Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Dave Thune's Office Responds
Here the e-mail from Thune's legislative aide Patricia Lindgren : The only items I redacted are her e-mail address and the telephone number that were included in her e-mail:
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:47:47 -0600
From: "Patricia Lindgren"
To: "david drake"
Subject: Re: Spurning Fabulous Fern's
Unsurprisingly, you and Jason have your facts wrong - again. This was a party just for the City Council. The employees of the City of St. Paul can hold their holiday party anywhere they choose. There are hundreds of fine eating establishments all over the city whose owners have not exhibited their own petulant behavior. We have chosen to spend our own private dollars (there is no city funding for holiday parties) where the owners have not been belligerent toward us. And where they stock a ready supply of mooring rope.
Pat Lindgren
Ward 2 City Council Aide for Councilman Dave Thune
310B City Hall
But how can Lindgren accurately write - about me - that I have "my facts wrong - again"? Are you familiar with what I write here, Ms. Lindgren? Feel free to let me know what other "facts" I have gotten wrong. You won't find any, Ma'am.
However...note her second to the last sentence: "We have chosen to spend our private dollars (there is no city funding for holiday parties) where the owners have not been belligerent toward us. "
Belligerent or not, those business people pay taxes. Thune and his staff apparently take this very personally, that a private business owner campaigned against Thune's re-election bid. So much for democracy in Thune's narrow world, eh?
"Toothy Grin" is an amusing fellow. In August 2007, he called a proposed 14% tax hike on the citizens of St. Paul, "...probably the most courageous budget message I've ever heard."
In August 2006, "Toothy" said of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's proposed tax hike, "It show[s] more courage and imagination than any budget I've seen in the last 20 years." A "courage[ous]" and "imagina[tive]" tax hike? I will repeat now what I wrote then: it doesn't take courage or imagination to raise taxes. It takes courage and imagination to REDUCE TAXES. But then, "Toothy Grin" has never met a tax hike or increase in fees that he didn't piddle himself in his pants over.
And in January 2006, speaking about the No-Smoking Ban in bars and restaurants in St. Paul, "Toothy Grin" told bar owners, "I say [to the bar owners] Trust Me".
Trust you to what, Toothy...snub their businesses because they don't fully agree with your political bent?
I guess it's okay to bully around business owners who disagree with your politics and who campaign against you as long as they continue to pay exorbitant taxes and the city council spends private money on where to host their holiday parties.
I'm at least moderately surprised to see that Ms. Lindgren has a sense of humor about the Mooring Rope. I mean, what else could Thune possibly use as Dental Floss?
And although the original link to the local story has been removed - and I will find a cache of it in due time - let's recall that in 2006, "Toothy" himself was in violation of at least seven housing code violations:
St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune has been cited for seven code violations at his Irvine Park home, found in the wake of the city's controversial effort to demolish a condemned North End house.
A correction notice for Thune's home at 26 Irvine Park was issued Monday and lists a number of conditions that Thune and his wife, Susan, must rectify by March 13. A variety of other window repair, painting, carpentry and masonry projects must be completed by July 1.
"Note: Please continue to make progress on rehab of structure," the letter to the council member says.
Thune was officially notified after city inspector Mike Cassidy visited his home Friday in response to pictures of the house posted on the Internet.
"All of this stuff is on our 'to-do list,' and we're working on it constantly," Thune said Tuesday after hearing of the notice.
UPDATE: HERE is the cache story on Dave "Toothy Grin" Thune's housing violation codes from 2006.
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Labels: Can't Stop Spending, No Smoking, St. Tumbleweed, Thune
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