In a sign that the Roseville City Council race is heating up, candidate Jason Etten today refuted a mail flyer about him that he says is "dishonest" and "misleading."
A group calling itself "People for a Voice" has mailed out a flyer to residents that contends "Roseville Can't Afford Jason Etten." It blames Etten, the Parks and Recreation Commission chairman, for the city adopting a $19.5 million bond sale for a "parks renewal program" without giving citizens the chance to vote on the issue."
The literature also contends Etten wants to establish a Park Board that would have taxing authority and institute a local sales tax "so we can pay more to shop near our homes."
In response to what he calls an "attack flyer," Etten said today (Monday), "The flyer is dishonest, misleading, and attacks me for decisions I did not and could not make."
Etten is in a four-way for two seats on the Roseville Council. The other candidates are: Bill Hoffman, Lisa Laliberte and Karen Schaffer. The general election is next Tuesday, Nov. 6.
The following is Etten's response to the flyer:
"Dear Friends and Supporters,
Over the weekend many of you received a negative mail piece about me from an unknown group called “People for a Voice.” It is unfortunate for the citizens of Roseville that others involved in this City Council campaign have chosen to take the campaign in a negative direction.
The flyer is dishonest, misleading, and attacks me for decisions I did not and could not make.
Chairman Has No Power on Taxing
It deceptively implies that I as Chair of the Park and Recreation Commission have the power to tax and spend at will. The truth is that the Chair has no power whatsoever over taxing and spending, but rather serves as a volunteer who gathers ideas and input from citizens and makes recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Department and the City Council.
I do believe in the importance of our Roseville parks. I grew up in this community and chose to move back here to raise my family because I believe it is a great place to live. I volunteered to serve as Chair of the Park and Recreation Commission because I want to ensure Roseville continues to be a great place to live.
Our parks are an essential resource in our community, bringing tremendous value to all of our citizens. They enhance our quality of life, attract people to the community and increase our property values.
In my time working with the Park and Recreation Commission I have had the great privilege of working with hundreds of citizens of Roseville on a vision for our Parks and Recreation system now and into the future. Part of this process involved identifying the most critical investments needed in our Parks and Recreation system in the near future, and the end product of this work was the proposed Park Renewal Program.
This process was so thorough and comprehensive that even the City Council members who eventually voted against the program held up our citizen engagement as an example for our city.
Explanation on Park Renewal Program
The Park Renewal Program we proposed focuses primarily on much-needed maintenance for our current park resources, per the feedback of our citizens in a survey done in 2011. It also includes funds for our sidewalk and trail system, the number one new priority of citizens according to the survey.
When we brought the Park Renewal Program to the City Council we proposed bringing the program to voters through a citizen referendum. The Council decided to use city-issued bonds to fund the program instead of a referendum. I was not involved in this decision and had no control over the actions of the Council. I recognize it was and remains a controversial decision.
I do believe we need to make investments in our parks. The annual funds available for taking care of our parks infrastructure has declined substantially over the years -- from $250,000 in 1990 to only $40,000 in 2012. Many of the projects that citizens prioritized in the Park Renewal Program have built up over years and are past due. The average Roseville home will pay about $6 per month for this work.
If elected it will be my goal to work closely with the citizens of Roseville to do what is best for our entire city. I will work to ensure we have a safe city that provides excellent services for your tax dollars. I will be an advocate for the wise use of tax payer dollars.
Finally, I want to extend my sincerest thanks for your continued support. The support I have received from all of you on this journey has been incredible and humbling. I promise that if I am elected next week I will be an honest leader focused on what is best for the people of Roseville.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at any time. Also, feel free to forward this message to others if you feel it would help the community discussion or dispel misinformation.
Jason"
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This is politics at its worst. Whether it is Jason, Lisa, Karen, or Bill (or any race for that matter) this is childish and a slap in the face to the citizens of Roseville. Shame on whoever did this. Argue the facts, and better yet, put your real name on it if you want to make such statements.
I actually find Etten's press release to be the questionable statement in this whole thing. Etten makes a false statement in his press release when he claims the flyer is "dishonest, misleading, and attacks me for decisions I did not and could not make". I'm reading the flyer right now and it clearly talks about "leadership" of Etten, not votes that he has taken. It says what he supports or what he has proposed with his "leadership". While I haven't checked every statement in this mailer, they all appear to be accurate and nothing Etten says in his statement says otherwise. Etten's statement about having no power of taxation has nothing to do with what the mailing states. It questions his leadership. That is fair game. Etten completely avoids addressing the $775,000 being spent on the park across the street from his home. That is pretty telling. I have to presume that this is fact, based upon his response. That dollar amount seems reasonable considering the size of his proposal. While Etten is correct that he did not vote on the bonds, I don't recall him ever speaking in favor of a referendum. I believe he went right along with the 3-2 vote to issue the port authority bonds with no voter approval. Again, the piece may sting, but it appears to be spot on.
The fact is that it doesn't say that. It says that under his leadership, there is $775,000 for improvements to the park across the street from his home. That statement doesn't seem unreasonable. I presume it is right there in that parks report. A direct attack? Since when is printing someone's record an attack? I presume that if someone would have printed that he gave out candy to children, that would be ok, but if he supports borrowing millions that this is an attack? I am just amazed how screwed up society is these days. Point out anything that is truthful, or appears truthful, but is damaging to a candidate, and that is an attack, shame on you. I wish people would grow up and start acting like adults. They say politics is a contact sport. That is true. If you can't take some ribbing about your leadership record, then don't bother running.
I don't even know where any of the candidates live. I have no idea what park they are talking about. Why don't you fill us in. What isn't truthful? Are you saying that Etten doesn't live across the street from a park? Or are you saying that the park he lives across the street from was written up for $0 in improvements? Un-screwed up? Come on. Get real.
John Baker
While some will no doubt make contact sport analogies and call me (and people like me) "childish," I am not ashamed of my preferences. I'd prefer to see a kind intellectual rather than a gamesman in office. I'd prefer to see more politicians, and their supporters, simply refuse to act in rude/sarcastic/demeaning, and highly manipulative, ways. That would be refreshing. I resent the fact that kind people are often so turned off to political engagement because they can hardly tolerate the aggressive, disrespectful and uncharitable motives of so many who become enthralled in the gamesmenship. If we are driven to publically propose concerns/accusations with a candidate, then it seems only civil to state them candidly, along with the sources, and reveal our names so that we (too) are accountable to civil discourse. Kris ("Kristin Klamm-Doneen")
Obviously it worked in 2010. Among Roseville's many rewards for electing the "right" candidate(s) is that we get a 24-hour Walmart! I will be supporting Jason Etten, but not for reasons of this mailer. I don't expect him to win though.
This mailing about Etten isn't "fear-mongering". The statements made are to the point. I believe there is a solid basis in fact in every statement made. I attended these public hearings, and watched several more meetings on TV, and also read many of the packets. If any of you actually did this, you would see that the statements made are not unreasonable. Like I said before, I haven't fact checked them to make sure they are correct dollar for dollar, but they are in line with what I know about the situation. Maybe Clone has a point. The mailings two years ago got us Wal-Mart. If you elect Etten, you will get millions of dollars more of spending without voter approval using this BS Port Authority scam process.
I spoke out about City Manager Beets' illegal waiver of penalties for businesses that sold booze to kids. Mayor Klausing attacked me, the messenger, for bringing forward the emails between the City Manager and the Police Chief that implicated the City Manager. The City Manager immediately started job hunting and left shortly thereafter. When people see their government treat messengers like this, no wonder they are driven to speak anonymously.
@Tony - How can this be "fact checked" when most of what's in there is opinion? You said yourself it was a recommendation of city staff to purchase bonds and not Jason or any committee. If you or anyone else is angry about the bonds, be angry with those who had the power to make it happen. Jason and the others just did the leg work on how to improve the parks. Holding them guilty for the bonds is not fair. Again, I don't care which candidate this is for or against. Everything in that mailing is an opinion (yes, John... opinion and not fact). It has a very negative tone and coupled with the fact it was sent from some faceless organization makes it really juvenile. Whatever happened to campaigning on the issues the candidate believes in? Why do some feel it is perfectly ok to anonymously attack candidates instead? This was NOT the politics of our forefathers. This is like junior high and it makes me sick. By the way, John, I know you will reply because you always HAVE to have the last word in any argument...
Kevin, you can easily fact check most if not all of what is on that card. Is Etten in a leadership position on this issue. That one is an easy YES. How much is the park plan? Easy to verify. Where does Etten live? Easy to verify. Does he live across the street from a park? Easy to verify. Is money being invested in the park across the street from his house? Easy to verify. How much? Easy to verify. Kevin, better check the definition of opinion vs. fact. If that piece is pure opinion, then you must think that the national debt is an opinion also. Kevin, this is campaigning on the issues. Why not ask these candidates why they don't have a real debate on the issues rather than these softball LWV forums that generally tell us little. If you think that politics wasn't rough years ago, brush up on early 19th and 20th century history at the U of M. Take some classes from Prof. Berman. I generally reply because I am sitting at the computer and really hate it when people spread misinformation and make ridiculous statements. Kind of a pet peeve of mine.
I can say that I have no knowledge of Mr. Etten's opinion about having a park board. (Mr. Kysylyczyn has noted some benefits.) I think Mr. Etten supports pursuing a local sales tax (which requires a referendum), but I'll let him speak for himself on that. And, while it is factual that one of the parks that will has projects funded by the bonding is near Mr. Etten's home, I am not sure what relevance that has unless there is some sort of implication of improper involvement of Mr. Etten in those decisions - I have heard no suggestions of that other than possibly in this flier. Additionally, at this point, no decisions have been made about which other projects in the Park Master Plan may be pursued, when they might be pursued, how much they might cost, or how they might be funded. It is difficult for me to predict at this time how Mr. Etten - or any other candidate or current councilmember, including myself - may vote on those decisions. Every voter should do the best they can to understand what are facts and what is implied in all campaign related information they receive, and weigh their choices based on their best judgement as to each candidate's abilities, outlook, and objectives.
And it's cowardly. Try googling "People for a Voice" and see if you find anything relevant. Honestly, it's BS like this that turns a lot of people off politics, and causes many of them to simply stay home. That's one reason why we get elections like 2010 that brought out mainly winger partisans.
Honesty and integrity are and will be in the eyes of the beholder with these weighty decisions going forward. We do have 4 descent candidates to fill 2 seats on council. Which candidates will be the most effective you say? Again, you be the judge.
ROSEVILLE CITIZENS: WE CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE MR. JASON ETTEN SERVE ON THE ROSEVILLE CITY COUNCIL!!!