The Cambridge City Council is composed of one (1) Mayor and four (4) City Council members who are elected at large to four-year (4-year) terms. Their terms of office are staggered so there are elections every two years in even years. Municipal elections are non-partisan and names are placed on the ballot without party designation. This is the post found on the website on the City of Cambridge home page which informs the citizens of the chain of command of the city government and also gives a variety of information that a citizen may use.
The Mayor of Cambridge is Marlys Palmer who has served for 12years. She is the first woman to hold the office of mayor in the city. Like most cities Mayor Palmer said the source of strain for communities is finding enough cash to meet the needs of the town. Cambridge is unique in that the upkeep required for this smaller city involves two major highways, is a major railroad spur for Burlington Northern, and is on a river that has two bridges to maintain. These transportation avenues need attention of the city at various times of crisis. With traffic control, water pollution and job losses being on most of the City Councils agenda for supervision these infrastructures are a handful to maintain under Mayor Palmer and the councils watchful eye.
Right now the burning fire brand is the tentative loss of Minnesota Extended Treatment Option or METO as reported in the Isanti County News. Cambridge has housed a State facility for the disabled since the 1920’s. The large system was dismembered in the 1990’s by the State of Minnesota. The clients were released or housed in smaller more family like housing after that. METO was a part of this reconstruction. METO in Cambridge is a 16 bed facility that houses clients with extreme behavior disorders. Cambridge’s workforce was trained mostly out of the previous State Hospital system. The loss of METO would mean the loss of 66 jobs and that would also mean the loss of continuity for 16 clients that have made METO their home. The City of Cambridge is looking into helping support the Senator from North Branch Rick Olseen in advocating for its survival.
The City of Cambridge works close with MNDOT about the traffic congestion created by the train going through Cambridge during peak times. The back-up of traffic can be huge. Another traffic concern is the need for two bridge replacements crossing the Rum River; this is also on front burner. How traffic flows will be a major concern when each of these bridges is being rebuilt.
Isanti County is number one in the State Of Minnesota in foreclosed housing. This county was on the fastest growth list in the state several years ago; it was also on the end of the housing boom. With that boom ending so abruptly it has created a huge financial strain. It is a hard thing for the elected officials to deal with when the tax revenues bases are being eroded by people losing their homes. But the City of Cambridge and the County of Isanti come from a long tradition of fighters and fortifiers of their community. They have great optimism and determination as they go through this decade of economic hardship and growth. The people of Cambridge and Isanti County are behind their community leaders with hopes of a fast and sure recovery.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Burn Baby Burn The Credit Cards Crunch
It is time to burn bras; oh, I mean credit cards in protest. Mary and Bert Peterson’s story is probably like many Minnesotans story. They fell in love, had kids, and worked real hard to make a good life for their family. The housing boom hit Cambridge around 2005. It was the fastest growing county in Minnesota during that time. The infrastructure for the community was expanded in huge measures with water, sewer, sidewalks, and roads being replaced or made new. Everyone was getting a new home because credit was easy.
New houses and complexes were being built all over the city and county. The City of Cambridge even got into the housing development business. The State of Minnesota sold the City of Cambridge a huge parcel of undeveloped land in the middle of the city extraordinary set of circumstances in city growth. The parcel was used for a driving range for golf in the 90’s run by the State of MN. The rest of the acreage had been used as a State Hospital and was now deemed kaput. Beautiful land running parallel to the Rum River was now open for development and being sold to County and City governments dirt cheap. Many people wanted the City to put a much needed community center on this lovely property but they forsook common sense and went into the real estate business with the rest of areas frenzy for building. Now many of these houses are in foreclosure as week after week in the local paper houses are lost in this area of the city. and half of the development sets vacant. The housing boom has stopped in Isanti County and Cambridge much to the hardship of its citizens.
That is where Mary’s and Bert’s story comes in, they was told they now could afford one of these lovely houses in Cambridge in 2005 with terms of not much money down, this was a dream come true for their family. They loved the new house, never did they have such a nice place with so much room for all 5 of them. Nobody in their family took anything for granted after they purchased this house and they all pitched in to keep their dream afloat.
Credit cards were offered to them to help them with their dream. They got a few drapes, a new couch because they really didn’t have one before, beds for the kids all the things to start out in their new home, not extravagant but sensible. In the interim, Bert got sick and had to have heart surgery in 2007. His job was secure, but there was a long recovery time and many prescriptions and doctor bills that put them into more debt than expected.
All the payments in Mary’s and Bert’s household were being paid. It was a tight stretch but they were making it. Then the housing market crashed in 2009 and the value of their house was now flip flopped. They felt it would come back and they would stay put because they loved their home and they were settled.
Most of their credit cards were at 8-9% which they thought was fair. Then Mary and Bert started getting raises on the interest rates on their credit cards and the lines of credit they acquired when Bert was sick. Now they were at 15-16%; okay that is the way it goes and they would try to pay it off faster. They stopped using their cards, and sent all their payments in on time. Now they got a late notice because of processing on the companies end took 5 extra days, thus a rise in interest occurred. Now they were told what a bad risk they were even though all obligations were current and they paid even more than the minimums requirements.
Mary and Bert sent letters to the companies, made phone calls and were directed to foreign call centers where the answers were vague and of no help. Monthly the rates were accelerating into the stratosphere; 21 to 29% was being accessed routinely because they had credit. Still they paid, with a third of their payments now being interest. Spinning and going nowhere.
The inevitable job lay off hit this family. They looked at the dilemma; flip flopped house mortgage, do they walk away from the house or credit card companies, do they default on them with their ever increasing interest and demands? They saw others on the news shows protesting the credit card companies. “Why don’t they just let us pay these bills at a descent rate and we could still afford to pay our debt. What sense does it make to choke us so we can not pay these bills? Something’s not right here,” Mary surmised in dismay.
They saw the bank bailout in 2009 and Mary and Bert decided to bailout on their credit cards. The bra burning or credit card burning was implemented. Mary uses the word “Shylock’ many times when she talks about the banks referring to the Shakespearean character that wanted an unreasonable pound of flesh for a debt. Bert likes the reaping and sowing concept of the Bible and feels the banks should have extended the mercy given to them. My friends say this with hurt in their eyes about the attempt they made to improve their lives in a once endorsed credit culture that is not there anymore. Mary and Bert are still trying to stay afloat, I wish them well.
New houses and complexes were being built all over the city and county. The City of Cambridge even got into the housing development business. The State of Minnesota sold the City of Cambridge a huge parcel of undeveloped land in the middle of the city extraordinary set of circumstances in city growth. The parcel was used for a driving range for golf in the 90’s run by the State of MN. The rest of the acreage had been used as a State Hospital and was now deemed kaput. Beautiful land running parallel to the Rum River was now open for development and being sold to County and City governments dirt cheap. Many people wanted the City to put a much needed community center on this lovely property but they forsook common sense and went into the real estate business with the rest of areas frenzy for building. Now many of these houses are in foreclosure as week after week in the local paper houses are lost in this area of the city. and half of the development sets vacant. The housing boom has stopped in Isanti County and Cambridge much to the hardship of its citizens.
That is where Mary’s and Bert’s story comes in, they was told they now could afford one of these lovely houses in Cambridge in 2005 with terms of not much money down, this was a dream come true for their family. They loved the new house, never did they have such a nice place with so much room for all 5 of them. Nobody in their family took anything for granted after they purchased this house and they all pitched in to keep their dream afloat.
Credit cards were offered to them to help them with their dream. They got a few drapes, a new couch because they really didn’t have one before, beds for the kids all the things to start out in their new home, not extravagant but sensible. In the interim, Bert got sick and had to have heart surgery in 2007. His job was secure, but there was a long recovery time and many prescriptions and doctor bills that put them into more debt than expected.
All the payments in Mary’s and Bert’s household were being paid. It was a tight stretch but they were making it. Then the housing market crashed in 2009 and the value of their house was now flip flopped. They felt it would come back and they would stay put because they loved their home and they were settled.
Most of their credit cards were at 8-9% which they thought was fair. Then Mary and Bert started getting raises on the interest rates on their credit cards and the lines of credit they acquired when Bert was sick. Now they were at 15-16%; okay that is the way it goes and they would try to pay it off faster. They stopped using their cards, and sent all their payments in on time. Now they got a late notice because of processing on the companies end took 5 extra days, thus a rise in interest occurred. Now they were told what a bad risk they were even though all obligations were current and they paid even more than the minimums requirements.
Mary and Bert sent letters to the companies, made phone calls and were directed to foreign call centers where the answers were vague and of no help. Monthly the rates were accelerating into the stratosphere; 21 to 29% was being accessed routinely because they had credit. Still they paid, with a third of their payments now being interest. Spinning and going nowhere.
