Reforming Your Town-Local Issues-Part 2-Bob Davis Podcast 803

Reforming Your Town-Local Issues-Part 2-Bob Davis Podcast 803

When it comes to reform, local issues are often overlooked these days. Jason Bradley and Andrew Richter join me for the second half of our interview to talk local. Click here for part one. Learn more in Reforming Your Town-Local Issues-Part 2-Bob Davis Podcast 803.

Most Towns Have Similar Issues

I joined Andrew and Jason for the 100th Community Solutions MN podcast recently. In that podcast Andrew and Jason made the point that they’ve discovered the most pressing local issues in Minnesota are surprisingly uniform.

Unelected Government Pushing Its Agenda

Moreover what it comes down to is increasing control of local communities by state and federal government. Bike trails. Light Rail. Unelected boards and ghost written city plans. Roundabouts. Higher property taxes and local costs. You’d be surprised to see opposition to these plans from politically unpredictable sources.

Great Ideas Hidden Costs

Certainly some there are some supporters for this kind of development. In contrast support begins to fade when locals learn how much these great ideas cost. Find out about it in Reforming Your Town-Local Issues-Part 2-Bob Davis Podcast 803.

Unsuspecting Locals Forced To Accept National Will

Moreover national groups and sponsors of social initiatives often go around state and federal legislatures to force their will on unsuspecting and weak local residents. Andrew and Jason have called it the death of rural America.

Second Amendment Infringements

Especially relevant here are local infringements on second amendment rights. While state legislatures and the US Congress struggle with firearm legislation regulations are being forced on local communities.

Work Sessions To Avoid Community Action

Community Solutions MN also points out a most noteworthy tactic. Often local councils and boards will use ‘work sessions’ to debate and decide, and have a useless public hearing to take questions at the last minute before levies and initiatives are about to be imposed.

Robbing Us Blind

Finally what about subsidies and costs? Taxes? Levies? Fees? The average american has only five hundred dollars cash in reserve. Financial burdens on the middle class from local governments are more significant than you’d think.

In conclusion everyone focuses on the circus in Washington DC. However local governments are robbing us blind.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating, Metro wide from Saint Paul

Reforming Your Town-Local Issues-Part 2-Bob Davis Podcast 803

 

 

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Fixing Your Town-Local Activism-Part 1-Bob Davis Podcast 802

Fixing Your Town-Local Activism-Part 1-Bob Davis Podcast 802

These days there’s so much focus on national issues. Most of us do not realize we can have a big impact on our local towns. Two guys who know the drill join me from Community Solutions MN in Fixing Your Town-Local Activism-Part 1-Bob Davis Podcast 802.

Local Activism

Jason Bradley and Andrew Richter tell their story in part 1 of an epic interview. I like Jason and Andrew because they’ve forgotten more about local activism than most people have learned.

Told To Pound Sand

Jason and Andrew got started as two citizens upset over a proposed road widening. The spark? When they protested, the city government told them to pound sand. Learn more in Fixing Your Town-Local Activism-Part 1-Bob Davis Podcast 802.

The Death of Rural America

I have reported on and talked a lot about national and state issues in these podcasts. Media misses an especially relevant truth. Small towns are often told what to do by state and federal agencies. Jason and Andrew have called this the death of rural America.

You Are Not Powerless

This podcast tells a story. That story helps people understand they are not powerless. Community Solutions MN can help people in townships, small towns, and especially suburbs that ring major cities.

Taxpayers Foot The Bill

Finally, we’ve all heard of the special deals big companies get to put warehouses, plants, stores and ‘research facilities‘ in states and major cities. Did you know this is happening in small towns and suburban villages too? Truth is the taxpayer foots the bill.

Perfumed Princes Thrown Out Of Office

In conclusion most of the time city councils, county councils and township governments get the feeling they can do whatever they want. Part 1 of this interview shows citizens can take back their town and their county, much to chagrin of the so called perfumed princes who act as though their exalted position is their birthright.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating Metro-wide FromSaint Paul

Fixing Your Town-Local Activism-Part 1-Bob Davis Podcast 802

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Podcast 508 – Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-29

Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-29. A departure for this week’s Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-29. Usually for the radio show, I excerpt content from all the podcasts I’ve done during the week. But for Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-29, I received so much interest in the podcast I did this week on technology, I decided to use just that podcast. Of course there is original content in this show, as there is every week, just for the radio show. If you weren’t able to listen to Podcast 506, then a condensed version of it might be useful. There’s been a lot of talk lately about planning. Most cities across the country have some kind of planning system, or council, often with legal authority – by state statute – over cities and towns when it comes to this ‘uber’ planning. It’s a subject I have returned to again and again with different wrinkles on the podcasts for a long time. Whether it is light rail systems, bike trails, freeways or state budgeting this issue is evergreen. Meanwhile technology is changing the building blocks of the future in significant ways that will make a lot of the plans obsolete, very quickly. Why do our planners seemingly yearn for a 1920’s urban landscape when we’re on the verge of mind bending new technologies like the driverless car, robotic factories, human-robot hybrids, even more powerful smart-devices, better and faster communications capabilities, options for civilian flight that make it accessible to non-pilot operators, a revolution in materials for building almost everything, all kinds of manufacturing changes, like 3D printing and and we haven’t even mentioned bio-tech, and more. So much more. These new technologies thrive on the individual, decentralized authority and voluntary collaboration. Why are our politicians pushing for more centralization of authority, more regulation and taxation, and less collaboration especially when it concerns planning? Are they leading us in exactly the wrong direction for the future? Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Cars.

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