midwest and is well thought of in the hotel community.  However, Troy has not been able to attract enough local investors to bring the investment to the point of being underwritten by a local bank and its partners that have successfully financed similar projects.   Only a few more investors are needed to complete the investment group and to re-commence construction of the project.

Should anyone have interest, they should contact Mr. Hoekstra immediately at thoekstra@charter.net for the particulars as the time frame to succeed is determined by state statute and will expire shortly. The City of Isanti fully behind this project and is very motivated to add this important component to region to better serve the residents, businesses and visitors of the area.  A long list of local businesses, community organizations and other supporters of this project can be provided upon request. The City of Isanti is home to many exciting events that serve as a draw to this community.  These events will only grow in size and prominence with the addition of a new hotel.  The Isanti-Cambridge Area looks forward to your interest in our area and welcomes your investment into our community.  

Sunday, November 11, 2012

President Reagan's 1985 Veteran's Day Speech


PRESIDENT REAGAN: Secretary Weinberger, Harry Walters, Robert Medairos, reverend clergy, ladies and gentlemen, a few moments ago I placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and as I stepped back and stood during the moment of silence that followed, I said a small prayer. And it occurred to me that each of my predecessors has had a similar moment, and I wondered if our prayers weren't very much the same, if not identical.

We celebrate Veterans Day on the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, the armistice that began on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. And I wonder, in fact, if all Americans' prayers aren't the same as those I mentioned a moment ago. The timing of this holiday is quite deliberate in terms of historical fact but somehow it always seems quite fitting to me that this day comes deep in autumn when the colors are muted and the days seem to invite contemplation.

We are gathered at the National Cemetery, which provides a final resting place for the heroes who have defended our country since the Civil War. This amphitheater, this place for speeches, is more central to this cemetery than it first might seem apparent, for all we can ever do for our heroes is remember them and remember what they did -- and memories are transmitted through words.

Sometime back I received in the name of our country the bodies of four marines who had died while on active duty. I said then that there is a special sadness that accompanies the death of a serviceman, for we're never quite good enough to them-not really; we can't be, because what they gave us is beyond our powers to repay. And so, when a serviceman dies, it's a tear in the fabric, a break in the whole, and all we can do is remember.

It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.

There's always someone who is remembering for us. No matter what time of year it is or what time of day, there are always people who come to this cemetery, leave a flag or a flower or a little rock on a headstone. And they stop and bow their heads and communicate what they wished to communicate. They say, "Hello, Johnny," or "Hello, Bob. We still think of you. You're still with us. We never got over you, and we pray for you still, and we'll see you again. We'll all meet again." In a way, they represent us, these relatives and friends, and they speak for us as they walk among the headstones and remember. It's not so hard to summon memory, but it's hard to recapture meaning.

And the living have a responsibility to remember the conditions that led to the wars in which our heroes died. Perhaps we can start by remembering this: that all of those who died for us and our country were, in one way or another, victims of a peace process that failed; victims of a decision to forget certain things; to forget, for instance, that the surest way to keep a peace going is to stay strong. Weakness, after all, is a temptation -- it tempts the pugnacious to assert themselves -- but strength is a declaration that cannot be misunderstood. Strength is a condition that declares actions have consequences. Strength is a prudent warning to the belligerent that aggression need not go unanswered.
Peace fails when we forget what we stand for. It fails when we forget that our Republic is based on firm principles, principles that have real meaning, that with them, we are the last, best hope of man on Earth; without them, we're little more than the crust of a continent. Peace also fails when we forget to bring to the bargaining table God’s first intellectual gift to man: common sense. Common sense gives us a realistic knowledge of human beings and how they think, how they live in the world, what motivates them. Common sense tells us that man has magic in him, but also clay. Common sense can tell the difference between right and wrong. Common sense forgives error, but it always recognizes it to be error first.

