Shot in the Dark

Just The Facts

The City of Mound is the kind of place we in places like Saint Paul and Minneapolis  dream about; a town with a conservative city council that has done a great job of controlling spending, weaning itself from “Local Government Aid”, and balancing its budget by being fiscally responsible.

And Sue Jeffers is the kind of person we need more of in Twin Cities conservatism; a fire-breathing conservative activist who doesn’t just talk principle, she acts on it; she may have been the greatest force behind Tom Emmer’s nomination that you never heard of.  While she does do a show on a station that competes with mine (she’s on 100.3, I’m on AM1280) and which Ed and I crush in our time slot (ahem), she’s a friend of mine and one of the sharpest forks in the Minnesota conservative drawer.

But I gotta call her on this one.

Mound city councilman Dave Osmek – who is Republican enough to have been the chief teller at the 2010 MN GOP convention, and conservative enough to talk with Ed and I about the work he helped do to balance the Mound city budget and wean the city off of Local Government Aid – emailed me:

A couple weeks ago, Sue Jeffers’ producer Stan, who lives in Mound, noticed a black Lexus with a City of Mound sign on it. They spent 5-10 minutes bashing Mound (see show podcast from 9/11, hour 2, about 3/4 through the hour).

(Sue’s a good friend, but I’ll let Clear Channel’s promotions department pay me to link to their website, thankewverymuch)

Without calling or checking out the story, the proceeded to blast the Council (4 for 4 conservative Republicans). Jeffers said…they could buy 2 Ford Taursuses for that price…”typical government”…

At face value, it does in fact sound like some pretty wasteful government spending.

There’s more to it, of course:

Except the truth is, the vehicle in question is a private vehicle that we pay milage on for a dock inspector that works seasonally. Instead of buying a $20,000 Taurus, we pay him a couple hundred bucks a season and bought him a magnet for use when on-duty for the side of the car.

So in other words, rather than buying a Lexus, or two Tauri or even a single Taurus, the city of Mound essentially rents a car for about one percent the cost of a Taurus.

Osmek tells me that the story has the conservative Mound city council…

…trying to tamp down this fire, during an election season. Needless to say…I ain’t happy.  I don’t have a problem when people challenge me or tell me when I’m wrong.  But when someone says something this patently false, its incredibly frustrating because lies are far more provacative than the truth.  Like the old saying goes, a Lie can travel across the globe before the Truth gets outta bed.

Naturally.  It’s why it’s such staple of the Alinski-ite campaigning the DFL’s been doing this cycle; inflammation is more useful to them than information.

Making a big noise for responsibility and accountability in government is a good thing.  I strongly encourage it.

But let’s make sure we focus on the real enemies – mainly, those who actually are wasting money!

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Mitch Berg

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9 responses to “Just The Facts”

  1. bubbasan Avatar
    bubbasan

    To be fair to Ms. Jeffers, it should be noted that, with the exception of police cars and such, it’s not always easy to tell the difference between a city owned vehicle and a vehicle with a city sticker, but owned by someone else. is there even a license plate nomenclature used?

    I’ve also heard that, from an engineering perspective, some of the cheapest cars to own are Lexii with about 100k miles on them. They’re very well made, and their price point tends to “choose” supremely conscientious owners.

    Unless they get that difficulty with the gas pedal, of course. :^)

  2. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    it’s not always easy to tell the difference between a city owned vehicle and a vehicle with a city sticker,

    Of course! That underscores the importance of double-checking before bagging on the spending habits of a government that’s been very conscientious about reigning in spending!

  3. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    The gearhead in me also noticed the lack of one bit of information: The year/age of the Lexus in question. It could very well be a black Lexus old enough that it might be less than a Taurus anyway.

  4. bubbasan Avatar
    bubbasan

    I’m going to enjoy this: it’s “reining in” spending, as in horses’ reins, not “reigning,” as in a king….

    Yes, it’s important to be careful, of course…..but I think this one is eminently forgiveable.

  5. nate Avatar
    nate

    I’m right on board with Sue on this one.

    What the Hell is a “dock inspector” and why are the city taxpayers paying anybody any amount of money to do anything at all about private docks?

    Hey, your dock is a piece of crap, it’s NOT THE CITY’S PROBLEM.

    More government bloat and waste. Next they’ll have a Poet Laureate.

    .

  6. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Nate,

    I’m not sure why the city has a dock inspector; since Mound’s government is fairly penurious, I’m going to guess it’s a liability issue, stressing “guess”.

    I think Mound is the last city you need to worry about getting a Poet Laureate. Or at least paying for one.

  7. Earsall Mackbee Avatar
    Earsall Mackbee

    Mitch, please take a column to explain to me what Sue jeffers really said.

    Wow, the fire-breathing sharp fork Tea Partier going on a vicious attack without checking a single fact or getting off her lazy, fat a$$ to do any research. who wooda thunk it?

  8. monkeydoes Avatar
    monkeydoes

    @ Nate … well Nate you are in your right place defending Jeffers since your post is a classic case of engaging the keyboard without any facts. The reason Mound (I am a resident) has a dock inspector is because we are on Lake Minnetonka and the city in fact owns much coveted dock space on the lake which they lease out to boaters. It is a revenue generating asset which brings more money into the city’s budget. Inspections need to be done for liability purposes and to ensure the leasee is using the space properly, so much for your nefarious suspicions.

    As to Sue Jeffers, once again we see someone on the airwaves simply manipulating an emotional topic (wasteful Gubbmint spending) without any facts. Even when called on it by our Mayor, Mrk Hanus, she persists on blaming the city because of perception problems. So Mz freedoms for everyone you want the city to mandate that a private contractor drive a specific type of car so you won’t be embarrassed by your lame brained assumptions?

    Mound is about as Conservative as you can get in MN always carrying GOP and IR candidates at the ballot box don’t think that this time around more than just a few people are realizing how the Con-Con Self Pormoting Talkers have ‘used’ us.

  9. monkeydoes Avatar
    monkeydoes

    PS since we are on the topic of wasteful government spending
    has the ingenious Ms Jeffers bothered to factor or calculate what it has cost the city in time and resouces responding to an accusation that was her ‘responsibility to vette out in the first place?

    not to mention the volume of calls from local residents demanding an explanation for something that was categorically false! Likely those resources could have been put to better use than to responding to Ms Jeffers’ ego slip.

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