Exactly why a certain media mouthpiece continues harping away about how Moorhead is boogie-man-shaking- in-our-boots-petrified that should the majority of voters in North Dakota lose sight of their future and pass Measure 2, half of Moorhead is going to pack up and move west, is not only ridiculous, it borders on stupidity. No, I take that back. It’s not only stupid but insulting to believe that Moorhead residents who have invested their futures in Moorhead, bought their homes, started families, and enrolled their children in schools where they have roots, friends and an excellent educational system, would just chuck it all away for the benefit of possibly seven years with no property taxes. Because dollars to donuts, eventually North Dakota will most definitely have higher everything else in taxes, probably fewer services offered, worse infrastructure and most definitely a much larger chunk of the proposed Diversion debacle to pay for. This particular afternoon radio talk host actually lives in Moorhead. Guess that only shows how “in touch” some of our local media are with the people in their own home town. Maybe if he showed up at more meetings involving your City Council and city business leaders, you’d know no one but apparently your friends and other people you seem to know would even consider such a drastic move as “worth while.”
North Dakota has more problems in the western portion of their state than they can begin to deal with now – among them, the hiring of new law enforcement personnel and trying to hang on to the ones they already have, which, by the way, they aren’t. Why? THEY DO NOT PAY THEM ENOUGH – not to stay in places where they are desperately needed. Not to mention, there is NOWHERE for them to live if they are able to hire new personnel. Know what else? The new hires cannot afford the housing if they do find somewhere to live! Walk into the Wal-Mart in Dickinson and you might notice that even groceries are scarce – yes, even at the local Wal-Mart store, which is the only place most can afford to shop because the hometown grocer has hiked all the prices on everything else. And if Measure 2 passes, all these problems will only be exacerbated by the lack of funding coming in from once-paid property taxes. And since Fargo, within Cass County, has more of the population than the rest of the state, do you really believe the problems out west will only penalize those living out west? Doubtful. The two largest colleges are in the eastern portion of the state. Most of the towns out west only have one high school. Fargo has three. Somehow, I just don’t see that avalanche of needing extra money stopping at the little Missouri.
Sure, it sounds like it is going to be great not having to pay property taxes…until the crap hits the fan and it all starts to fall apart, which it will. But I do not believe for one split second that people who have already made their home in Moorhead are that short-sighted. Even if some may be tempted, they will still wait a good while after the stop payment on property taxes happens to see precisely how this is going to affect Fargo before the “swarm” of folks move out of Moorhead. So stop with “the sky is falling” in Moorhead, for Pete’s sake!
Yes, Moorhead definitely needs to change – starting at the top with the Mayor, who has been sitting on the City Council dais since 1986 – that’s twenty-six years. That’s a long political career if ever there was one. Mayor Mark Voxland is a very nice man. He’s probably a good electrician, too. This is not a personal attack against Mark Voxland. Simply stated, the stark truth is that Moorhead needs fresh ideas and new leadership that can leapfrog us from the same lily pad it has been floating on for over twenty years. We have plenty of brain power and leadership in Moorhead. What we need is for those who have the good old boy network in their pockets to move on, retire, go to the lake – just move on so that those who have the initiative will take the first step forward. Moorhead will be forever spinning its wheels if those who now hold the power do not relinquish it soon.
AND ONE MORE THING…
There still continues to be no concrete answer from the Moorhead School Board about why they are so reluctant to videotape the meetings for playback so that the citizens of Moorhead can view their meetings. My understanding is that there are a “couple” of folks now sitting on the Moorhead School Board who are “not too keen” on having the meetings taped. Really? And why might that be? It can’t be because of “camera shyness” – for Pete’s sake, you ran for the position you now hold!
Personally, I don’t really care who is not so “keen” on the idea or wants the meetings taped or not. The point is that this is a PUBLIC meeting, with citizen-elected representatives on a board who were—remember this – elected to their positions. Those not wanting to have the meetings video-taped for the benefit of the public (who not only pay for their time to be on this board, but would like to know what issues they have voted on and how they each voted) should resign and allow us to find representatives who will comply with having the meetings taped. Between the obligations that most parents have with full-time jobs, children with schedules for school, sports, church, and friends, it is dang near impossible to squeeze family dinners into some nights. So for those who do not have time to go to the meetings, yet would like to stay informed and on top of what is happening within our school district, being able to record a school board meeting would be a great advantage. Every other board in Moorhead has complied and is willing to do this. So…what seems to be the Moorhead School District’s problem? And please don’t blame it on money or not being able to find a couple of thousand dollars in the budget. No one is buying that excuse any longer.
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