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?

Selective Ordinance Enforcment Part Six

Is The City Harassing Senior Citizens?

Yard work was halted at the home of one of our senior citizens on 10/3/2008 without prior written warning, the City issued an "ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST FROM CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES" drafted by City Attorney, Kurt Glaser. According to Mr. Glaser one must obtain a building permit when bringing more than 10 yards of fill to a property in Centerville but he did not cite the ordinance or include a copy. The order further indicates that the senior resident has significantly altered the "approved drainage plan" and is somehow in violation of the Rice Creek Watershed District.
Unfortunately, the resident (living on a fixed income) has been forced to retain an attorney because OUR city is also issuing a criminal complaint before the Anoka County District Court.
The order was copied to:
Administrator, City of Centerville
Centennial Lakes police Department
Rice Creek Watershed District
Houston Engineering
The senior citizen obtained the appropriate permits from the Rice Creek Watershed issued 10/22/2008 when no violation was found by their inspectors. Link Here
The resident is still waiting for our City to lift the cease and desist order and hopeful that Centerville will do so before the frost sets in. Until the order is lifted, the dirt can not be moved from the driveway!
Could all this have been avoided if the City had contacted the RCWD in the first place?

The Centerville State Audit Petition Has Been Certified by Anoka County and Sent to the State!

Mayor Mary Capra

In a letter to the Editor of The Quad Press 10/28/2008 the Mayor addressed a couple of her constituents. While doing so, she could not stop herself from taking a swipe at this little blog.

"The City of Centerville does have debt as most cities do and individuals. The "Watch Dog/Blog group always fails to mention the other half of the equation, the assets of the city. All of the indebtedness of the city is for public purpose and has to meet the standards set forth by the State of Minnesota. You cannot consider one without the other. The current balance in the city's fund accounts is in excess of $5 million dollars."

A couple of thoughts quickly come to mind. The amount of debt incurred by a city or individual is a choice. If an individual chooses to go deeply into debt, it is their choice and their money. If a city chooses to go into debt it is the choice of the elected officials and the individuals have no voice. Hardly analogous.
If all the debt is indeed for a public purpose, what was the rational behind spending an additional $500,000 plus on decorating the downtown? This is surely not a standard set forth by the State of Minnesota!
If the City does indeed have an excess of $5 million in the bank, what are they doing with it while we are assessed for road maintenance?

The Citizens of Centerville Have Spoken!

As of this moment we are awaiting certification from the County Auditor. The required number of signatures have been confirmed. Although the citizens only needed 423 registered voters to move forward with the State audit, there were approximately 650 collected. We apologize to those residents who wanted to sign but didn't get the opportunity to do so due to time constraints. Thank you all for your support!

Update! Council Meeting Minutes!

It took long enough but the City has finally updated the council session minutes for September 10th, 17th, 24th and October 8th today!
They are currently only one meeting behind! Good to see they are actually doing their jobs!

Selective Ordinance Enforcement Part Five

Is the City using the selective ordinance enforcement to impact the election?
City ordinance is quite clear, there shall be no more than one political
sign per candidate per residential property. Why have some residents received letters from the City asking to remove signs in opposition of Mary Capra and Jeff Paar while their signs are left standing? What makes this issue particularly disturbing is the fact that Tom Lee is currently in violation and as a sitting council member, he should know better. Does the current council think they are above the ordinance laws?


The City has been removing signs they consider to be in violation of the ordinance and is dropping them behind the Public Works building, near the dumpster. If you are missing any, this might be a good place to look first.

UPDATE! Council Member Tom Lee is in compliance with the sign ordinance as of this evening. (10/27/2008)

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.

Is This What Centerville Has In Store?

One developer in Circle Pines has requested rezoning on this commercial property five years after development.
Link Here
More to come about our neighbors in Circle Pines, Lino Lakes and Hugo soon...

Uppal Enterprises
33 Village Parkway
Circle Pines, MN 55014
(763) 795-8855

Selective Ordinance Enforcement Part Four

The City Ordinance 93.o3 (Streets and Sidewalks) regarding Mail Boxes is quite clear. They are to be in clusters of four to six. Why would Centerville allow single and/or double mailboxes to remain (excluding those in existence prior to amending) when there have been multiple complaints?



