Minnesota has too many forms of government. One form which people don't given any thought to is watershed districts. I don't mean to malign the work they do--it's important--but it seems to be that the work could be consolidated into the work that other governments already do.
Watershed districts operate off the radar. Residents really don't pay a whole lot of attention to them. Their budgets are small when compared to cities and school districts, but most still are a couple of million dollars--that's real money.
Tonight, the Eden Prairie city council granted a land use change to permit a watershed district to build learning center in Eden Prairie. As a taxpayer I think it's a waste of money. But, as a mayor I'm not permitted to making a land use decision which second-guesses the way another unit of government spends its budget. So, I voted to approve it. It was a hard vote as I heard from many who wanted me to vote "no" because expenditure was unnecessary. Even after the vote I think many don't understand that i couldn't make that decision based on that criterion.
No comments:
Post a Comment