Centerville Citizens For Ethical Taxation and Representation

Upcoming Meetings of City Council, Committees & Commissions

Per City Website
Link Here

The City website is not always the best at keeping the citizens informed with their "brief" list of upcoming sessions.

All Council sessions are held on the second and forth Wednesday of each month (if not rescheduled) at 6:30 and are open to the public.
Remember, you will not be allowed to speak unless you have previously arranged to be on the agenda or a request to address Council for two minutes is approved by Mayor Mary Capra in advance. Speaking out of turn is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

Government of the people, by the people and for the people?

Residents may watch each previous session on North Metro Cable (15 or 16) as they are replayed.

Tues, Wed and Sat
@ Noon

Sun, Mon and Thurs
@ 6 p.m.

Not Televised:

Planning & Zoning Commission Meetings

Parks & Recreation Committee Meetings

State Auditor Suggestions For Centerville Officials

The city should consider opening up a competitive request-for-proposal process for things such as engineering services to "demonstrate impartiality."

It should provide more oversight of employee-reimbursement funds such as mileage to ensure information is recorded accurately.

It should do more monitoring of the city administrator's and finance director's time spent working and revise if necessary.

Could this last statement have something to do with our past Finance Director?

LINK HERE
For the skinny on the last Finance Director and our City Leadership.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by the Centerville Citizens for Ethical Taxation and Representation bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not always reflect the opinions of the CCETR. We are not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the comments made in this blog.
This blog is an outlet for the citizens of Centerville to have a voice and freely express their opinions, as guaranteed under the First Amendment.
The CCETR reserves the right to remove any threatening or profane comments made on this blog. It is our intent to provide the most accurate and current information regarding the City of Centerville. We invite The City Staff and its Administrator to "correct" or comment on any info. they see misleading or untrue.

Quotes From Citizens

Recent Statements from the Centerville/Lino Lakes Blog
Link Here

Consolidation is the right thing to do. I have done some research and spoken to the league of cites in St. Paul. In order to get a consolidation to a vote to the general public, you need a petition signed by 5% of registered voters that voted in the last govenor election. 1603 citizens voted. That would amount to aproximately 80 signatures. Once the signatures are done, it is then presented to the city council which by statute they must post the consolidation to the citizens of centerville for a vote. If the majority vote in favor of the resolution. The consolidation moves forward. Taxes will be lower, our police service will be moved to Lino lakes which patrols all around our city, and the cost will be significantly reduced. Citizens you must know, our taxes in this city will always go up. We have no business, nor will we ever get any business. Lino lakes has the corner market on incentives for business. I love this city but hate the tax burden that is placed on all of us. We can do something about it. The time is now.
August 21, 2008 6:38 AM

Remember, Consolidation with Lino Lakes would mean that Centerville would dissolve and we would become part of the city of Lino Lakes and fall under their city government and rules.
August 21, 2008 12:50 PM

Let's do it. We can do it the same time as the state audit petition. We need our voice back in the this City.
August 21

I agree and so does my husband. He has said this all along.Centerville has 45% budget for Police??? Do we have enough residences for this amount of police force? I have a great birds eye view of Centerville Road and Main Street at night and you should see the amount of police cars doing 80 mph down Centerville road. You would think I live in the inner city.Do we have a candidate for Mayor? We should have a meeting about this soon.
August 21, 2008

I agree, lets go for it. Now is a good time. It seems that alot of voices in this city have fallen on deaf ears. I love this city,but our taxes just keep going up and up,something has to be done.
August 21, 2008 3:01 PM

Taxes keep going up because the City is trying to turn us into an Edina. We don't have the land share for this type of community. I see an beautiful old neighborhood that could be really quaint and charming but instead the City wants to bull doze it down and create a sudo town. They were hoping we all would just leave. I don't think we are going anywhere though!
August 21, 2008 5:56 PM

These statements are direct quotes found on Topix.com

"The February informational meeting was one of the biggest lapses of leadership I've seen in a very long time. A resident was given the microphone to speak his thoughts in front of the community. The resident was interrupted by a heated side discussion between city council rep Jeff Parr and another resident. In my opinion the man with the microphone should have had the floor. Dallas Larson was given back the microphone and at that point should have proclaimed order in the court, but instead allowed this heated discussion to continue. It was at that point that Mary Capra left the room to contact the police. They showed up shortly afterwards. In my opinion, what we needed was someone to step up to the plate and call a meeting to order. Instead it turned into a frustrating display and lack of leadership. Being that I am new to the ways of how our city works I hope that this was just an anomaly and not an example of leadership in other instances".

"If you think your taxes are high now just wait until they pass this Proposed 7.8 million dollar Road Improvement Project. They tell us the "City" pays 70% of this project. Guess what, that's us, the tax payers. Tell the council how you feel about this project at the Public Hearing on May 1st, it may be our last chance. Power in Numbers. Also, please sign our petition that asks the council to re-asses the scope of this project in these difficult economic time".

"Centerville city council just can't stop spending the taxpayers money. Bonds, new roads, buying buildings and parks, putting in trails. When will it end. We need new people for council and mayor".

"Wow - What a great turn out at the May 1 hearing. I'd say 400 people plus. I don't see how the council members or Mayor could pass this project as is and still sleep at night. The message was the same over and over. This is not the time for such an extensive project. Only do what is necessary at this time. If they pass the project as is I have to question their morals and ethics. Also if they pass it as is, we need to get them out of office because they obviously are not representing the people of Centerville".

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/centerville-mn

Thursday, October 30, 2008

DEAR CITY OFFICIALS,
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WASTE TAXPAYERS MONEY ON FIVE DIFFERENT COLORS OF CONCRETE WHEN YOU KNEW IT WOULD BE STRIPED (PAINTED) FOR CROSSWALKS?

21 comments:

Anonymous said...: Here is a thought for the candidates that this blog supports.

Donate the $35,000 budgeted for Mayor and City Council's pay to your Road Maint. Fund.

Then we will see just who is really running to just serve the citizens.; 12:18 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: huh?; 12:23 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Aside from the paint covering the colored concrete, what about the weeks/months it could be covered over with snow, ice and white chalk from dry ice?

Exactly how much extra did the colored concrete cost? (Including expenditures of City Engineer, labor, materials, etc.) My curious husband spoke with one of the county crew working on the concrete and he stated that much more $ is being spent by the City of Centerville for the colored concrete. The county crew worker stated the colored concrete took much more time than originally scheduled and was "a real pain" (crew worker's words).; 12:55 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: They sure don't think things through before making decisions; 1:21 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Mayor gets 5,000.00 a year, Council gets 4,000.00 a year
X 4 council members. That equals 21,000.00 a year. Where do you come up with 35,000.00???; 8:49 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: NOW I'VE SEEM EVERYTHING!; 9:06 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: "Here is a thought for the candidates that this blog supports.
Donate the $35,000 budgeted for Mayor and City Council's pay to your Road Maint. Fund.
Then we will see just who is really running to just serve the citizens."

Like the current Mayor and Council are working for free? I wonder how much money feeding a giant ego is worth. We already know who is really serving the citizens and these people do not sit behind the walls of the Centerville City Hall. These people are right here, on this blog!

THANK YOU!; 10:04 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Get the facts. Look at the 08 Budget. $35,000 is budgeted for Mayor/Council. No the current Mayor/Council are not working for free. But you bloggers think you know it all. I'm challenging your candidates if elected to give back to Centerville, and do the job as a community service.; 10:08 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Hey Big Mouth, why don't you and you're other money spending addicts take YOUR checks and put them back into the general fund?
I'm sure you'll have a comment back because you ALWAYS have to comment on everything in those meetings...need some attention?; 10:19 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Hey,
I thought this was about painting the colored concrete which really ticks me off!; 10:22 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: You are correct, Julie. Somehow this thread was hijacked by someone not wanting to talk about painting on the expensive colored concrete which we definitely did not need.
I am furious about it too as will many residents once it is done.; 10:45 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Four council members and one mayor. Is that why we ended up with five different colors of concrete? Did they each get to choose one? I remember the council meeting where they spent a lot of time discussing shades of pink...
You would think that they were decorators instead of city officials.
They never once mentioned coordinating paint colors... wow!; 11:42 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Did any of you complaining about the downtown redevelopment project attend the numerous meetings they had in the last 5-6 years on the downtown redevelopment project?

As far as the concrete being covered up for so long, only when it snows, and that is plowed off in the same day. Not a good argument to use the weather.; 11:50 AM CDT
Anonymous said...: I was at the meetings that effected my "personal agenda" as Jeff Paar puts it in the paper! I would rather think of this "agenda" as concerns that effect my personal life.

I didn't realize I had to attend ALL meetings to make sure the city wasn't on a spending spree. I thought the City elected good servants to handle our money. I was naive. Now you all have our attention.; 12:07 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: You said it, Margaret! These people defending the city are probably city officials in disguise! Is is Halloween, after all.
PS we all know the damage salt does to concrete in the winter...; 12:13 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: You guys are nothing but complainers. If you are unhappy, shut up and vote! In the meantime, call you represenative if you are unahppy with a decision.... bitching on a blog is not a form of public input. You have to take action and not hide behind a made up name on this blog.; 2:02 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: When was the last time you heard anyone say, "I was wrong" or said so yourself? Granted, it's not easy to admit it when we're wrong, but blaming others, which is the equivalent of dishonesty, has almost become the acceptable thing to do these days. It's like a disease that has distorted our society. What once was wrong is now OK even though it really is wrong. Society thrives on racy gossip, sometimes to the point of ignoring facts. Often when the facts are revealed, we ignore them, preferring the dicey comments each of us know deep inside our souls to be false.

Passing blame, though, doesn't just harm others; its double-edged sword harms the blamer as well. While it frequently requires only a little time for unfounded blame to damage an innocent person or thing, unfortunately, it usually takes longer for us to realize that the deeper damage is to ourselves.

Dishonesty is a heavy burden to carry, and if you've ever admitted a wrongdoing, you know that no matter the consequences, you felt better about yourself after admitting it. And the quicker we admit our faults, the better we feel. Funny thing is that others feel better about us as well.

There's something clean about honesty. You bloggers ought to give it a try.; 3:12 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: Nobody is passing blame here, just pointing out the facts.; 9:09 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: "You have to take action and not hide behind a made up name on this blog."

Back at anonymous 2:02 PM
Do as I say, not as I do... Sound familiar? Bet you heard this a lot growing up.
Trust me, the citizens will vote on the 4th and they will never shut up...
Pandora's box has been opened.; 9:30 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: IDIOTS..........NOW THEY ARE PAINTING OVER OUR BEAUTIFUL COLORED CONCRETE? Looks like someone didn't do their homework. Duhhhh Its in front of a school. No one on council asked the question? IDIOTS..........

Quit preaching by the way; 2:59 PM CDT
Anonymous said...: DUH, what do you call a painted crosswalk?; 7:51 AM CST

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

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