City Withdraws Penalty Ordinance
Instead of voting on its “penalty power” ordinance 19-18, at its May 8, 2019, meeting, the city council withdrew it. Apparently, the council could not get the unanimous approval of all seven ward members, a requirement for charter amendments. Since no vote was taken, there is no record to identify who among the individual ward…
Read MoreCharter Change Lacks Transparency
Sunday’s May 5, 2019, Pioneer Press offers a thoughtful opinion on the city’s proposed “penalty power” charter amendment. This piece comes from the steering committee of the civic group known as St. Paul Strong. St. Paul Strong is dedicated to the purpose of bringing greater transparency to the function of our city government. The authors…
Read MoreMay 8 Council Meeting Charter Amendments
According to the agenda for its regular May 8 meeting, the council is due to vote on two significant ordinances to amend our City Charter. These are items 21 and 22, at page 6 of this agenda. Item 21 pertains to ordinance 19-16, which will amend the signature requirements applicable to citizen petitions. We believe…
Read MoreCity’s Closed Door Trash Lawsuit Meeting
On Wednesday, May 8, 2019, the St. Paul city council is scheduled to hold a “closed door” meeting to discuss our referendum lawsuit. The meeting agenda specifically states that the closed door session will be held at 2 pm “to discuss pending litigation in Bruce Clark, et al v. City of St. Paul” and “2020…
Read MoreSoucheray’s Alley Plowing Survey Response
Joe Soucheray’s column in the Sunday, April 28, 2019, Pioneer Press is a real gem. In fact, this one is such a keeper, we make it available as a printer friendly download. If you live in St. Paul and have not taken the city’s alley plowing survey, you can find it online here. The survey…
Read MoreCouncil Delays Penalty Power Vote until May 8
On April 24, 2019, the city council decided to delay its vote on ordinance 19-18, which would give the council broad powers to enact and enforce penalties for violations of any ordinance. In order to enact this ordinance to amend our City Charter, the council needs to obtain a unanimous vote. Council members, Jane Prince…
Read MoreAssessment Hearing Postponements
If you have been scheduled for a legislative hearing to contest the City’s garbage bill assessment and you need to reschedule, you should contact the hearing coordinator: Mai VangLegislative Hearing Coordinator15 West Kellogg Blvd, Room 310St. Paul. MN 55102 You can contact Mai Vang by calling 651-266-8563. You can also contact Mai Vang via her…
Read MoreJudge Denies City Motion
On Monday, April 8, 2019, Judge Leonardo Castro heard the City of St. Paul’s motion seeking to bring the St. Paul Haulers’ Consortium into the referendum lawsuit. The City attorney, Megan Hafner, argued that the St. Paul Haulers Consortium, LLC, needed to be added to the lawsuit, claiming it was an “indispensable party.” Citing the…
Read MoreThe Referendum Lawsuit
On February 7, 2019, we commenced a lawsuit against the City of St. Paul, in order to enforce our citizen right to vote on the City’s new trash plan. See, Clark, et al., v. City of St. Paul, et al., Ramsey County Ct. File # 62-CV-19-857. We filed our lawsuit in order to secure our…
Read More