Comments on: Safety last: Pawlenty’s proposed cuts would hit police and fire departments

By: GREG

GREG — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:02:26 +0000

STOP THE GARAUNTEED PENSIONS-GIVE 3% OF THEIR WAGE AS THE MATCH TO A 401K RETIREMENT PLAN LET THEM DECIDE AS TO WHAT THEY WANT TO CONTRIBUTE. POLICE,FIREMAN,SOCIAL WORKERS,TEACHERS-ALL STATE WORKERS.THIS WOULD SAVE ALOT OF MONEY.

By: Dogtown

Dogtown — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:21:59 +0000

Hey Bemidjimike,

All you have to do is look across the river to Mpls to see the deal St. Paul residents gets with fire providing the paramedics. Both cities fire budgets are about 50 million with St.Paul being slightly lower. Here is the big difference. St. Paul firefighter paramedics bring in 12 million dollars in revenue. When adjusted that makes St. Paul fire expenses are around 40 million that’s 20% lower than Mpls fire department. Cardiac survival rates: St.Paul 20%, Minneapolis is same as the national average of 4-8%. St. Paul paramedic average response time 4:30, paramedic providers in Mpls 6-12 minutes(very guarded giving poor response time). So to recap. St. Paul firefighters provide both firefighting and paramedic service and Minneapolis on provides firefighting and basic life support and St. Paul does it for LESS.

By: John Q Democrat

John Q Democrat — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:08:48 +0000

“How long will the voters let these “no tax” people stay in power?”

They will stay in power until we either get runoff or IRV in elections or the Democrats run a good candidate for Governor. I was not at all happy with Skip Humphrey, Roger Moe, or Mike Hatch.

Just my opinion.

By: lazercat

lazercat — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:49:29 +0000

No Taxes, no taxes, this is what Gov Tim always says. Then he cuts the aid to county and local governments throwing the tax burden on the property owners. Just because he solves His problem in a backward way does not mean this is not a Tax Increase.

How long will the voters let these “no tax” people stay in power?

By: crohnsguy

crohnsguy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:54:26 +0000

Interesting (and horrifying) to read that Minnesota in one of the national leaders in incarcerating individuals (top 5th of the Nation, as reported in MN Independent’s front page article today.) Not only do we need to ask questions such as “are we enforcing the right laws?” We also need to ask, “Do we simply have too many cops?” When I saw we are side by side with Texas as having the dubious distinction of a top incarcerating state, I got a little sick to my stomach. Somehow I thought we were a more progressive, forward-thinking state. What have we become? Highest taxes, highest rates of incarceration, massive budget shortfalls. It’s no coincidence that these factors all coincide with one another. Scale back the police force and see what happens. Don’t give them a blank check to do whatever they wish. The fear mongering that we’ll go into a tailspin of crime escalating out of control is not founded on any kind of empirical data. It’s just fear mongering for the sake of bolstering the bureaucracy that is law enforcement. If we want to keep and create jobs, let’s not do it in the name of putting more people in prison. Don’t let the prison industry be the leading employment growth area in the state. Don’t live in fear.

By: Juan Large Moose

Juan Large Moose — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:26:16 +0000

Hey, yeah. St. Paul could simply outsource those services to India or Pakistan. That would be much cheaper.

By: Bemidjimike

Bemidjimike — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:10:18 +0000

Has the city looked into contracting out the paramedic/ambulence services now provided by the firefighters? Might be cheaper?? Union would hate it…but times are a changing….

By: Ed S.

Ed S. — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:54:57 +0000

Bob, some of those traffic tickets get drunk drivers off the road. Some tickets reduce other types of dangerous driving too–speeding, reckless driving, running red lights, etc. Do you object to that?

By: Patricia

Patricia — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:44:47 +0000

We need our police officers and firefighters. In this economic downfall, crime is increasing. Public safety is paramount. Think about calling for a police officer and no one answers or your house/apt is on fire and no one can respond. Call Governor Pawlenty instead and see if he responds.

By: Studebaker Hawk

Studebaker Hawk — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:07:37 +0000

As long as there are enough cops to go out and arrest pot smokers–or spy on war protesters–there are too many cops on the street. I’m sick of all the talk about “threats” to public safety if cops’ budgets are cut. You could whack 100 cops from the payroll and still have plenty left to ensure public safety. The only threat would be to the safety of profits for Dunkin Donuts.