Who watches the news at the newspapers?

Dr. Vernon Sommerdorf died on October 19. The paid obit in the newspaper mentions his age [88] and tells about much of his life and accomplishments – his navy service, medical career [including his Payne Avenue practice and work at Mounds Park Hospital], his community service including both his extensive work with foster children and his church work.

The paid obit notice did not note Dr. Sommerdorf’s six years [1967-73] of service representing local districts in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Of course, what is included is the family’s choice.

I met the Dr. Sommerdorf [he did some lecturing on public health at a class I took in college and he appeared at and hosted some political events] but I never knew him and this article is not really a RIP about him. It is instead an indictment of the inability of the local rag to recognize this as a news story.

I am being ciritical primarily of the local rag, but the Star[Journal- and] Tribune missed it too. Even if Dr. Sommerdorf’s career as mentioned in the obit [and I have to concede that sometimes the family-paid obits polish the resumes once in a while] it would seem that if the papers hired folks who know local history they would think it noteworthy that somebody who had represented the city at the Capitol had passed on.

And people wonder why newspaper sales are declining.


(A link to the DPP obit)

Post office update

Both of the post offices in our city which were being threatened with closure are being saved. We need to thank whomever led the USPS to think twice should be commended.

I have no inside knowledge but suspect that our Congressional delegation is due thanks.

Earlier post: http://ccmusings.blogspot.com/2009/08/post-offices-not-big-enough-not-to-fail.html [8/4/09]

Post offices not big enough not to fail

Per KARE Television

Two Saint Paul post offices are scheduled by USPS for closing. One is the Como Station in St. Anthony Park. The other is Seeger Square on Arcade Street.

A post office is more than a place to send and pick up mail and to purchase postage, necessary as those things are. It is kind of a third place, a community gathering place and a neighborhood amenity. I doubt if there really is another post office which can serve St. Anthony Park like the present one does and I am darned sure that there is no post office which can serve the people of the East Side like the one at Seeger Square does.

This is the only post office in either the Payne/Phalen or Dayton’s Bluff areas. [Yes there is one called the “Dayton’s Bluff Station” but it is not on Dayton’s Bluff, but instead well on the other side of Johnson Parkway. Truth has never been a treasured quality at USPS.]

Closing this station will mean that more than 50,000 people will no longer have a post office in their neighborhood.

Is that responsible efficiency? Maybe, but as I noted above a post office performs necessary services. And a government which can bail out big banks and insurance companies ought to be able to keep necessary community functions being filled.

But neighborhoods just aren’t “too big” to fail.

I can also suggest this earlier article by Mary Thoemke in the Daily Reader.

Fire at Yarusso's

There was the fire at Bill Godwin’s hardware store about ten years back and the fire at Payne Avenue Liquors about fourteen months ago and now Yarusso’s has been the victim of a fire.  It probably should not be extremely shocking that older buildings sometimes have fires, but we still take it as a bit of a surprise, especially when it happens some place we have been before.

[It might be some kind of psychological thing, I suppose, we at least subconsciously think, “I could have been there.”]

Bill Godwin rebuilt and reopened his store and Payne Avenue Liquors has begun its reconstruction plans.  Early reports and the business's web site say that the restaurant will oen again.  It will take several weeks or months, but CCM wishes them well and hopes that they don’t get caught up in the red tape and snafus which often happen when an older building has to be brought up to newer codes.

 

Earlier post http://ccmusings.blogspot.com/2007/12/fire-started-late-last-night-at-980.html  [12/29/2007]

 

Ohio is looking at us and Ohio need glasses

I have recently had a Cleveland Plain Dealer article called to my attention. It compares the potential of Cleveland’s Opportunity Corridor with the development of our Phalen Corridor and Phalen Boulevard.

I do not know Cleveland. I suspect that it has the problems of many older, northern cities, maybe worse than ours because it is an older city.

The article speaks well of Phalen Corridor and Dan Bostrom. That should not be too surprising since both have plenty of good things to be said about them.

It is in error, however, when it asserts that Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council had opposed the Boulevard’s construction. I surmise that the writer reached that conclusion from an incident in which the District Council opposed an off-road proposal, the one to remove all the housing between the Boulevard and Case, 35E and Edgerton to develop something more upscale.

I should know. I was chairing the Council’s Community Planning and Economic Development Committee at the time.

But I do find it refreshing that people from other cities are looking at our story and its successes and I do wish the people in Ohio well.

And the whole thing reminds us that obtaining and maintaining livable communities is an ongoing thing, like medicine, education, or barber work.

Treasure Hunt 3 is over

We have had a winner for Treasure Hunt 3 who prefers to remain anonymous. Congratulations to whomever, anyway. The site is, as he/she suggests, the tall tree at Sue's Park at Payne and Rose

This whole Treasure Hunt thing has had a mixed and slow reception. I am not sure if I will continue it. I am thinking of maybe doing something with a fixed time line [one month, maybe] or maybe running two hunts simultaneously, one thought to be simple and one thought to be so obvious that nobody would ever want to be identified as the winner.

I am willing to accept suggestions on the hunt itself as either a comment here or as an email to minnmusic at yahoo. Of course, if you wish to suggest a site, it might be better to use the latter method.

Regardless, it will probably be August at least before I start another hunt.

The clues for Treasure Hunt 3 and their explanations are below.

And congratulations again to our anonymous winner.

Clue Number 1: The Man in Black knew that life was not always easy for everybody.

Johnny Cash sang that “Life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.”

Clue Number 2 [4/3/08]: Once there were 3 R’s amid a street of bars.

“3 R’s” refers to the Phalen Park elementary school formerly located at the site. “A street of bars” is an allusion to one of the more unfortunate historical perspectives people have had of Payne Avenue.

Clue Number 3 [4/11/08]:

Hammerstein met Rogers, Gamble met Proctor, Bigelow met Brown Bringing culture and soap and telling about it in places all around. Pastor meets social worker meets mortician meets town.

Can somebody please give us the real lowdown?

This first line refers to famous partnerships. The second mentions what they did. The third line refers to the Payne/Maryland Partnership of Arlington Hills Lutheran Church, Merrick Community Services and Bradshaw Mortuary, who along with the City of Saint Paul [Parks Department and Library Agency] are looking at a development which seems to threaten at least some of Sue’s Park. And all the "visioners" that are hired cannot or will not give the straight answer of how much of the Park they want to devour.

Clue Number 4 [4/19/08]: Think of a Catholic haven.
Think of a Lutheran church.
Think of children playin’.
Remember where it hurts.

Maryland was established as a haven for Catholics. Maryland Avenue is nearby. East Immanuel Lutheran Church is cater-corner. “Children playin” alludes to the Arlington Recreation Center across Rose Avenue. The allusion to hurts is a bad pun on Payne.

Clue Number 6 [5/6/08]

A Bluff has both up and down.
And don’t think about a department store.
Forget that street across town
Or a Senator from yore.

None of them matters here.
Put them out of your mind.
Don’t shed for them a tear
And maybe the prize you will find.

Sue’s Park is named for a woman named Dayton, but not one of the Lyman Dayton for whom Dayton’s Bluff and Dayton Avenue were named, nor the departed Dayton’s store or its heir, Senator Mark Dayton. Mourning any of them will not help you find the treasure.

Clue Number 7 [5/18/08]

This is the top of a tree [Surprised?], a threatened tree. Regular readers of this site [both of you] might have extra insights about why this tree was chosen to be placed here.

Sue’s Park is threatened and the tree with it. It has been written about here.

Clue Number 8 [5/29/08]

You don't really think that I could go more than two hunts without having an East Side site, do you?

This verifies that the site is on the East Side.

Clue Number 9 [6/29/08]
Think about Phalen Park.
It’s not in Phalen Park, but that first line is relevant, anyway.

This is an allusion to the Phalen Park School which used to be on the site.

Moving on: Payne Phalen District Five Planning Council -- In with the old, In with the new

Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council’s annual meeting was held this evening in the cafeteria of John A. Johnson Elementary School.

There were approximately seventy qualified voters at the meeting was held to elect ten directors to two-year terms and to consider three proposed amendments to the bylaws [all submitted by Eric Mitchell and placed on the meeting agenda by direction of the Board].

The District Council honored its Honor Roll nominees and other volunteers and heard greetings from City Councilmembers Dan Bostrom and Lee Helgen and County Commissioners Jim McDonough and Janice Rettman. Councilmember Bostrom noted the presence of former Councilmember Roberta Megard in the audience. Ms. Megard has been observing district meetings for the League of Women Voters.

President Kapaun summed up the accomplishments of the last year and Treasurer Janice Lafloe reported on the finances, noting the excellent audit report recently delivered for 2006 and 2007.

Eleven candidates were nominated for the ten seats. The election was held peacefully and fairly. I do not agree with the results in their entirety, but that happens in a democracy.

The two officers whose terms were up, President Kapaun and Treasurer Lafloe, were reelected. Former President Eric Mitchell and land use chairperson/ radio personality A. L. Brown, both of whom had been serving on the Executive Committee, declined to seek reelection.

Former Director and former School Board member Al Oertwig was probably the best-known of the newly elected Directors. [When I get a complete list of names with correct spelling, I’ll append them.]

The bylaw proposal to rename the organization was defeated. It seemed to me that there was some sentiment to changing the name, if not to “Payne/Phalen Community Council” to something similar which removes the focus from the district number, but that concerns over the cost and legal complications of the name change deterred the electorate.

The amendment to allow Directors to resign by submitting a letter of resignation was approved.

The third amendment, which would have removed a Director if a number equal to 70% of the voters at the last annual meeting signed a petition for removal, was withdrawn at Mr. Mitchell’s request.

As District Council annual meetings go, there was probably nothing especially exciting about this one, but it was another fine example of our Citizen Participation system in action. The next year or two will tell us if the right choices were made.

ADDENDUM: May 3, 2008

Also elected, in addition to those named above was David Syers who kept the seat to which he was appointed last year and new members Brian Cooper, Cheryl Fiksdal, Laurie Krivitz, Jerry Livesay, Nieeta Presley, and Kerry Stone.

NOTICE: District Council annual meeting approaching. [D5, 4/22/08]

Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council’s annual meeting is April 22 at John A. Johnson Elementary School [740 York].

Ten Directors will be elected and three bylaws amendments considered.

Details are at PaynePhalen.org.

Sue’s Park update

Hoisington Koegler Group, the group charged with “visioning” for the Payne/Maryland Partnership showed a new concept to Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council’s Community Planning and Economic Development Committee last night.

The new “concept” does call for saving part of Sue’s Park, the western part with the big evergreen tree.

But I would have to conclude that the park is indeed still threatened. In addition to remembering that this is only a “concept,” that it is far from being a secured site plan, one needs to remember that even this new concept cuts out a good piece [it looked like a third or so] of the park.

Earlier post: RIP: Sue’s Park? [2/1/08]

RIP: Sue's Park?

I was at the show that HKGI held last night at the Arlington Hills Lutheran Church to show five of its visioning ideas for the Payne Maryland Partnership.

It appears that the process was skewed to reflect the interests of the institutional parties involved [Merrick Community Services, Arlington Hills Lutheran, Bradshaw Funeral Home, City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, and the City of Saint Paul Library Agency]. They stated at the beginning that there primary focus was for the organizations that had owned real estate involved.

None of the five plans preserves Sue’s Park, which was set up almost twenty years ago to be passive and for which the city accepted a large donation to make it possible. Apparently Parks and Rec does not care about either the utter disrespect it is showing to the woman who made a five-figure donation or to what effect such cavalier disregard shows to future donors.

I was told that there would be a similar amount of green space available elsewhere on the new, expanded, site and that there would be no loss of park land, but there is no loss of green space only if one considers soccer fields green space.

I don’t think it does. Some people know that I am not big on soccer. I will state now that I firmly believe that I would be thinking the same if the fields were for an American game like football or baseball.

Earlier post:

Payne Maryland Partnership announces choice of visioning agency

Payne Maryland Partnership announces choice of visioning agency

At a media conference this afternoon, Payne/Maryland Partnership announced the choice of Hoisington Koegler Group, inc [HKGi] to be its visioning agency.

Speaking were Councilmember Bostrom, Mayor Coleman the Second, Greg Shipp of the Merrick Community Services Board, Barbara Schmidt of Arlington Hills Lutheran Church, and James Bradshaw of Bradshaw Mortuaries. [pictured]

Councilmember Bostrom spoke of the opportunities the partnership has and the challenges it faces, putting it into Payne Avenue historical perspective. The mayor spoke on the opportunities and possibilities. Mr. Shipp and Ms. Schmidt spoke on how their organizations are interested in cooperating and noted the 99^th and 100^th anniversaries of their organizations occurring this year.

After telling a stale undertaker joke, Mr. Bradshaw mentioned the changes in the death industry and suggested ways that his concern might fit into the project.

While I did not notice the presence of any other elected officials, the relevant city staff was there as well as representatives from neighborhood organizations. There were few questions, but a representative from HKGi was introduced in response to one of them and assured people that there would be a chance for public input into the matter. [Unfortunately, due to the acoustics of the room and my diminished hearing, I did not catch the man’s name.]

The visioning plan has an April 1, 2008 target for completion and will be holding a public open house at Arlington Hills Lutheran Church [1115 Greenbrier] on January 31 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Fire on Payne Avenue

A fire started late last night at 980 Payne.The building had a liquor store downstairs and apartments upstairs, but I don’t know if they were occupied.

These pictures were taken about 8:00 this morning.
There will probably be some coverage in the DPP tomorrow.
From as close as I could get without crossing a police line or falling on the ice, it looked like Donald’s store and the Borgstrom site were not damaged although there might be some smoke damage.

Notes on a Visit to a strip joint [former one, that is]

I went to the candidate forum for candidates from Wards 5 and 6 tonight. I was surprised that the attendance at the old Payne Reliever site exceeded 100 people there. It was sponsored by Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council. [Full disclosure: I am a director of the organization but did not take part in the arrangements.] It seemed to me that most of the people who came were the people who usually make our bigger meetings more than it did the folks who follow the candidates, but I am sure that both groups were there.

Although this was not a League of Women Voters event, the forum was stylized after the ones that they do. And, by and large, the candidates [all four of whom were there] did and said the things that you would expect them to do and say.

There were a few things other than the attendance which seemed noteworthy.

Before anybody else could do so, Dan Bostrom invoked the name of Bruce Vento, calling him a friend, before anybody else could use it. In his closing statement he also cited his role in getting East Consolidated School renamed for the late congressperson.

Pakou Hang countered with describing Paul Wellstone as her friend.

I do not discount either of these claims of friendship, but one should keep in mind that friendships with deceased politicians are easy to claim since they cannot counter the assertion themselves and they tried to convince a lot of people that they were friends when they were living, even having pictures taken with others and signing letters, certificates, and plaques. I do know that the late congressperson attended Johnson High with Councilmember Bostrom, but do not know what to infer from that.

Lee Helgen made a nice reference to Bostrom’s and Benanav’s push to require certificates of occupancy in one- and two-family rental properties. I am sure that many of his supporters were biting their lips on that one.

Questioners gave all of the candidates a chance to demagogue with inquiries about subsidized housing and pit bulls, vacant buildings and crime, but nobody really played things that way.

I did learn that the lame duck Boy Wonder in my ward is older than his opponent. But of course my problems with LDC Helgen do not derive from his age.

I still think that District Councils are not the best organizations to run this kind of forum as I still think the risks to the organization can dwarf the benefits, but this one somehow worked out all right, at least as far as I can tell at this time.