Let George do it

George Johnson was to be honored Wednesday night at District 2 Community Council’s December Board meeting/ Holiday Party. I was unable to be there, but assume that it all went well. I do know that our city council voted that day to honor him and I am assuming that Councilmember Bostrom was on hand at D2’s festivities to relay that commendation.

I first met George Johnson during the summer of 1988. District cleanups were new then, having been city funded in 1987 for the first time and still being funded as one-time-only events. I was the president of Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council then and the late Paul Gilliland, who held the similar position for District 2 suggested to me that perhaps we hold a joint cleanup at the now-gone Phalen Shopping Center. In the course of planning the joint cleanup he introduced me to a hydrologist named George Johnson who was the chairperson of his board’s committee which was planning the cleanup and who had the idea of working with Ramsey County and combing the joint cleanup with a hazardous waste cleanup. I immediately sensed by what seemed to be his true-believer approach to the matter.

That cleanup went well, too well really. The cleanup drew traffic lined up on Johnson Parkway back onto Seventh Street almost to White Bear Avenue. The Police Department had to do significant reassignments to handle the thing. Fortunately, both districts managed to get enough volunteers to work the event. For some of the volunteers finishing up did not come until dusk. I don’t remember the exact numbers of how many came or how much was collected, but I doubt if the numbers have ever been really topped. And I remember George Johnson, moving about confidently and unflustered as crisis after crisis [or what we thought were crises at the time] came about.

[There were others whose deep involvement in this effort merit commendation, including Mr. Gilliland and District Five’s counterpart to Mr. Johnson, Roger Hallman, but this is a post about George Johnson.]

That was twenty years ago. Cleanups have gone on since and District Councils have started to think of them as entitlements and city staff to think of them as a comparably inexpensive technique for removal of junk. George Johnson has been organizing his district’s cleanup every year and sometimes even advising and/or helping out at others. Several years ago when District Five was undergoing a staff change and temporary shorthandedness, he helped us do ours.

George’s cleanup work was specifically cited in the City Council action Wednesday. But a full accounting of his contributions should include mention of his other contributions. I don’t know them all, but I feel that I should mention some of what I know.

He has served on the Board of Directors for District 2 for [as far as I aware] the entire time since shortly before that 1988 cleanup, serving as its president for a few months in 1990. [Full disclosure statement: I was a D2 employee at that time so he was my supervisor then.] He also has served for many years on the Saint Paul Planning Commission, including a spell [2004-2006?] as its Chairperson. He succeeded his wife on that commission.

And somehow as he has done all this he has raised a couple of sons and maintained a house and kept employment and all the other things that other people do.

The City Council praises several people each year this way. There are many people who deserve such commendation and they get some of them. There is a certain “hit-or-miss” factor involved in this, but this commendation seems well in order and I wish to add my own praise also.

The sign is up, the ground was broken, and now the little bear has come out of hibernation

I did visit the new Cub store at 1177 Clarence which opened this morning. I arrived at about 7:30 a.m. and there were about 80 cars in the parking lot. Although they are really hyping the LEED stuff, the store did not seem a lot different than any other Cub Store as far as navigating and shopping are concerned. They were giving quarter-hourly LEED tours, but I did not take one.

One thing I noticed before I could get in is that they have reserved some of the best parking places [similar to the ones for the handicapped] for cars that make 30 mpg. I don’t know how they can enforce that and wondered if it isn’t just a bit elitist, but I went in anyway.

The store will give those of us in the northern and western parts of the East Side another option for shopping, but like Rainbow and the other Cub stores they still sell Hormel pork so people of good heart who are looking for pork will still need to go elsewhere.

I paid the cashier when I left and noticed that the coupons on the back of the register receipt were for places in St. Anthony and New Brighton. I assume that they must have brought over paper rolls designed for the Apache Plaza store and imagine that that will change.

As I was leaving I was given a woven Cub grocery bag with chips, cookies, grape juice, and an unknown substance in a packet [maybe hot chocolate mix or soup mix or cheese sauce mix] which I guess I will have to open to figure out what it is.

I know that the economy is shaky, but people need to eat and based on how the store was doing in its early hours, it seems that this store might be there for quite a while.

Earlier posts: http://ccmusings.blogspot.com/2007/11/revealing-sign.html [11/1/07]
http://ccmusings.blogspot.com/2008/03/phalen-village-cub-groundbreaking.html [3/18/08]

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.

Phalen Village Cub groundbreaking

I just returned from the groundbreaking for the new Phalen Village Cub store at 1157 Clarence.

Chuck Repke [who somehow manages to continue serving as Executive Director of both NENDC and District 2 Community Council] did a wonderful job as master of ceremonies. The expected politicians and developers gave the usual speeches.

Mayor Coleman the Second spoke first and suggested that perhaps Dan Bostrom could find future employment at the new store. It was made to look like it was being said in humor. The audience is free to make their own individual conclusions.

Councilmember Bostrom then commented that if he worked there that he would not be able to be a greeter for [a large Arkansas-based discount chain whose name I prefer to withhold], leaving one to wonder how he knew that said chain even had greeters.

Representatives of Oppidan and Cub spoke. Appropriate City staff people [including Penny Simison, Sheri Pemberton, Larry Zangs, and Tom Beach] were complimented for their work in making the thing possible and Oppidan’s representative lauded Mr. Repke.

In other words, it went pretty much to form as groundbreakings go.

Previous post: Revealing the Sign [11/1/2007]

Revealing the Sign

There was a time when people decried the displacement of local merchants by large chain store supermarkets.

Times have changed.

I just returned from a sign unveiling for a new Cub Store on Clarence south of Maryland. It wasn’t groundbreaking. Probably fifty others were out in the wind for the festivities. Nobody brought any shovels. Borings are already being done. There were some speeches and the bigwigs removed the cover from the sign.

The required officials were there, from the developer [Oppidan], Cub Foods and from the local officialdom. Councilmember Bostrom served as sort of an emcee and Mayor Colemsm the Second spoke.

The Cub exec spoke of this as their fourth Saint Paul Store. I am wondering where the third one is to be.

After the speeches most of the crowd managed to make it up to the Parkside Lounge for sandwiches and drumsticks. The Parksdide will soon be disappearing to make room for the new store..

As these events go, the event was not especially notable, but it does indicate that there will soon be another place for Saint Paul people to get their vittles.

Kudos should probably be given to North East Neighborhoods Development Company, Councilmember Bostrom, and city PED for getting the project this far. Mr. Bostrom certainly made sure that Mr. Chuck Repke of NENDC got his recognition.