Time for a change

Roseville has the highest per-capita taxes among Ramsey County suburbs. But Roseville’s 2026 Community Survey revealed that Roseville’s high taxes are not paying off. Residents’ former Excellent rating of the city’s general appearance and Park and Recreation facilities’ condition has sagged. Residents also think that taxes are too high and that high taxes are the most serious issue in Roseville.

Not surprisingly, fewer residents Strongly Approve of the mayor and city council now compared to 8 years ago.

This fall, Roseville residents have the chance to influence change.

Speak up now against the city council’s misinterpretation of the voters’ split decision on the 2024 tax-and-spend referenda. Mayor Dan Roe and Council Members Wayne Groff and Julie Strahan, all long-time incumbents and a common majority voting group, ignored voters’ rejection of raising the sales tax for a license-passport center.

Design is in progress for a $14.5 million license-passport center-dance studio building. Financing? Undetermined! But we know what that means — and it isn’t bake sales.

Vote this fall, Roseville, for the compelling challengers to the long-time incumbents in mayor and council elections. The 2024 referendum vote didn’t make an impression on the city council. But the 2026 mayor and council member elections could.

— Melinda Erickson, Roseville

Public libraries, public dividends

As Dakota County commissioners weigh budget trade-offs for the upcoming fiscal year, public safety, infrastructure and property tax stabilization naturally dominate the conversation. However, as local taxpayers, we must be exceptionally clear about where cuts should not fall: our public library system.

Dakota County Library is not a bloated government program needing a trim. It is already one of the leanest public operations in the state. Targeting this system with cuts that eliminate nearly a dozen staff positions and shutter our libraries on Sundays and Thursday evenings would directly degrade the community infrastructure our families rely on.

Consider the numbers: Dakota County spends $6 less per resident on its libraries than the statewide library system average. It operates with 0.31 full-time equivalent staff members per 1,000 residents, compared to the Minnesota average of 0.36. By every metric, county leadership has delivered an exceptionally efficient operation.

Yet despite operating on a lean budget, the library yields massive benefits for our community.

For generations, the library has served as a doorway where parents first introduce their children to the vast universe of reading. Immersed in a world of books, toys, and new friends, a child exploring the library shelves takes their first steps toward a lifetime of curiosity and literacy. We took our daughter to Donell’s Story Time at Wentworth Library and made lifelong friends. This foundational experience is reflected in the numbers: two in three Dakota County residents hold a library card, generating 1.56 million in-person visits annually, with children’s and teen events accounting for 81% of all program attendance.

Beyond fostering young readers, the library provides an estimated $2 million in direct economic value to local entrepreneurs and small businesses through access to technology, meeting spaces, and research tools. It delivers crucial public health and workforce infrastructure — hosting job fairs, providing digital access, and offering developmental disability programming. The library is a digital lifeline, offering free technology, internet access, and patient guidance to everyone from local seniors to ambitious students. Within its walls, digital equity transforms into real-world opportunity.

When times are tight, trimming an inefficient department makes sense. Cutting an already hyper-efficient core service that two-thirds of our residents rely on does not save taxpayer money — it simply degrades a community resource. Volunteer groups and private donations work hard to fund extra summer reading materials and special programming, but private charity cannot replace essential public operating hours and professional staffing.

Our commissioners face real budget headwinds, but cutting Dakota County Library services would be a false economy. Decisions like these are decided by who shows up. Before the county board sets the tax levy cap on Sept. 22, your commissioner needs to hear directly from you. Send them a quick message this week urging them to protect library hours and prevent staff layoffs. Local voices are the only thing that will keep these doors open on Sundays and Thursday nights.

— Nikhil Joglekar, West St. Paul; the writer serves on the Dakota County Library Foundation Board and the Friends of Wentworth Library Board.

No guarantees

Every generation seems to have it’s big bad Boogie Man lurking right around the corner, waiting to pounce and do us in. I and my fellow boomers had to practice sheltering from the atomic bomb, huddling in hallways or under our desks. “OK kids, let’s hide from the fire ball under some dry wood.”

Then later, 25 years ago, we were awakened to the very real threat of terrorism and how vulnerable we really where, leading us to increase security through surveillance and diminished personal freedoms. Only to be T-boned by the crisis of COVID. Was this to be the brave new future, where the only winners were cockroaches and viruses?

But we survived using the still controversial Recombinant RNA — just to come face to face with a dangerous new intelligence. It is not extraterrestrial but very terrestrial. Created by us, but not us. It is that precocious infant called AI. Reports from researchers in the know, who don’t know, tell us we could have no more then 10 years left, before that infant reaches murderous maturation and we’ll be no more. I guess I don’t need to pay extra for that 15-year guarantee on the new roof. The cockroaches won’t care.

— Bob Emery, Mendota Heights

Praise for ‘back to school’

I have to comment on Mark Glende’s article on “First Day of School” (Sept. 10). I am still laughing and rereading the story. I was a preschool special-ed teacher for over 40 years, retired and kept going back as a sub. I can relate to Mark’s comments and quotes from kids. I’ll bet those kids loved him!

I really miss the beginning of the school year and so appreciate the teachers and staff who are there to greet those kids. The world needs more people like Mark who can see the joy and promise in these kids.

Thank you Mark, for such a delightful outlook on life!

— Anne Dudley