We endanger the peace and confuse all issues when we obscure the truth; when we refuse to name an act for what it is; when we refuse to see the obvious and seek safety in Almighty. Peace is only maintained and won by those who have clear eyes and brave minds. Peace is imperiled when we forget to try for agreements and settlements and treaties; when we forget to hold out our hands and strive; when we forget that God gave us talents to use in securing the ends He desires. Peace fails when we forget that agreements, once made, cannot be broken without a price.
Each new day carries within it the potential for breakthroughs, for progress. Each new day bursts with possibilities. And so, hope is realistic and despair a pointless little sin. And peace fails when we forget to pray to the source of all peace and life and happiness. I think sometimes of General Matthew Ridgeway, who, the night before D-day, tossed sleepless on his cot and talked to the Lord and listened for the promise that God made to Joshua: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

We're surrounded today by the dead of our wars. We owe them a debt we can never repay. All we can do is remember them and what they did and why they had to be brave for us. All we can do is try to see that other young men never have to join them. Today, as never before, we must pledge to remember the things that will continue the peace. Today, as never before, we must pray for God's help in broadening and deepening the peace we enjoy. Let us pray for freedom and justice and a more stable world. And let us make a compact today with the dead, a promise in the words for which General Ridgeway listened, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

In memory of those who gave the last full measure of devotion, may our efforts to achieve lasting peace gain strength. And through whatever coincidence or accident of timing, I tell you that a week from now when I am some thousands of miles away, believe me, the memory and the importance of this day will be in the forefront of my mind and in my heart.
Thank you. God bless you all, and God bless America.

The Gettysburg Address


Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

~ President Abraham Lincoln 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

When Country Calls

My Grandfather wrote these words to my Grandmother in 1917 as America was preparing to fight in World War One. His words worked quite well. They had 14 children, 11 boys and 3 girls. We must honor our soldiers and their families each and every day.


*
A poem written by Ted Wimmer to Agnes
When Country Calls

***
I feel so very lonesome tonight
I don’t know what to do
I feel so blue and downhearted right
So I’ll write a few lines to you.
*
I was dreaming of the days gone by
And the hours I spent with you
My eyes grew dim, and with a sigh
I said your love must be true.
*
There’s a sort of pain that hurts my heart
When I think of the hour drawing nigh
The sad day when we two must part
When I’ll kiss you and say good bye.
*
Remember me and do not fear
To you, I’ll always be true
I’ll always think of you my dear
And I hope to return to you.
*
Rivers, mountains and the ocean may lie
Between your soldier and you
His love for you will never die
If you’ll promise you’ll be true.
*
Your soldier begs of you to say
At the rising of the sun
A prayer for him, that this very day
May not be his last one.
*
And when this war to an end has come
And the troops God spared return
The world again its peace has won
Your soldier’s love for you will burn.
*
And if the giver of all good
Hears the prayers of your spotless heart
At least I hope and pray he would
That I return never more to part.

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

President Obama wins 2nd term

Alan Duff Loses Re-election Bid

Alan Duff has lost his election in his newly redrawn district

Initial Numbers from Isanti City Hall

The initial numbers I will be reporting are from Isanti City Hall and do not reflect absentee ballots which are added by the County later 

 Warring wins Commissioner race over Kennedy 1536 to 1231

 Lundeen (915) Johnson (758) win and Horst (681) Streiff (552) lose for 4 year term 

 Collison (853) wins Aleckson (683) loses for 2 year term

 Congratulations to Lundeen, Johnson, Collison and Warring
I was voter 463 at 9:30 this morning .... voters are moving in an out pretty quickly

Lorinser Endorses

Former Isanti City Council Member Ross Lorinser endorses Mike Streiff & Dan Collison for Council and Jim Kennedy for Commissioner ...

Vote Jim Kennedy County Commissioner

We need City representation on the County Board ... Isanti pays the 2nd most in taxes to the County and have no one from the City on the Board ... Vote Jim Kennedy for Commissioner

Monday, November 05, 2012

Council Candidates

Mike Streiff, Kimberly Hurd, Dan Collison & Steve Lundeen have all worked and served to make Isanti a better pace through positive actions
If candidates for Isanti City Council attack my record as Mayor to fish for votes - they better be prepared to accept the consequences

Email

I am back from 2 weeks in the Philippines and have fixed my email.... please revert back to using George@georgewimmer.com

Candidate Claims

I was reading Adam Johnson's information and his claims to cut wasteful City spending ... examples please ... also he calls my roughly 40% property tax cuts only a fair job ... I can not wait to see how he cuts another 40% plus of taxes without affecting services ... I actually increased services while cutting taxes ... If Mr. Johnson is elected I can not wait to see his proposed budget and tax levy ...