Letter to the Editor: Impatience is not a virtue

Posted 10/25/24

To the editor: Hastings residents should now be seeing a safer Hwy 55 corridor between Co. Rd. 42 and Hwy 52. There is now a left turn lane at Doyle Path as well as a reconstruction of the railroad …

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Letter to the Editor: Impatience is not a virtue

Posted

To the editor:
Hastings residents should now be seeing a safer Hwy 55 corridor between Co. Rd. 42 and Hwy 52. There is now a left turn lane at Doyle Path as well as a reconstruction of the railroad crossing by Spectro and the demolition landfill.
This is the result of my last year of work on the Hastings City Council, coordinating with then Minnesota State Hwy Commissioner Margaret Kelliher. I attended a conference of SE metro cities hosted by Kelliher where we all gave presentations on highway needs in and around our cities. Approximately a dozen cities (Cottage Grove, Newport, St Paul Park, Woodbury and Rosemount among them) all made presentations. My plea was to make the above Hwy 55 corridor safer after damage to vehicles and terrible accidents there resulted in two fatalities.
I am proud to say that of all those presentations, mine for Hastings was the only one given the green light and put on MNDOT’s schedule.
I had a nice conversation with the commissioner after the conference where we talked about how much respect she had for former Mayor Paul Hicks, former Councilmember Danna Schultz, Mike Slavik and me for the work we did to complete the new Hastings Bridge, the Riverfront Renaissance, Art Space, The Confluence, T.H.R.I.V.E (promoting diversity, equity and inclusion) and the proposed Vermillion Street corridor.
So, what’s my point in all this? My point is that these major improvements to Hastings came as a result of years of elected public service by these city council members. We all served over 12 years developing a reputation for honesty, sincerity and respectable requests from our state and national leaders.
That’s why I find it perplexing that a one-term Hastings city council member is running away, choosing to run for the legislature instead of facing some urgent and dramatic key issues facing Hastings in the next year or two.
Here are some big problems coming up:
•The city has an increase in our tax rate coming next year. With the above-mentioned experienced council members of the past, the tax rate went down every year for 12 years, even during the great recession.
•Hastings' city water bills are going to radically increase by 30 to 100% until outside funding might or might not be secured. And there’s no guarantee that funding will be there in the short or long term. Your water bill will increase in 2025 and beyond from $125 to as much as $300 per billing cycle.
•As a member of the city’s HEDRA Commission she could have promoted the idea of economic growth known as “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs). These are small apartments that can be added above attached or detached garages and be rented out to increase family income, as well as increase property values. Other metro cities are doing it. Why aren’t we? This adds to population growth and a more healthy local economy (Oct. 20th Pioneer Press).
If she cannot face the fire here at the Hastings city level, what kind of impression does she hope to make in the legislature as a small fish in the big pond of state politics?
I don’t hold a lot of credibility in a person who uses one public office to immediately jump towards a bigger platform before local issues have been energized or resolved. It is disingenuous.
Oh, wait, there was the fiasco where the Hastings City Council passed a resolution last fall calling for a Mideast cease fire. That resolution backfired, with the public calling the council out for overstepping its constitutional responsibilities.
This is not a time for local public servants to “….get out of Dodge.” Why won’t you stick around and face the heat? As a life-long resident of Hastings, what have you been paying attention to? Your impatience is your weakness. And your credentials are only window dressing.
Impatience is not a virtue.
Sincerely,
Joe Balsanek
Hastings City Council Emeritus