Thursday, November 8, 2012
Election Day is bringing in a Legislature that should be more supportive of LRT.
For the past couple years, the road ahead for the Southwest Light Rail Transit was uncertain. It faced steeped opposition from leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature who oversaw key transportation committees. Shakopee Rep. Michael Beard, the former Transportation Policy and Finance Committee chairman, once even said he wanted to stop the project "in its tracks." But all that changed Tuesday night when the DFL took control of both the House and Senate—sweeping in more light rail supporters and handing the reins to a party that’s historically been a bigger backer of public transit. “The bottom line is we didn’t get anywhere (before), so it’s pretty significant to us,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman, chairwoman of …
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Letter to the editor: State Rep. Steve Simon promotes candidate for Minnetonka City Council Joe Bodell.
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Friend, My name is Steve Simon and I represent your neighboring communities, Hopkins and St. Louis Park, in the State Legislature. Our communities work best for the people when elected officials work together, communicating well with each other across all levels of government. To that end, I am writing to urge you to support Joe Bodell in the upcoming special election for the Minnetonka City Council. Joe's awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing Minnetonka, Hopkins, St. Louis Park and the surrounding communities has inspired him to look for new solutions to keep our neighborhoods strong and retain the natural beauty of the area. I've known Joe Bodell since the 2006 election cycle, when we worked together on a gubernatorial …
Monday, April 18, 2011
Republicans are pushing a voter photo ID bill through the Legislature.
The Legislature is currently on break for the Easter/Passover holiday but a lot work is waiting for state lawmakers upon their return. With the state’s looming $5 billion budget deficit, legislators are under the gun to achieve a balanced budget before the end of the session. While the House and Senate have both approved nine spending budgets and one tax bill, the differences between most of the House and Senate versions of these measures still need to be hammered out in conference committees. So far Governor Dayton has signed only one omnibus bill, the Agriculture Omnibus, into law. Beyond conference committees, the Republican majority and state agencies also are not on the same page about many of the budget proposals and reforms …
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Minnetonka's Representative Kirk Stensrud (R- District 42A) on government transparency. Representative Steve Simon (DFL- District 44A) responds.
This installment of 'Patch Politics' features Minnetonka's Representative Kirk Stensrud (R- District 42A). To ensure transparency and clean government, Minnesota's State Auditor's office conducts hundreds of audits of county government financial records every year. Representative Kirk Stensrud (R-Minnetonka) would like to give counties the option of having a private firm audit their books instead of the State Auditors office. According to Stendrud, “I think to infer that somehow scandals are monopolized by private industry, I think some of our most strident and striking scandals are in the government, so to think that anybody is more scandalous, government or private, I think we share equally in that". Representative Steve Simon (DFL- …
birchwood18
9:47 am on Saturday, November 10, 2012
Protest the Freight Re-route Wednesday, Nov 14th 5:30-6pm St. Louis Park City Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd Hennepin County is hosting an open house at SLP City Hall from (5pm-6pm) on Wednesday November 14th for SWLRT (southwest light rail on the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement). A public forum will follow (6pm-7pm) The public forum is a great opportunity for individuals to voice concerns … more ›