The $20,000 Vote

Our Opinion / Each “yes” vote represents a future commitment of almost $20,000.

The turnout was awful, and the result was what city leaders wanted. With over 90 percent of those voting supporting the half-cent sales tax for flood protection, it was a resounding mandate. Now city leaders have a savings account or cash flow they can work with to plan for the future.

Though nobody knows the plan yet, we encourage — if at all possible — going the route of a diversion. If it cannot feasibly be done on the Minnesota side, then do it on the North Dakota side. We also need to fit Fargo’s protection plan into the broader region’s plan.

In time, we hope city leaders will not leave the entire onus of flood protection on the shoulders of lower and middle class wage earners as sales taxes tend to do. We fully expect that property owners will equally participate in funding the solutions agreed upon down the road. That means, if $200 million comes from sales tax, then an equal $200 million should come from property taxes and levies. If that much is not needed, the sales tax should be sunseted earlier than the 20-year window approved by voters Tuesday.

With over 10,000 “yes” votes, each one represents a future commitment of almost $20,000 in sales tax collections. That is astounding. The turnout was dismal by every standard. HPR’s guess is that the power wielded by each vote will not likely be seen ever again in our lifetime.

Property owners need to pay a fair share. We all need to be vigilant so as to assure that happens.

 

Electioneering on Election Day

 

We were disappointed to see WDAY and KVLY television stations airing Vote Yes ads in rebroadcasts of the nightly news in the early hours of the morning on election day, June 30.

This is two years in a row HPR is pointing out what appear to be technical violations of the North Dakota electioneering laws. Last June, The Forum published an editorial with its endorsements on election day. This year at least two TV stations broke the rules.

North Dakota law (NDCC 16.1-10-06) prohibits what is called electioneering on election day, for or against measures and candidates.

“North Dakota broadcasters and newspapers are all well aware of this law,” media counsel Jack McDonald of Bismarck explained to HPR. “The vast majority of the stations and newspaper follow it. I do not advise them to run election-day ads, but I have told them that this law is very likely unconstitutional, and that many, many state, federal courts, and even the U.S. Supreme Court, have held that similar laws are a violation of the 1st Amendment, and that the need for free political speech is perhaps its greatest on the day people actually vote.”

According to McDonald, there have likely been three or four violations of this law in nearly every election he could remember in the past 20 years or so, many inadvertent, but some deliberate.

“It’s really unenforceable,” McDonald said. “I am not aware of any prosecutions for violations. For instance, it does not apply to fixed displays, billboards or bumper stickers. It does not apply to lawn signs or ads that simply say Vote Republican or Vote Democrat, without referring to specific candidates. In Minot, a city ordinance requires lawn signs to come down so many days after an election, so in Minot the lawn signs stay up during elections.”

“Neither the North Dakota Newspaper Association nor the North Dakota Broadcasters Association has a position per se on this issue. The law is what it is for better or worse,” McDonald said. “The legislature actually repealed this law in 1981 in a revision of the state’s election laws, but then had buyer’s remorse when it discovered this meant lawn signs could stay up. They all thought citizens liked the idea that lawn signs had to come down, so they re-instated the law.”

We appreciate Jack McDonald answering HPR’s questions on short notice. In some ways, it confirms what we’ve been suspecting for a while now: the days of quiet election Tuesdays without ads are pretty much history. The only thing that may keep the spirit of electioneering laws alive in North Dakota is a shared willingness by all media to do so.

 

The Great Downtown Clean-up

 

The Great Downtown Clean-up came and went Tuesday night. Thanks to 75 or more volunteers, Broadway and its back alleys, as well as some off-shoot streets, are clean and spiffy. Many hands do indeed make work light.

While the idea first surfaced in an HPR editorial, we have to hand it to Norm Robinson of the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) and Dave Anderson of the Downtown Community Partnership (DCP) for organizing the event and breathing life into it with structure.

The image of teams of people on different blocks was a great visual to keep in the forefront of our minds. There were sweepers, shovelers, graffiti removers, power washers, power blowers, vaccuum machines and simple garbage collectors. By the time the event was completed, our downtown neighborhood looked simply awesome.

Some businesses like HPR and Dempsey’s adopted their blocks, which in this instance, represented a few city blocks. Those teams then went across the street and cleaned on the other side as well. Further down, AM1100 The Flag adopted their block. The folks from Drunken Noodle showed up and made for a good team. Representatives from Vlana Vlee were also present with brooms in hand, and many others as well.

DNA folks were very visible and engaged, as were the Downtown Community Partnership folks. From what we could tell, those teams were power washing sidewalks practically until dark. That meant the area was done, as the final stage was that final rinse, so to speak.

The good old North Dakota wind was not very helpful. Teams learned quickly to move north to south, as the wind was brisk to say the least. Afterwards, our group of about 20 folks gathered in Dempsey’s for a cool one courtesy of Bert Meyers — who offered a beverage for everyone who worked on their block — and ideas of how to improve turnout and participation were bubbling up constantly in conversation.

The Great Downtown Clean-up fostered a sense of community. The result was immediately tangible. Even the next day, we noticed people picking up cigarette butts and pieces of paper blowing about on the street.

Now that this phase is done, we need to keep it up. Do not tolerate garbage underfoot as you walk around downtown. Pick the crap up, and dispense of it immediately. Others will see you do it, and sooner than not, we’ll have evolved a culture of cleanliness and pride.

Thanks to the volunteers who showed up and worked hard. Thanks to the sponsors, DNA, DCP, AM100 The Flag, Shortprinter.com, and of course HPR’s troupe. You all done good and deserve a pat on the back, or a thumbs up, or a prairie rose. And let’s do this every year.

 

Zach’s Going Behind Bars

 

HPR’s editor, Zach Kobrinsky, is getting locked up July 16 at the Red River Zoo to raise money for muscular dystrophy research and awareness. You can contribute to the cause at
http://www.joinmda.org/MyLockup/MyHomepage/tabid/72929/Participant/zach/Default.aspx. Help fight muscular dystrophy, and join us at the zoo on the 16th at 5 p.m. for some fun as well.