The inevitable job lay off hit this family. They looked at the dilemma; flip flopped house mortgage, do they walk away from the house or credit card companies, do they default on them with their ever increasing interest and demands? They saw others on the news shows protesting the credit card companies. “Why don’t they just let us pay these bills at a descent rate and we could still afford to pay our debt. What sense does it make to choke us so we can not pay these bills? Something’s not right here,” Mary surmised in dismay.
They saw the bank bailout in 2009 and Mary and Bert decided to bailout on their credit cards. The bra burning or credit card burning was implemented. Mary uses the word “Shylock’ many times when she talks about the banks referring to the Shakespearean character that wanted an unreasonable pound of flesh for a debt. Bert likes the reaping and sowing concept of the Bible and feels the banks should have extended the mercy given to them. My friends say this with hurt in their eyes about the attempt they made to improve their lives in a once endorsed credit culture that is not there anymore. Mary and Bert are still trying to stay afloat, I wish them well.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Communities Go To Place Shuts Down After 77 Years
After 77 years the Anderson Drug Store in Cambridge closed its doors for the last time on February 11, 2010. Anderson Drug’s history came with a soda fountain which served limeades and ice cream sodas and lots of gossip and news. This is where locals came to hash out the remnants of the day and where high school kids had a job after school creating a great tradition for tales in years to come. People with the names of Chickie, Sonny, and Lou were heard called out when Don, Charlie, or Jim the three owners needed their help. The staff was always gracious and cheerful to all that came in for their wares or a tidbit of the local news.
Fridays were big for gathering information because that is when the farmers came in to do their shopping and swap stories about the crops, potato bugs, other farmers who had uneven planted rows, or they’d talk about a new piece of machinery that was purchased by a rogue farmer and then surmised how rich they were to purchase that. The Mayor of Cambridge would have his own time and stool at the counter to talk about his community insights to the cronies. State politicians would walk through and shake hands when they were campaigning, and if time permitted.sit at the soda fountain awhile to gather votes.
In 2006 Anderson Drug Store moved to a smaller more efficient store still downtown, but where there was no soda fountain to sit around. Charlie and Jim had sold it to an outside company; Don Anderson the founder had died years before this and they now wanted to retire. The new store seemed homey in the old Hardies building on the corner which they beautifully remodeled. They now had a drive up window courtesy of the former tenants. Because Kevin the Pharmacist was from Cambridge and Dave the Pharmacist Manager was a fine fit we all felt it was okay, local life was continuing.
It was nice going in there and seeing a smiling face you knew and you could still chat about the community. You see in Cambridge to be considered a true local you need 20 years under your belt to be taken seriously. The new owners by keeping all the same counter help made all the locals feel better that our community roots were intact even if the big box stores were crushing in all around us.
The big boss that bought Anderson Drug lives in Texas. He decided one day to sell. Done, finished, sold he gave the staff a 6 days’ notice. All prescriptions were sold and moved to Walgreen's which is out of downtown close to the other big box stores. The newly remodeled building would now be put up for sale. No warning. We were told by a worker that there was no severance pay for the counter workers and techs many of them have worked there over 20 years. The worst of the closing was that it happened so fast and the community could not say goodbye. Big business once again wins with its huge profits gods being fed and its un-ceremonial dismissal of people.
For the community of Cambridge, Anderson Drug Store was a place where you got your news, where you saw friends, bought birthday cards, talked to local politicians and felt a part of a community. I guess everything has to move on with the times, but sometimes it painful for the soul of the community to lose part of its identity.
Fridays were big for gathering information because that is when the farmers came in to do their shopping and swap stories about the crops, potato bugs, other farmers who had uneven planted rows, or they’d talk about a new piece of machinery that was purchased by a rogue farmer and then surmised how rich they were to purchase that. The Mayor of Cambridge would have his own time and stool at the counter to talk about his community insights to the cronies. State politicians would walk through and shake hands when they were campaigning, and if time permitted.sit at the soda fountain awhile to gather votes.
In 2006 Anderson Drug Store moved to a smaller more efficient store still downtown, but where there was no soda fountain to sit around. Charlie and Jim had sold it to an outside company; Don Anderson the founder had died years before this and they now wanted to retire. The new store seemed homey in the old Hardies building on the corner which they beautifully remodeled. They now had a drive up window courtesy of the former tenants. Because Kevin the Pharmacist was from Cambridge and Dave the Pharmacist Manager was a fine fit we all felt it was okay, local life was continuing.
