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St. Paul, Minneapolis mayors talk taxes, roads, cooperation [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.](Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 22--During a joint radio interview with her St. Paul counterpart on Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges shared a little love with Minnesota's capital city. "One of the great things about Minneapolis is that we're next door to St. Paul," said Hodges. "And for the record, Minneapolis is one of my favorite cities, too," St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman replied. The love-in continued, with Coleman praising the Minneapolis mayor's investment in bicycle paths and Hodges complimenting his efforts to combat the academic achievement gap with after-school and out-of-school-time learning programs. The two mayors appeared together on Minnesota Public Radio's "Daily Circuit" interview show, fielding wide-ranging questions that touched on the region's economic competitiveness, police-community relations, minority hiring and road conditions. Coleman defended his impartiality during the city's ongoing franchise negotiations with Comcast in light of the fact that his brother, Emmett Coleman, is vice president of government affairs with the telecommunications giant. The city of St. Paul has been locked in long-standing contract talks with Comcast over its wide-ranging franchise agreement, which governs everything from funding for government access channels to municipal building-to-building communications. "If you knew the Coleman boys, you would know the relationship is actually a detriment," the mayor said. "I've actually stepped (back) ... to avoid any appearance of impropriety." He said Deputy Mayor Kristin Beckmann and city staff represent his office in talks with Comcast. The mayors said that funding for road maintenance falls too heavily on city coffers and local taxpayers, and called on state lawmakers for more help. "There has to be a statewide solution," Coleman said. St. Paul and Minneapolis both plan to participate in President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, which will focus on outreach to young men of color. More details are expected at a summit in November. "We are just leaving a generation of kids behind," Coleman said. "When you see these young men that have grown up without people believing in them, without people saying 'yes, you can succeed,' it's a real tragedy." The mayors said the Twin Cities have all of the amenities in place to attract new employers, including a well-educated "millennial" workforce, but the region has historically done a mediocre job of marketing itself to the nation and needs to brag more. Hoping to do just that, the two cities have partnered in the Greater MSP -- Minneapolis St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership in an effort to do more aggressive outreach to the private sector. "We are behind the curve because we didn't promote ourselves as much as we should have," Coleman said. Hodges added, "The one thing that they say is you have all the things that you need. No one knows it." Both mayors have proposed property tax levy increases of 2.4 percent in 2015 to keep up with inflation and rising labor costs, which is sure to meet resistance from some taxpayers. Coleman said that as a result of the levy increase, however, residents "are going to continue to have one of the safest cities in America, and ... (during medical emergencies) one of the fastest response times in any city in America." Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172. Follow him at twitter.com/FrederickMelo. ___ (c)2014 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at www.twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |