Endorsements

As you may have noticed, the CCETR has dropped fliers about town endorsing
Laura Powers for Mayor ~Resident 16 Years
Link Here
Tom Fairbrother for City Council ~Resident 12 Years
Link Here
Neal Rawlings for City Council ~Resident 18 Years
Link Here
With so many terrific people on the ballot, it was a difficult decision!
These are the candidates we believe will best represent the will of the people. They did not only talk the talk but they did walk the walk. Each of the above candidates did sign the State Audit Petition, kept their campaigns positive and has been respectful of the voice of the people. They understand the importance of a simple little thing called common courtesy.
We LOVE Stephanie Blomseth and look forward to hearing a lot more about her but unfortunately we can only choose only three of the ten candidates. Hopefully she will give the incumbents a run for their money in 2010!

Good Luck Centerville!
The time for change is upon us... It's up to you who is elected to represent Centerville this day and we promise to be here watching no matter who is left standing!
Thank you to everyone that has worked so hard giving support of this blog, our group and our City!
HAPPY ELECTION DAY!

WARNING! Residents of Centerville!

This is actually the title of a flier Jeff Paar is dropping on doors around town. The flier goes on to state:
"Do not believe the information going around the city by a supposed watch dog group or some of the other candidates. There is a lot of half-truths and misinformation being provided. I have delivered action with results!"
First, we would like to question what exactly are the half-truths and misinformation Mr. Paar is constantly referring to? He does not point out any specific example, not one.
As far as the other candidates he fails to mention any names, which is the height of irresponsibility and fear mongering!
Paar further states that he has delivered action with results.
That is certainly true, is it not? When will we know what our property tax increase is? What about the special assessments?
Paar also states in red lettering that "Some candidates are saying they are running for you the residents of Centerville actually want Centerville annexed by Lino Lakes."
Again, he fails to mention which candidates he is referring to, and continues with the baseless attacks. Who is really providing half-truths and misinformation?
The final and most offensive statement is:
"Don't give your vote to candidates who misrepresent facts. Visit www.centervillemn.com to get accurate information."
This is laughable considering the City has not updated the Council meeting minutes online since 8/27/2008! Therefore; any accurate information on the past two months is unavailable!
Is Jeff Paar using a CITY WEBSITE as his own personal campaign tool? It would certainly appear that his campaign has been assisted by the information currently posted (and not posted) on OUR City website.
Is Centerville better off now than it was six years ago? That is how long this man has been in office. As for being a "supposed" watch-dog group? We cite each statement with a factual source which is more than Jeff Paar's flier does.
Be wary of anyone on the attack without the facts to back their attack. It goes to the heart of their credibility. It's time to ask Jeff Paar to explain...

Propaganda Machine?

The City officials have claimed to be transparent but have failed to update the City council minutes since August. They have however been diligent in attacking the people behind the State Audit petition and are doing so on the home page!
Is the City website really for the people or just another tool for free (and possibly illegal) campaigning?! When will the Council minutes be updated? We suspect it will be conveniently sometime after the election... As will be your tax increase letter, when it is too late.

Petition Against The Petition?

Whoa! The current council actually threw that out there on the October 22 meeting. The attorney stated that "The City is not as of yet sponsoring a counter petition" during the session.
To clarify, one of the State Audit Petition walkers had heard on the street that Mayor Mary Capra was spouting off about some residents wanting their names removed after they had initially signed. Instead of contacting us or returning our emails to find a solution, she decided to make political hay out of it. She even contacted the local newspapers and attempted to put her own spin on the story. Fortunately, the Pioneer Press reported both sides.
Link Here

No one associated with this group has been contacted regarding this issue and if they had, the names would have definitely been removed! The petition for the State Audit is a legal process and nobody associated with this group would jeopardize its legitimacy by refusing to remove a few names. There was contact information left with the petition signers that would have made it quite easy to contact this blog. In fact, many residents have had no problem finding us on their own. The support for this blog and the petition have been overwhelming.

The fact that the City Attorney is again involved (billing by the hour) and that Council formally put this issue on the agenda last night is curious. What are they afraid of?
The voices of the people will be finally heard in Centerville. Unfortunately, they have to go to the County and State level to make it happen.

Read the comments section to view some of the emails we have received.

State Audit Meeting a Success!

Thank you to all the residents that turned out last night! The room was almost unbearably warm but the crowd of 85 stayed for the entire meeting.


In fact, many people remained far after the meeting ended and visited with their neighbors. New friendships were made and new alliances were born. There was a sense of community that has not been felt in a long time. The very reason many of us moved to Centerville was reaffirmed last night!
The concern expressed for our city was overwhelming. There are many intelligent citizens in this city and many informed questions were asked. Although we are just beginning our journey, the first steps were taken last night, by many residents.

Citizens had the opportunity to meet four of the candidates last night. First we heard from Stephanie Blomseth, running for council. Next was Ben Fehrenbacher also running for city council. Council candidate Neale Rawlings attended the meeting and left early with his adorable 18 month old twin boys. His platform was left for the residents to review. The two candidates running against our incumbent Mayor spoke; Bryce Wasiloski and Laura Powers. These candidates are going to give Mary a run for her money! It should be an exciting election!

When the meeting ended, many citizens volunteered to walk the petition and took the needed excess spending fact sheet. Unfortunately, we are unaware of which areas will be walked and hope they will follow up with us here.

We need to obtain the signatures of 423 registered voters before we send the petition to Anoka County for certification. As we move forward, we will keep a running total of the number of signatures we have and keep you updated on how many more we need to comply with the state audit laws.

This is an exciting time for the citizens of Centerville. We have the opportunity to change our local government and make it work for us, as intended! Thank to everyone who participated last night to what WILL BE a great start to reform!

Government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Gettysburg Address ~ Abraham Lincoln


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