In this episode, New Hope aspires to become a Step 4 MN Green Step City, with all its costs and regulations. We also discuss an issue in Robbinsdale, where they are excited about the Blue Line Extension... until they find out they don't want the strings that go along with the "free money".

We also discuss the trend of many cities to give preference to certain businesses over others. It may come in the form of tax abatements, TIF Districts, loans, and more. Giving out corporate welfare isn't the answer.

In this episode,we welcome Crystal City Council Member, Olga Parsons. Over the past three years, there has been a group of newly elected city council members that have been willing to break the mold, causing Crystal to implement policies not straight out of the latest American Planning Association trade journals, but to craft ordinances and draft planning that represents Crystal. Where are all the other people with the skills and intellect to do these kinds of things where you live? Stand up and be counted!

In this episode, Jason and Andrew discuss Complete Streets. Maybe you've heard of them and maybe you haven't, but I can guarantee that you've most likely seen them. No matter where you live in the United States: big city or small town, rural or urban area... cities and counties are passing complete street policies. What does this mean? What are they really? Are they as fantastic as advertised? We discuss it all here so you can talk to your community all about it.

In this episode, Jason and Andrew discuss the idea of placing levy limits over local governments. Set the maximum for property tax increases and spending is held in check... unless it's not. Do levy limits work, or do they cause local governments to get creative in new types of taxes and fees, raise other existing taxes and fees, or a combination of both? I hope that this conversation helps you to think about levy limits in all of its pros and cons to make an educated decision on where you stand.

We discuss the importance of caucus to the cause of local politics (and as a result state and national politics, as well). We get so lost in the idea of a straw poll mattering one way or another. We need to look at caucus in a completely different way. Some folks are calling for an end to this practice in favor of a pure primary. We argue that if we lose the caucus system, we lose the battle for local control. Find out why, and then get involved at your caucus this year!

The Met Council was created in 1967, pursuant to federal legislation. It gave the power to manage wastewater treatment networks. It's powers have grown by state statute to include transportation, land use, housing, and parks. This podcast is useful if you live in the metro, or if you live out-state MN, as you have MADO and its ten member regional development organizations doing much of the same work. The legislature must limit its power at the very least, or at the very most #endthemet!

Cities have way too many laws. Some are dictated by state law, some are necessary to the running of a city, some are outdated, some are overly punitive, some are duplicative... What if residents of a city came together to go over a city's ordinances and told their government how they want to be governed? Enter the City Code Task Force. This is our case study from Crystal, MN, who had great success with the Task Force. This should be the way things are everywhere.

In this episode, we discuss all of the different ways you can get taxed other than from the usual sources. We all know about the city, county, and school levies. But what about transit authorities, watersheds, park districts, regional development commissions... there's a whole mess of them in Minnesota, and even we were not aware of them all. So what are all of these special taxing authorities and districts? How do we keep them accountable? A cup of coffee a day for multiple people gets expensive fast.

We give you some insight into what happens when political parties get involved in nonpartisan politics. Yet one party has had a massive ground game to fill these local seats for decades, and it has worked. Here is evidence of such action. The DFL the AFL/CIO called a secret meeting in Crystal that we got wind of. Well, we invited everyone to go! You can be sure that this is also happening where you live. This is how they gain and keep control of these offices.

In this episode, we discuss the common misnomer that you can ignore local elections. So much money passes through local governmental bodies, and combined, more than at the state level. Regulations that cannot get through state legislatures are being implemented directly at the local level). We have to start taking nonpartisan races seriously. We have to start filling advisory commissions. Serving in local government is not a lesser job. We have to realize this and fix the problem.