What's Left of Maplewood (MN)

We can't draw, so we are left with verbal cartoons about Maplewood city politics.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

LookingNorth: Graduations

It's becoming a bit of a tradition for some of our readers to send us their thoughts during the Monday night council meetings. Sorry I didn't get these posted sooner -- Blogger was down much of today for some kind of maintenance.

So, without further ado, here's some Monday night commentary, from frequent commenter LookingNorth:

Subject: Graduations

The council is back after a seemingly long holiday break. The one work that comes to mind is bittersweet. This comes from Chuck Ahl in action. Why bittersweet you ask? After all, Chuck is very knowledgeable. He is on the ball. He answers every question asked of him. There appears to be no beating around the bush. He seems to know everything and then some in a job that seems to be one of the most complicated in the city. So again, you may ask, why I would be I be bittersweet watching someone who is apparently so good at what he does. Well, that is exactly the source. He is VERY good at what he does. I experience a certain melancholy thinking about what might have been if three people had taken a step back last year and took a more reasonable path to bringing in a new city manager. I can only imagine how efficiently our great city might be running at this time and going forward if Chuck was at the helm. He is someone who appears to understand his place.

He understands that he is here, not for himself, not for the mayor or any other council member for that matter. He is here for US, the citizens.

One example from tonight’s meeting sums up Chuck Ahl. He told all that he wants to see any and all people who are affected by the reconstruction in the Desoto/Skillman area that would like to be heard. In fact he really wants to know, for example, if anyone is having a graduation. If so, he will work around it(!!!!!) What a classy move. This is everything these people should be about!

Contrast that with the sitting city manager. He is there for only one citizen. That being queen Diana. I don’t see the current manager going out of his way to make something like a graduation work for anyone but the one whose feet he kisses.

Chuck is willing to work a $5 million project around someone’s graduation. This is service to the citizens at it’s best! Let’s graduate Chuck Ahl to city manager!

posted by Frostbrand @ 7:56 PM  

20 Comments:

  • At 3:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    From the way LookingNorth is talking, I presume he/she must be a public registered engineer and a public works director in another city. Since LookingNorth doesn't work for the city, this background is the only way he would really know if Chuck Ahl is doing a good job.

    Yeah, the streets get plowed and pot holes get fixed. This doesn't mean he is doing a good or a bad job.

    Big deal that he will work around someone's graduation. What a bunch of bull. Yeah I can just see it right now... Bob Z's kid is having a graduation party so let's postpone the street project for 30 days or maybe split it into a two year project so they will have extra room to park for their party.

    I think what Chuck really was saying is that the department will work with people if possible. Let's not make Chuck look completely incompetent.

    Thankfully we have a city manager who knows what his job is, which is pleasing the mayor and the majority. Apparently our manager has read the statute book and fully understands that he is an at will employee who serves at the pleasure of the council. If Fursman would have read the statute book, he probably would still be working in Maplewood rather than in some micro city west of Minneapolis.

    PS. If by Chuck working a $5 million road project around some kid's graduation party, increases the job cost by one cent, Chuck should pay with his job.

     

  • At 10:13 AM, Blogger Frostbrand said…

    Our regular troll wrote:

    > Yeah, the streets get plowed and pot
    > holes get fixed. This doesn't mean
    > he is doing a good or a bad job.

    Amusingly, this same troll has told us before that it DOES mean that Copeland, Logrie, etc., ARE doing a good job.

    Funny how that works. :)

     

  • At 10:25 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "If Fursman would have read the statute book, he probably would still be working in Maplewood rather than in some micro city west of Minneapolis."

    Troll, I think the reason Fursman got fired is because he could read a statute book. When he pointed out the 3 were violating the open meeting law, he was quickly disposed of. Copeland, on the other hand, would be wise to open a statute book once in a while and not just blindly do as instructed by the mayor. We'd be faced with fewer lawsuits that way.

     

  • At 10:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Anonymous:

    I have to say though, I am a bit confused. On the one hand, you sound like you are defending Mr. Ahl and make it sound like I may have been sarcastic about him. Au contraire. I think he deserves everything he gets for wanting to accommadate the citizens. After all, isn't that what it's about? Aren't we his customers?



    How do I know he is doing a good job? Do I or don't I work for the city? Maybe I am like our super city manager: an underling trying to make his boss look like someone who she is not. Or, better yet, maybe I am Chuck Ahl. If so, then I would know exactly what kind of job Chuck Ahl is doing. Of course, Chuck thinks Chuck is doing a wonderful job. I AM a great Public Works Director!!

     

  • At 11:49 AM, Blogger drawnLeftward said…

    So, ChuckingNorth, about that pothole in front of my house...

     

  • At 12:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    DrawnLeftward:

    The city manager & I will be right out there...

     

  • At 12:36 PM, Blogger drawnLeftward said…

    So you're filling pot holes with city managers?
    You may have to enlarge it some....

     

  • At 1:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Drawnleftward:

    "Some" is an understatement....

     

  • At 4:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    If Fursman could read the statute book, he would have referred his findings to the city attorney for him to take action. Once that city attorney took action, it would then be in the hands of the court.

    By Fursman taking his complaints to the media, he was playing politics. At that point, he ceased being a professional manager and became a political manager.

     

  • At 5:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I don't recall Fursman taking his complaint to the media. I think that only came up after the whole thing blew up in the mayor's face.

     

  • At 2:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Funny though how Fursman always had a quote for the newspapers.

    Also funny how Fursman just can't seem to get enough of Maplewood. He made an appearance at the Mayor's Forum last week. Apparently when he saw no video camera there, he left after 10 minutes.

    The Fursman firing blowing up in the face of the mayor? I guess that depends upon your perspective and how you value our democratic system of governence. The only way this situation could have ended peacefully is if Diana, Rebecca, and Eric would have resigned. Last time I checked, Fursman never had an election certificate hanging on his office wall.

    I think history will show that this blew up in the face of the department heads who booed and jeered elected officials at a public meeting. What an embarassment to the community. So how many of those department heads are left?

     

  • At 9:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Ah, how the mind of a troll works. Because LookingNorth defended Chuck Ahl, Chuck Ahl must be doing something wrong! Otherwise, LookingNorth would be right, and then my carefully constructed house of cards will come crashing down about my head!

    P.S. As far as Fursman goes, he was offered a job at a much larger city out of state, but turned it down for family reasons. I think he wants to remain in MN, and frankly, probably welcomes managing a "micro-community" after what he had to deal with in Maplewood.

     

  • At 9:55 AM, Blogger Frostbrand said…

    > Funny though how Fursman always
    > had a quote for the newspapers.

    I see Copeland quoted in the paper quite frequently. This only makes sense, since you would expect reporters to ask the city manager for information and comment on city government related topics. I would go so far as to say that having a quote for the paper is part of the city manager's job.

    > Also funny how Fursman just can't
    > seem to get enough of Maplewood.
    > He made an appearance at the
    > Mayor's Forum last week.

    Is it possible that he lives in Maplewood?

    Unlike, say, the former mayor of Roseville, who is often showing up to cheer on his friend Diana?

    > So how many of those department
    > heads are left?

    I don't know. You should tell us which specific department heads, past or present, you witnessed "booing and jeering."

     

  • At 11:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Dear Troll:

    We finally get a clue.

    The south leg, eh. Maybe it is Hjelle then.

    It is interesting how you turn facts around to suit your needs. As I recall, it was not Fursman running to the media to tattle on anyone. Here is the timeline as I recall…

    Three musketeers take over.

    Three musketeers don’t get along with old guard.

    Three musketeers take vengeance on city manager.

    Three musketeers bring in long-time unemployed, underqualified individual (LTUUI) to replace existing city manager.

    LTUUI hires consultant to help sort things out.

    Consultant hired by LTUUI STUMBLES(!) upon Open Meeting Law Violations.

    Consultant hired by LTUUI issues report which includes mention of Open Meeting Law violations.

    Media asks questions.

    Nowhere in that time line do I see anything about anyone running to the media. In fact. As I understand it Fursman tried to deal with it internally before it blew up in the Mayor’s face. The three musketeers decided that the laws didn’t apply to them. And, even if they did, they were within the LETTER of the law (even though the current city attorney advised them to the contrary), so who cares.

    I will leave the above open for adjustment. However Erik, you cannot make adjustments to the timeline like you did to the Wiki. That would not be fair. Then again, fair doesn’t seem to be in the vocabulary of your camp.

     

  • At 12:53 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm sure we all have come to the same conclusion.
    These current dictators were, and still are, completely afraid of Richard Fursman.
    I think they know that even when Mr. Fursman was sleeping at night, he was doing a better job then the rat pack can during an open meeting violation.

     

  • At 12:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Well, it's an issue of credibility. On some level, they realize what a crappy job they've been doing, so when you have someone doing a good job (like Fursman) they have to discredit him and get rid of him so they don't get shown up by comparison.
    Similar to what our Troll was saying about Chuck Ahl.

     

  • At 12:05 PM, Blogger Frostbrand said…

    > The south leg, eh. Maybe it is
    > Hjelle then.

    Just to throw another thought in there -- I've noticed that the troll often talks about Chuck Wiger and Leon Lillie (and Leon's predecessor) when whining about the legislature, but I don't recall her ever mentioning Nora Slawik, who represents south Maplewood. It's like Nora's not even on the troll's radar, which might suggest she is a north Maplewood resident.

     

  • At 7:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Frostbrand:

    Good thought. I do agree. I does sound more like a north-ender. Of course, when one writes in anonymously like we have, it is hard to tell. For all we know it might be Nora herself...

     

  • At 7:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    For the ding dongs out there who are wondering why I reference Wiger and Lillie more than Nora... it is pretty simple. Who do you see show up the most at Maplewood events? Yes, Wiger and Lillie. I can't recall the last time I saw Nora at any city function at the hall or the farm or anywhere else.

    While I don't always agree with their votes on every issue (they vote on a lot of stuff), Wiger and Lillie show up to events, stay a good amount of time, and are always available to talk to all who approach them. Love Trollette.

     

  • At 6:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "While I don't always agree with their votes on every issue (they vote on a lot of stuff), Wiger and Lillie show up to events, stay a good amount of time, and are always available to talk to all who approach them."

    Unlike the mayor, trollette, who only wants to say she's inviting all citizens to her forums but in reality only wants those who support her to show up. I say we all show up at the next mayor's forum with tape recorders in hand. Wonder what her response would have been if her husband (pretend reporter) had shown up at any former mayor's forum and had been forbidden from making a record of the meeting? Bet you'd hear a totally different story out of her. I say we all show up at the next mayor's forum with tape recorders in hand.

     

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