It was nice going in there and seeing a smiling face you knew and you could still chat about the community. You see in Cambridge to be considered a true local you need 20 years under your belt to be taken seriously. The new owners by keeping all the same counter help made all the locals feel better that our community roots were intact even if the big box stores were crushing in all around us.
The big boss that bought Anderson Drug lives in Texas. He decided one day to sell. Done, finished, sold he gave the staff a 6 days’ notice. All prescriptions were sold and moved to Walgreen's which is out of downtown close to the other big box stores. The newly remodeled building would now be put up for sale. No warning. We were told by a worker that there was no severance pay for the counter workers and techs many of them have worked there over 20 years. The worst of the closing was that it happened so fast and the community could not say goodbye. Big business once again wins with its huge profits gods being fed and its un-ceremonial dismissal of people.
For the community of Cambridge, Anderson Drug Store was a place where you got your news, where you saw friends, bought birthday cards, talked to local politicians and felt a part of a community. I guess everything has to move on with the times, but sometimes it painful for the soul of the community to lose part of its identity.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Minnesotans trounce January and Fighting February.
Minnesotans trounce January and Fighting February. There was no whining this last January 2010 as Minnesotans took on the weather with relish. Snow fell like scoopfuls in December at Christmas time. There were not many complaints as many embraced the quiet of a beautiful snow gilded landscape. East Central Minnesotans were polled on slippery snow banks on the corner of their street how they fared this January. Neighbors seized the opportunity of weather stories such as frozen pipes, slippery sidewalk spills, smashed in fenders, and collapsed roofs telling how they put these setbacks in prospective. They have seen worse and they are forging ahead to a spring outlook.
The end of December the big snowstorm came and went and we of the North Star State waited for the Big Chill with baited icy breath. The Chill whipped 20 to 25 below after the 1st of January and lasted awhile. It looked like we were heading for the record book, which grizzly Minnesotans love to talk about breaking; but alas it got too mild in mid-January to put any tally marks up. Chris Shaffer weather blog from WCCO reported the Big Chill came back at the end of January trying to give us a spanking, but we blew it off when we went into February. The real demise in record setting came with our snow fall; we did not have any significant snow as Kare 11 has reported on Groundhog Day about the January shortfall. We were cold but no significant snow fell in the usually snowiest month of the year.
Minnesota's demeanor is filled with overcoming; some call it brain freeze, with our ice fishing contest, snow carnivals, winter parades, snow sports and our travel stories about driving during a snow storm. A social and meeting time is snow blowing and helping shovel the sidewalks on a Saturday morning. Stories are swapped about local news and then back to the igloo for nourishment. The stories are then retold to the family with hopes that things will go better for the ones that have been bit by the cold of January.
This year many pipes have busted on houses kept at 50 degrees with no one living there as reported by Servicemaster representative. This happened across the street from me in
These property losses costs make Minnesotans a little weak in the knees; but they brace up and continue on the trail, steadfast to face the next January in 2011. After all the Groundhog on February 2nd may not always be right; spring is within sight for many of the true overcomers from the North.
Friday, January 22, 2010
What makes a blog a blog? It’s in a vein of reporting events as one sees it without a required job or degree in needing to be published. It is similar to the letter to the editor in a newspaper forum where people share and give their opinions on the activities of a community.
Although, my last letter to the editor in my home town paper was changed by the editor in the Summer of 09. I had put a letter in about my stolen 3 pound dog in an editorial and I was using strong guilt tripping language to get my dog back, nothing abusive, just intense and thought provoking. The editor called me and said he could not put it in as it stood, so I allowed him to change the flavor to vanilla. I believe a blog can use stronger but respectful language to make a point and not be censured.
My most energizing thing right now about blogging is the unknown. How does this really work? Who will submit? Are there regular contributors? I know my class will but who else is out there? I think the unknown quantity is energizing.
I think the most challenging for me and other new bloggers is will I have something to talk about that interest anyone? My conversations interest my family and good friends; they have to put up with my inane thoughts because they love me. This will be definitely a challenge to find the right topics to blog about. Hopefully I started out on the right foot.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Bergwall
Hi My name is Barbara. I am glad to be starting this new journalism class on the net at Anoka Ramsey Community College.
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