St. Croix Falls to Become Commune

The St. Croix Falls Mayor, last seen leaving county employ with a spanking new tax-payer funded Masters degree, is now laying the groundwork for a sustainable community based on the religious theories of "peak oil" and "climate change."

According to the Polk County Ledger (not available online!), the mayor "started his speech out by pointing out that the human race is a visitor to the planet and 'we are entitled to nothing.'" The city, however, is entitled to "leverage up" when "big box" retailers come to town. In other words, squeeze every last dime out of them, and dictate to the largest degree possible business practices (wages, number of employees, purchasing, etc.) and hope like crazy they don't decide to simply go elsewhere.

Citizens are encouraged to prepare for peak oil and climate change by "switching to LED lighting, eating local produced food, drinking from the tap, installing renewable energy systems, walk, bike, carp0ol, live closer to town, use non-motorized boats, etc."

Interestingly enough, the last person to try putting up a renewable energy system (wind turbine) was practically run out of town by many of the very same people promoting the mayor's new growth plan.

Given the attention being paid to the sustainable growth issue, one might think the citizens were clamoring for it. Not according to a city poll, which asked what respondents would change about the the city if they could:

•Make it affordable to live here. Property taxes are too high!!
•Sell city owned lands to help taxes.
•Property taxes are way too high out here! I appreciate the mill rate going down, but the bill is outrageous!
•Decrease taxes they are outrageous and I don’t see the benefit of paying them.
•Implement tax breaks for energy efficient homeowners.

So, when is the symposium on how the city can cut taxes?

Another response tends to speak to the takeover of St. Croix Falls by hippies; suggested improvements for government officials:

•Less politics and self interest groups.
•All the ---holes who think that they have a right to enforce their poorly conceived ideas.

As a Minnesota resident, it is my sincerest hope St. Croix Falls continues to pursue a "commune by the river." As taxes, the cost of food, goods, and services, increase, and growth is chased away for lack of strict adherence to city "green" doctrine, perhaps it will come over here and lower our tax burden.