Hanzal Resigns From Planning Commission
The Citizen 10/18/2006
Hanzal's one sentence resignation letter, addressed to the "City of Centerville" and forwarded to the City Council for its October 11 meeting, reads as follows:
"It is with deepest regrets that I must resign from the Planning and Zoning Commission effective immediately following the October 3 meeting due to family obligations.
Link Story Here


Hanzal Subdivision Approved
The Citizen, 3/21/2007
At its March 14 meeting, the Centerville City Council unanimously passed four motions that will allow the Hanzal Subdivision development to go forward. The motions were based on recent recommendations made by the Planning and Zoning Commission after several lengthy and heated public hearings.
The first and second motions respectively amended the city's comprehensive plan and changed the zoning of the entire 6.36 acre Hanzal Subdivision-located at 7381 Old Mill Road-to Single Family Residential (R-2) Portions of the property were zoned Public/Semi-Private (P-1) and Single Family Residential-Estate (R-5)
The third motion approved the preliminary plat for the development.
The fourth motion approved a variance to permit a 25-foot front yard setback on one parcel of the property, 10 feet less than the normal 35 feet required in this zoning district.
A handful of residents were present at the meeting, some wishing to present additional testimony. However, since public hearings on the issue have already bee closed, City Administrator Dallas Larson told the public that "legal counsel has advised the city not to accept any additional comments this evening."
Link Story Here


When the City chooses to selectively enforce ordinances and approve variance changes without allowing public testimony (under advice of legal counsel, which the public pays for) it breeds mistrust and anger. Does this situation looks suspicious?

A Little Public Works Building History

Centerville Gets New Public Works Site
*As noted by one resident, there is visible damage to the original public works building that was never addressed.

Staff Writer: Debra Neutkens,
Quad Press
Published: Tuesday, July 17, 2007

CENTERVILLE - City snowplows and trucks will all be stored inside at a new public works facility approved by the City Council July 11.
Members authorized purchase of land and a building at 2085 Cedar St. for $1.4 million, a deal that will close this November.
In the meantime, current owner Dennis Shudy will be making improvements to the 2-year-old facility, according to the city's needs. A $288,000 escrow fund was created to help Shudy pay for improvements as they're completed.

Centerville resident Tom Wilharber asked the council why the current public works facility couldn't be renovated, adding he was approached by other citizens about the purchase who questioned how saleable the property was with a water tower.

Mayor Mary Capra said the city has already been approached by a potential buyer for the current property and told Wilharber the steel structure on the site was too expensive to renovate. The city did consider building behind City Hall, she added, but the county road project is taking that land for ponding.

The current public works property is valued at about $400,000, the sale of which will go towards purchase of the Cedar Street site. The city has another $400,000 set aside for a new facility and the balance, about $600,000, will be borrowed from the sewer and water fund - essentially an internal loan, which will be paid back with interest.

When Wilharber asked how much debt Centerville currently carries, City Administrator Dallas Larson said about $4 million.

Wow! How did we jump from a $4 million debt to the current $8 million debt in one year? Also, if the City had already been approached by a potential buyer, why has the original public works building not sold? What was the mindset behind spending all that money while saving nothing for road maintenance? Our current council refuses to look back at previously made decisions yet is determined to move forward, full steam ahead with the revitalization project. History is a Great Teacher. Those that fail to learn from it are doomed to repeat it.

Candidate Forum

The Candidate Forum held at Eagle Brook Offices on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 is available (channel 16) by contacting Comcast Cable @ 651-222-3333 and requesting Universal Cable. There is no additional charge for this service but there may be an installation fee.
Schedule link here

This channel also airs the City Council meetings live at 6:30 pm on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is this Wednesday, the 22nd. It might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on them and you may do so from home.

Selective Ordinance Enforcement Part Three

From: JUDY TOM LEE
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 6:44 AM

Subject: RE: City Right of Way/Easement
Hi XXXX,
I spoke with Paul Palzer (the Building OFFICIAL) last night regarding your fence and tree. He confirmed that in his opinion, while a "technical" violation of the ordinace, the landscaping done on your property creates no problems for the city regarding snow plowing, nor does it create a line of sight issue when driving. Council considers his opinion when enforcing the ordinance. Though you MAY receive a letter to inform you of the ordinance and that if the city NEEDED to remove your landscaping for some reason, you would be required to do so without compensation. No action is required by you at this time all. It is likely you may not even be sent a letter, as you are already aware of this.
Talk to you later, Tom

As of today, the resident has not received a letter regarding the ordinance violation the City clearly states he/she is in.
What is the point of having ordinaces if they are not enforced equally? The City deals with violations on a complaint basis (call Mary Capra and ask) which leaves the door wide open for feuding neighbors and busy bodies. To those that might not know, Tom Lee is a sitting council member and condones this procedure.

Boooooooo!

Well everyone, stay tuned for more selective enforcement coming to your neighborhood. Halloween is here and the "tombstones" are back on Mill Road.



Centerville City Hall likes to refer to them as "signs" but we believe they are more like Halloween decorations - considering they are only on the lawn during the month of Halloween. Of course, if these are considered "signs" the city can tell you how many you can have on your lawn, but decorations are another thing... I wonder which media outlets will enjoy the coverage this year?

Unfortunately this has been an issue for years. If someone complains, your decorations conveniently become signs which coincidentally is an ordinance violation. Headless bloody corpses are far more tasteful, right? Does government have the right to legislate taste?

