Community Solutions Podcast

Golden Valley is a mess. In their pursuit for "equity" they are destroying the city. They wrote an equity plan that required all contractors looking to do business in Golden Valley to answer certain equity-related questions. They put equity ahead of fairness and have a plan to ensure things work that way. Equity has become the foremost standard in hiring police officers, which by the way, they are at 50% capacity. Scott Nadeau (a whitey) was the interim police chief, wanted the job, and was passed over for Virgil Green (who is black). Mayor Shep Harris influenced the decision toward Green. Jesse Smith (who was on a city equity-based task force) encouraged people to find dirt on Nadeau and engage in race-based hiring. Are hiring quotas a fair way to grow a workforce? They acknowledge that Golden Valley is built on stolen Native American land, but don't do a dang thing to give the land back. Put your money where your mouth is. Why aren't they doing anything about it? Because they're not serious about it.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Minneapolis Public Schools just approved a $976 million budget. That's almost $1 billion! They cite rising costs and lower enrollment. Shouldn't fewer students equal fewer dollars spent? Maybe they can afford it? Not a chance. The district is running a $42 million deficit. This is absolutely irresponsible. Kim Ellison (yes, of the Keith Ellison "Ellisons") is a major factor here. Minneapolis is spending $27,000 per kid. That's a lot of money. Where is it all going? Minneapolis is talking about closing schools and has great ideas for those locations... like housing homeless people. They are basing the poor results on COVID lockdowns and the recent teacher's strike. They refuse to discuss poor student performance. The state of Minnesota is threatening to take over the district to right the ship, but we know that won't help stop the madness. We also discuss the case of John Thompson's kid killing some people with his car. The video was leaked, and the Hennepin County Attorney, Mary

www.commsolutions.com- I'm sure that you all heard that there was a huge tax surplus in St Paul. Don't stay up waiting for your check. It ain't coming. So after spending all of the extra money they stole, that should be the end of it... right? Of course not!!! They passed a bonding bill in a non-bonding year with Republican help! Thanks guys!!! Remember, that a bond is a debt instrument, so it's a hidden tax, because you will not only need to pay back the principle on that debt, but the interest too. How do you feel about your tax money being used paying back interest on loans for the rest of the state to get goodies you'll never see or use? Republicans argued for $200 million more than the DFL originally requested. Some of it was for property acquisition. Sen Karin Housley secured funding for two projects in Stillwater. Forest Lake is getting funding for three projects. Oh, we're just getting started. There is a 38% increase in public spending, which is obscene. When is enough, enough? Didn't get what yo

www.commsolutionsmn.com- On their way out of session, the Minnesota Legislature passed an education omnibus bill. As you know, we hate omnibus bills. So much junk passes through in these things, and the Republicans are just as complicit as the Democrats. They could choose to stop this horrible practice with a unified "no" vote, but they refuse. Is education now fully funded? Instead, Republicans and Democrats are falling all over themselves to spend this money to serve their Education MN masters. Not one word of this deals with academic outcomes, but has a whole lot of bad in it. $74.4 million was set aside for personnel aid and workforce development for student's mental health. $45.2 million was earmarked for school library aid. $37 million of our money was given for "Grow Your Own Teachers" grants. $430 million for a special education teacher pipeline. This is only the tip of the spending iceberg. Don't forget the conservative policy changes. All schools have to drop their Native American mascots, unl

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Police departments are starting to fly surveillance drones over cities. Don't we have a fourth amendment anymore? Aren't we supposed to be secure in our persons, homes, papers, and effects? How can this be allowed? Yet if we say anything, the same people that marched in the streets and ran for office on the platform of defunding the police call us anti-police. Hello, pot? Meet kettle. But since when hasn't hypocrisy been an artform for these folks. Those who want to hide abortions and sex changes from parents on the grounds of privacy, neglect our privacy when they want some of our info or property. Over 70 law enforcement agencies in MN are using drones including Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Bloomington. They are supposed to get a search warrant to fly them, but there are rules to get around that too. Using them for rescue might be one thing, but using them for a threat assessment or to spy on people is unreasonable behavior. In Warren, MN, they are tracking heat seepage from res

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Everyone is talking about 2024 and who will be running for president. Did you know that many places will be having school and municipal elections this year? There's one problem... almost no one votes in odd year elections. Townships can have elections whenever, as can school districts with referendum votes. We currently see totals of 10, 15, 20%, of total registered voters turning out at the polls. That's terrible, and we don't understand why more people don't turn out to have more control over who governs them and how much they pay in taxes. Why are these elections placed on a year when no one shows up? Because they are easy to control, especially when the Democrats can turn out their unions and special interest groups. Why don't others make more of an effort? Some of these cities also run Ranked Choice Voting to further confuse our elections, muddying the waters so that no one would ever know if there was fraud in the system. We need to have a uniform and simplified election syst

