Bulletin election forum: Lower taxes vs. more amenities splits candidates for Cottage Grove City Council
October 2, 2012 at 3:13 am in South Washington County Bulletin
The candidates split when asked which factor they believed better attracted new residents and businesses to the city more amenities for residents, like parks, playgrounds and splash pads, or lower taxes. Continue Reading
My gut tells me that there won’t be the usual election year nonsensical viewpoint letter of how Jen’s not attending made up a voter’s mind to not vote for her. That only seems to come when a GOP candidate for office has a scheduling conflict.
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You’re right! Because Jen is at the MN Conference for the Homeless representing our city and asked that a statement be read for her. The others never explained why they weren’t available. To me they came across as not interested.
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When I first saw she wasn’t there, I wondered why. But, it was exxplained and it was because she was representing our city. No explanation was given as to why Janis and Derrick ducked their events, and they didn’t both to say anything on their social media sites. I’m sure it was for fundraising – or it was to avoid facing the issues. Either are reprehensible and show a complete lack of interest in being transparent – and if I’m one of them I know why.
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I agree it would have been nice if the candidates that did not show would explain why. I personally won’t vote for anyone though that promotes discrimination of any sort and Quinlan is doing that with her stance on the marriage amendment. A Constitutional amendment should be to protect our RIGHTS not take them away and that is exactly what this amendment is doing.
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For anyone interested in reading what the survey actually said, here it is: http://www.cottage-grove.org/images/communications/2012_cg_Survey.pdf
3. What do you think is the most seri- DON’T KNOW/REFUSED…..6%
ous issue facing Cottage Grove NOTHING……………15%
today? HIGH TAXES…………16%
TOO MUCH GROWTH……..8%
CRIME………………4%
LACK OF JOBS……….14%
HOME FORECLOSURES……5%
LACK OF RETAIL……..14%
POLLUTION ISSUES…….5%
NOTHING FOR YOUTH……9%
CITY GOVERNMENT……..3%
SCATTERED…………..2%
4. How would you rate the quality of EXCELLENT………….29%
life in Cottage Grove — excellent, GOOD………………66%
good, only fair, or poor? ONLY FAIR…………..5%
POOR……………….1%
DON’T KNOW/REFUSED…..0%
5. How would you rate the value you EXCELLENT…………..8%
receive, when you consider the GOOD………………71%
property taxes you pay and the ONLY FAIR………….14%
services you receive — excellent, POOR……………….3%
good, only fair, or poor? DON’T KNOW/REFUSED…..5%
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CG, despite not having a large commercial base – yet – has held the line pretty well on taxes. With Wal-Mart and other commercial developments coming in, it will have a positive impact on the city taxes, as it will start the burden shift from residential (right now about 70 percent of taxes collected) to commercial.
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You can thank your city administrator for that. He’s a fiscal conservative.
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