Racy Tombstones Replaced by Others
Eyewitness News
10/28/2005
Halloween tombstones offend neighbors (Oct. 25) Although a Centerville woman has agreed to remove several suggestive Halloween tombstones, the controversy is far from over. The tombstones each have names that double as puns, such as I.P. Freely and Ben Dover. Some of the names, however, are offensive to Heather Pranke’s neighbors and some passers by. Pranke agreed to remove three of the most offensive tombstones, but those are being replaced by six more.
As Pranke was installing the additional signs, a driver yelled out “They’re disgusting!” Robert Nelson, her neighbor two doors down, thinks the humor is not appropriate for such a public display. “Some things are better for a bar than a front yard,” said Nelson. “There were some that rhyme with duck.” Pranke hopes her neighbors are less offended with the new signs, which include such names as ‘Mia Butreaks’ and ‘Ilene Dover.’ “I just want everyone to enjoy my sense of humor as much as I do,” says Pranke.

Another Citizen Speaks Out About Misinformation

I cannot tell you how betrayed I felt when the City Council did not listen to us. The insult was added to injury when I saw the ridiculous expenses added to County RD 14 in the downtown area! All I can think of is that we have to pay for the colorized concrete and fancy lights because someone has buyers remorse for moving into Centerville. The audit issue concerns me because the signers can be billed for the auditing, if I understand it correctly. That makes sense: it would keep people from making false claims. On the other hand, it is precisely because of the cost of living in Centerville that the audit is being requested.

As a single person I am sick about the assessments I am facing. Retirement is a very distant possibility at this point but there is no way around it! It's far too late to escape by selling, even if anything was selling. Since the Council feels free to increase our liability, just to satisfy their vanity, there could be no end in sight! It is obvious that they wish they had bought their homes in a classier community.

Disinformation can really be hard to overcome. Certainly, there are folks who would want to frighten people to prevent an audit.

Unfortunately, some residents believe that they will have to personally pay for the State Audit if they sign. This is incorrect. The City will be billed and how they choose to pay the fee is up to the City officials. Currently, the City pays $30,000 for an audit that is not transparent. The State will complete a FULL audit and charge on an hourly rate. The State Auditors office is on record that the expense can be anywhere from $1,800 to $30,000.

Quarterly City Newsletter 10/15/2008

You might have noticed a small but significant change to the Centerville Newsletter.
It has been titled just that, The Centerville Newsletter for years.
The new title is... Drum-roll, please!
Centerville's Resident Communicator - Striving to Keep Residents Informed
Could this change be due to City Hall finally listening to the citizens and not an attempt to save face during an election year? Let's hope! Either way, the residents of this city and the supporters of the blog are forcing change!
If the City is really concerned with keeping residents informed, it might want to update the council minutes. As of today, the last published minutes (if you can find them) are from August 27, 2008. They are almost TWO MONTHS behind! This does not jive with the transparent government they always proclaim to be!

Thank you everyone for all your support and hard work! Let's keep it up!

Selective Ordinance Enforcement Part Two

Complaint based ordinance enforcement seems to be A-OK with the Mayor and current council. When all citizens are not treated equally, the door for retaliation and corruption is left wide open.

From: "Dan & Mary Capra" netfalcon@comcast.net
To: XXXX
Cc: dlarson@centervillemn.com; tbender@centervillemn.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:16 PM
Subject: Response to concerns

With regard to the retaliating against a citizen, the issue of the right-of-way concerns had been raised by our public works department five years ago. Last fall one citizen made a right-of-way ordinance violation complaint against their neighbor, which in turn spurred that neighbor to create a list of 80+ right-of-way violation complaints. The city enforces ordinances upon complaint and therefore had to review all 80+ complaints for merit. The council delegated that responsibility to the public works director and city attorney who reviewed the list and what was considered a hazard, thus the six addresses, of which the XXXX address was one. Below is a list of the addresses that did receive letters from the City regarding the right-of-way, at this point the City is not considering sending out any additional letters. The council was not involved in the process and was only informed six letters had been sent out.
XXXX Dupre Road
XXXX Peltier Lake Drive
XXXX Mill Road
XXXX Beaver Pond Way
XXXX Hunters Trail
XXXX Progress Road

Respectfully,
Mary Capra

Sent by one of our brilliant citizens:
Historically, selective enforcement is recognized as a sign of tyranny, and an abuse of power, because it violates Rule of Law, allowing men to apply justice only when they choose. Aside from this being inherently unjust, it almost inevitably must lead to favoritism and extortion, with those empowered to choose being able to help their friends, take bribes, and threaten those from whom they desire favors.
*Wikipedia

Selective Ordinance Enforcement in Centerville

Stay tuned as we are gathering the facts to blow the lid off City Hall!
Why don't our City officials like the term selective ordinance enforcement? We will expose it!