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Our cities are expected to be built the same as each other, using the exact same infrastructure, zoning, and policies. Everything is interconnected and collecting, analyzing, and reporting all different kinds of data. They're pushing electric vehicles, smart meters, and safer streets. They monitor activity and use that to try and drive behavior. They are putting sensors on your garbage cans, taking readings off of your smart meters, and making commercial buildings report their carbon emissions. They try to limit the water you use, the electricity you draw, and how far you travel. This is why there are cameras everywhere, recording everything we do. They are implementing a smart grid that delivers the right amount of electricity, at the right time, to the right places. Do you want the government or companies that are colluding with government to control if and how much energy you are getting? What about "wearable devices" that monitor and track your personal stats? At what point is

www.commsolutionsmn.com- The Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line just got a huge financial shot in the arm from the Federal government. It is only a 10-mile line, and $240 million alone is coming from the Feds. $120 million a piece have come from Ramsey and Washington counties. That is such a short route, and it stops in so few places. It will serve such a small segment of the population, but that doesn't stop them from building it anyways. All this in a time where more people are staying home for one reason or another. They are looking to open the Gold Line in 2024, and they want to create bus-only bridges and lanes. You'd think that Republicans might stand up and put a halt to all of this spending and forced redevelopment, but they aren't. They seem to join in with the Democrats and vote to spend, spend, spend. They know it's part of a bigger agenda, but they refuse to stand up for individuals and small businesses that are being bullied by large corporations and government working together. For instan

www.commsolutionsmn.com- There is no end to the amount of money that government is asking from us. The problem is that the costs grow out of control as we implement all of these new green regulations. Thrifty is a word not found in the government dictionary. Stearns County wants a new jail, but it will cost at least $300 million, which is only three times what they originally thought. They want to pay for this jail with a local option sales tax, which hits the poorest people the hardest. And hey... the county may annex some township land and acquire some businesses to boot. Remember that new Vikings stadium we just bought seven years ago? Well they want another $280 million for maintenance, and $48 million this year alone. They paid $527,500 to have the building assessed. They need the money for weather stripping, a broken sign, and to put into their A/V system. Cities and counties are writing plans on how to renovate everything, making sure that they can make all of their green updates. They get all so

www.commsolutionsmn.com- We haven't talked about Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) much on this show, but they make a lot of rules that affects a lot of local cities and businesses. When they mess around with the slot sizes and limits, it can affect the level of businesses at the resorts, bait shops, gas stations, and restaurants. If you can't keep any fish, few people will want to spend time and money on the local economy. Their policies have brought hard times on many localities. Don't people have a right to sustenance, yet you have to be able to afford a license and to hunt whatever it is in season. Join us for some fishing stories; some great memories and some absolutely frustrating encounters with DNR regulations. Which MN lake had daily regulation changes? Who is in charge of figuring out what you are allowed to fish and hunt for anyways, and how that applies to various lakes and public hunting lands. They are also in charge of hunting with ATVs, biking and in-line skating, camping, h

www.commsolutionsmn.com- I'm not sure that anyone can explain how property taxes are figured out, but we're going to give it a shot. You get the county, the city, and the school district, all with their hands in the pie. There are 47-some classifications of properties, despite there being four main classifications (residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural). But as with all things, government makes everything more complicated. Also, your home value is not tied to how much you pay. Your taxes do not move up and down with your home value. They figure out how much money they need, and break it up among property owners based on your property. Leave it to government to confuse the issue further, with a number of levies for each government body. Schools have operating levies and deferred maintenance levies. Hennepin county has the general levy, but also a Railroad Authority levy and a Housing Authority levy. Why don't they just take the money and split it up afterward? We take a stab at some solution

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Property ownership is a bedrock of American society. It has been ingrained in the fabric of our great country since before the beginning. Yet, government has found a way to confiscate our property, despite what the constitution says. Government came up with eminent domain as a way to take that property back. They would just take what they wanted, when they wanted it. Then laws were tightened after the Kelo v New London case at the Supreme Court. This was a terrible decision that set lawmakers to tightening up the laws around eminent domain. Minnesota statutes state that there are certain situations in which the government can take your land. What does it mean when a property is blighted? What is "public use"? Of course these are defined very vaguely, so that the government still has the greatest opportunity to get what they want. The growing fascism in this country (and the world) has brought government and business together to take from the people, so that we are completely depend

www.communitysolutionsmn.com- I'm sure that you've heard about the 150 car train derailment in East Palestine, OH on February 3rd. The train was full of a number of dangerous chemicals, including vinyl chloride, which was used as a poison in World War I. The Federal government has avoided and ignored this situation up to now. The state of Ohio has finally began to get involved, but there's a lot of questions about the intensity of the testing. President Trump had to go down there with pallets of water and buying everyone burgers to let them know that he sees their trouble and wants to help. The Federal government wouldn't even send FEMA at first. It is so important that there are sufficient emergency/contingency plans for the various situations that can arise. Local governments need to make them, just like state and Federal governments do. What are city councils and county boards responsible for? How can they make sure that they are prepared to the best of their ability, especially now that we know that sta

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Today we focus on counties. The Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) has an updated legislative agenda, looking to states and the Federal Government for funding and support. Now we all know that money comes in a one-time payment, and because the county scrambles for the free money, they are left having to pay for these things forever after. We see county government taking on Health and Human Services, roads, transportation, housing, law enforcement, and more. It's a huge burden, but some of it is brought on by bigger government and these unfunded programs. AMC is proposing to lower property taxes by getting more money from the state. Wait, what? That's our money too. They want the state to spend more on equitable housing, regardless of what the market calls for. They also call for a state-wide, multi-modal transportation system. Where is it dense enough to support this? It's one desired hand out after another. There is a whole bunch of lobbying going onto get their hands on your

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Golden Valley continues to decimate it's police department. Reports say that they have somewhere between 9-17 officers out of a possible 31 officers to fill the force. The city says that there's no reason to worry. They hired Belcom to do investigative work, as they have no detectives. Golden Valley is relying on the Fire Department for medical calls. They are looking to steal officers away from surrounding cities. They are also looking at lowering the standards to become a Golden Valley officer, as they rely on help from the Sheriff's department. As if that's not bad enough, Chief Green had to apologize for making a social media post with a thin blue line on it to support the police on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. The Blue Line is getting banned in cities across the United States and Canada. How is that appreciating law enforcement? When the woke crowd comes for an apology you cannot apologize to them. Once you do, they own you. That is the end of your career. They will have

www.commsolutionsmn.com- It's that time of year again where the World Economic Forum gets together in Davos to plan how they want to bring the world under their public-private cooperation. The largest corporations and elements of world governments get together in the name of saving the world and address top-down solutions to climate change, poverty, racism, and the like in the form of ESG (Economic, Social, and Governance) scores. Corporations and governments form public-private partnerships (PPP's) to force their new dystopia upon the rest of us. These PPP's are dead-set on making sure that hard core measures are implemented to "combat" climate change. They are discussing everything from major land acquisition, to changing diets from meat to bugs, and implementing social credit scores. How do you fight back against those that have all the power and all the money. It might seem intimidating, but it's absolutely necessary for our survival. We also discuss the up to $2,600 "rebate" checks that Governor Walz

www.commsolutionsmn.com- There is a new group called Minnesota Parents' Alliance that is focused on education, equality, and parents' rights. That has made them public enemy #1 among the left. There are a lot of parents across the country that are starting to stand up. These parents have great reason to stand up when you think about the radical agendas coming out of the schools with critical race theory, gender identity, and other left-wing causes. They speak out at school board meetings, but also back candidates that have run and won races across the state and have a voter guide. They network with important groups like the Child Protection League, Upper Midwest Law Center, and Moms for Liberty. They talk about what parents can do to get involved, social emotional learning, antiracism, parental rights, and more. They also keep track of some of recent news regarding the schools. This group is a great resource to help understand what's going on in our schools and just what to do about it. We also discuss MN

www.commsolutionsmn- The St Paul City Council authorized a new permanent committee to be put in charge of researching and Reparations Legislative Advisory Committee. The council also passed a resolution to apologize for Minnesota's part in slavery (we weren't a slave state, by the way). That lets you know exactly where this group is coming from. This group has almost no one that comes from the private sector. It's full of non-profit folks, public employees, and the like. They want cash payments, but are also looking for systemic changes. With this being a permanent committee, you know that they will never have enough, and will always be asking for more. Slave owners visited Minnesota with their slaves, which apparently makes us complicit in the practice of enslaving other human beings. They continue to complain about the construction of racist I-94 dividing the Rondo neighborhood of St Paul (forget that they keep pushing for light rail to divide neighborhoods up). Minnesota is not the only state to do this.

www.commsolutionsmn.com-  Here we are wrapping up 2022 and on the precipice of 2023. This is the end of season six, and season seven is on the way in. And after six seasons, things are more out of control than ever. Our job is far from finished. Brooklyn Center is in some serious trouble. They have thirty-six police officers and are trying to get to forty-nine. They have three out of five detective positions filled. They are working with groups like We Push For Peace and Freedom Fighters to lower crime. There are record-setting numbers of homicides in Hennepin County and they are charging fewer people for the violent crimes they commit. Aggravated assaults have increased from 41 to 91 since 2017. Robbery is up 108%, and carjackings 200%. The city council doesn't seem to have a clue what the crime stats actually are in the city, and the mayor-elect, April Graves did not mention one single thing about public safety on her campaign website. There was a whole lot of woke talk though. This city is out of contr

www.commsolutionsmn.com- In the previous episode we introduced you to a group called Gender Justice. We decided that we needed to do a deep dive. They have been around for about 10 years. They do a lot of work around the trans agenda, gender-based violence, abortion, deportation, and any leftist cause they can wedge in there. They try to convince us that women's athletics are stronger when they include trans athletes. They work with a host of other radical groups that are coming after women and children. It's all become rather confusing, as they force biological males onto women's sports reams while "standing up " for actual women when it comes to ending the life of unborn children. Our children are getting barraged from every side, whether it is in gender identification or outright extermination. What can we do to try and protect our children from the predators that are stealing their innocence and pushing them into confusion over their identity? We have to take a stand for the next generation before the