97% Paved

Here’s an example of our City government’s failure to provide Core Services first:

Minneapolis has about 6 remaining miles of oil-and-dirt roads, although discussions are underway to finish off some of them, officials there said.

"There's no question that in a city such as Minneapolis that prides itself on being a beautiful and modern city, the idea there are places where streets have never been paved is obviously unacceptable," said City Council Member Paul Ostrow. "I personally was surprised when I learned it. ... How can we have streets that have never been paved?"
…
Minneapolis embarked on a program to pave all residential streets -- about 700 miles worth -- starting in the mid-1960s, said Mike Kennedy, director of transportation maintenance and repair for Minneapolis Public Works. That program ended in the late 1990s, he said.

"We probably got 97 percent of all of them.”

The story is from 2007, and the City has plans to finish the job by 2014. Unless they decide ballparks and water fountains are more important.

It is a further disappointment to note that the majority of those unpaved streets are on the Eastside, in the First Ward.

Providing competent Core Services means that all our streets and alleys get paved. And maintained. Let’s get to 100% before we hand any more subsidies to foreign corporations and their shiny new headquarters.