The Sky Is Not Falling....Moody's assigns A2 Rating to Bemidji's Outstanding General Obligation Improvement Bonds
Contrary to what you will probably hear during the upcoming City elections, the financial health of the City of Bemidji seems to be outstanding. This weeks City of Bemidji newsletter contains a report from Ron Eischens, City Finance Director, from Moody's Investors Services of New York written by several of their analysts. Moody's is the premiere service used nationally to investigate and inform the financial community as to the value/risk of companies and governmental bodies issuing bonds. Bemidji received an A2 rating on their $27.5 million dollars of outstanding debt. (For comparison's sake...Beltrami County is rated A2....Bemidji ISD is rated Baa1)
Several council people and naysayers have taken on the argument that the EVENT CENTER/SOUTHSHORE PROJECT bonding and tax burden will be the absolute demise of the future of the City of Bemidji. Moody's, looking at this with no local influence, does not support this view. The report states:
"Despite significant future borrowing plans, Moody's expects the city's debt levels to remain affordable, given expectations for continued tax base growth and alternate sources of support for general obligation debt, including special assessments, tax increment revenues, and sales tax revenues. The city is planning to issue $40 million in sales tax bonds and $6 million in TIF bonds in late 2008 or early 2009 for construction of the regional event center. Although the bonds are expected to be secured by the city's general obligation unlimited tax pledge, debt service will be paid from sales tax revenue and tax increment revenues."
Another section of the report is titled "Stable Financial Operations With Healthy Reserves and Alternative Liquidity." In this section the following is stated...
"Moody's believes the city's financial position will remain stable due to well-managed operations, ample reserves, and alternate liquidity. The city's General Fund balance has increased steadily in recent years, from $3.9 million in fiscal 2003 to $5.4 million in fiscal 2007. City management reports that the General Fund is expected to post an estimated $200,000 surplus at the close of fiscal 2008."
Not only does it give the approval of the current operations, but gives a relatively optimistic view of the area for the next upcoming years. It states that "Bemidji's medium sized $793 million dollar tax base will continue to grow at a relatively rapid pace due to the city's role as a REGIONAL hub for surrounding communities in Northern Minnesota."
Please print out this blog and have it handy for the next 120 days. As stated earlier several potential Mayor and Council candidates will use the argument that the "sky is falling" because of financial concerns over the Event Center/Southshore project. They will tell you about the burden upon this community for years to come and operational costs and blah, blah, blah... The bottom line is the financial numbers point to a strong, secure financial picture for the City even with this project.Funding for the entire project is committed and in place. The confidence and commitment shown on this project by MOST of our current City government officials is applauded and has now been acknowledged as being on solid ground. Operational and design issues are currently being addressed and resolved . Do not let the "BOO" birds dissolution the positiveness that even New York outsiders such as Moody's can see.
Posted by: bemidjimike on 8/05/2008 at 9:28 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Another Piece of Useless Infomation ....SUPERHEROINES
Don't ask me how my wife and I got on this subject...but the question came up regarding "Female Superheroes". And the question posed to you my good reader is this....once your past WONDERWOMAN, can you name another Superheroine??
I have to admit, I was pretty much shut down by my wife by this question. Does the BIONIC WOMAN qualify as a heroine? I guess when I think of Superheroes, I immediately think of movies or television. But in reality, most Superheroes start off in the comic book world...a world which I am not familiar with. And in looking into this world....I have to tell you that some of it is pretty scarry.
The comic world has all sorts of female Superheroes....but virtually all of them are more Villiainesses and more bad than good. And they have a strong dose of sex thrown in for good measure. And the names say it all....Black Canary, Electra, Medusa, Phoenix, Wasp, and Luna (now I know where all the good wrestling and WFC names come from).
All great Superheroes have some common features. Of course they need to have some sort of extraordinary power or abilities. In many cases they have a distinct costume, a number of enemies that they fight on a regular basis, some sort of supporting cast that help them combat evil, and an overall moral character for the betterment of good vrs evil. Many of the uniforms include a mask, and sometimes a symbol or visual icon. And of course they have to have some sort of secret headquarters or base of operations.
My definition of Superheroes goes a little farther. Wouldn't you consider Popeye the Sailor a Superhero? How about Dudley Do Right? He wore a costume and was always saving Nell from near death. And how about his faithful horse whom Nell loved as his companion. There is Underdog (saving Penny)....and of course Mighty Mouse. Would you consider Tarzan a hero?? How about the Lone Ranger and Tonto? Of course on TV there was Batman, Superman, and don't forget the Green Hornet.
But I am straying here. Lets go back to the origninal premise. Why are there no Superheroines? Are women so stereotyped in our society that the general populace cannot accept a female hero? It might be. We still cannot get over the hump in electing a female president...right? To me as a businessperson, it sounds like an opportunity to market and develop a female heroine. And not one of those cheesy comic book sex pots.
Attached is two great YOUTUBE clips. One is a great segment where BATMAN AND ROBIN are walking up the side of the building and have an encounter with KATO and THE GREEN HORNET. The other is a super clip of our all around hero MIGHTY MOUSE! (PS...do you the singing group who does Mighty Mouse's Theme Song??) Enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUuv_fEJMpI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYpBoYa4pno
Posted by: bemidjimike on 7/31/2008 at 9:42 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
And You Thought Getting A Beer Here Was Difficult...try Utah!!
My son, who recently graduated from Michigan Tech, has relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah to work in a large copper mine. It doesn't surprise me at all that he enjoys the area. With him being an outdoor enthusiast, Utah offers a wide variety of skiing, mountain climbing, rafting and hiking opportunities. The one thing he has come to find out is it does not offer a 22 year old a lot of alcoholic beverage opportunities.
Of course Salt Lake City and the entire state of Utah is heavily influenced by the Mormon religion. And no where is this felt more than in its laws concerning drinking. For example... to start with there is no cold beer sold in package stores in the State of Utah. Its all warm. After all ...cold beer would promote drinking, which is not something they want to promote.
Next thing is all beverage establishments are considered "private clubs" and in order to drink at the establishment you must be a member of the club. There is an application to fill out. This prevents people from just showing up and going from bar to bar to bar on a drinking binge. Once you are a member of the club...you are allowed one drink per person. Under no circumstances can you walk up to a bar and order 3 drinks...one for your friend and one for your spouse. Each person must individually order each of their drinks all the time.
He also tells me that there is a law that prevents drinking establishments from serving pitchers of beer. Its individual glasses or bottles only. Again after all pitchers promote binge drinking. And of course there is certainly no "happy hours" or 2 for 1 's or ladies nites or any of the such.
It would certainly be interesting to compare their statistics to some of ours in regards to drunk driving and alcoholism. I do not disagree with their strategy and as long as everyone has to abide by the same rules, nobody has a business advantage. It certainly is tough though on a new 22 year old college graduate! Welcome to the real world!!
Posted by: bemidjimike on 7/28/2008 at 9:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink