SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - APRIL 15, 2019
“MARK KENNEDY is a proven leader with a diverse set of skills and experiences in higher education, government and business that will allow him to build on the considerable success CU has experienced in recent years and take the university to even greater heights.” — Sue Sharkey, chair of the U. of Colorado Board of Regents, announcing that Kennedy was the sole finalist in their search for a new president. Kennedy said he will be “sorry to leave UND.” His term as president at UND was stormy, yet included some significant successes.
THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND of Kennedy was especially attractive to the Colorado regents. Kennedy had been a U.S. Representative from Minnesota. CU has multiple campuses and struggles for funding — the state ranks poorly for funding for higher education. A CU spokesman said, “Working with the Legislature and the governor will be important.” He also noted, “The University of Colorado is obviously considerably bigger than the University of North Dakota, but we feel like his experience in Congress and in business will really prepare him well for an enterprise of the size and complexity of ours.”
RACIST MISOGYNISTS Kennedy was accused of effectively using that language to describe people in ND who were critical of his decision to allow his black, female chief of staff to work remotely from Texas. The accusation came from GF City Council President Dana Sande upon learning of Kennedy’s interview with a Boulder, Colorado, newspaper. Other officials made similar criticisms. Jim Poolman, a former ND Insurance Commissioner and member of the search committee that hired Kennedy, said he told Kennedy, “If you’re going to leave, leave gracefully.”
MIXED BLESSING A finance professor at Dickinson State said “North Dakota can’t, or shouldn’t rather, build its economic base around oil” — he believes an oil economy can be hard to live with. Dr. Charles Conrick IV said “the prosperity generated during the boom is often far undermined by the economic hardships faced following a bust.” He noted that when oil prices dropped to $40 a barrel, ND’s budget went with it.
FLYING RELICS “New missiles, new helicopters, new facilities at Minot AFB – all positive news AND investments that we back 100 percent. These are worthy, essential improvements.” — Minot Daily News editorial response to a visit to Minot by AF Gen. Stephen Wilson who said, “There won’t be one aspect (of the base) that isn’t modernized.” This includes new engines for the AF’s 76 B-52s extending their lives to 100 years. That’s right, the aircraft went into service in the 1950s and the new engines are to keep them flying through 2050. Minot is the only AFB with duel missions — nuclear missiles and bombers.
EVICTION Huwe the House Mover lifted the old Ward County courthouse onto a trailer as part of the relocation of Pioneer Village from the State Fairgrounds in Minot. The county historical society lost a battle with the State Fair and is taking its buildings to Burlington, about 10 miles north. The historical society needs money to move and reestablish — they hope to receive a state appropriation of about $250,000.
RISING RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES What are residential property values in a mid-sized ND city? The average selling price of a Jamestown residence in 2018 was $167,000, up from $100,000 in 2011. The 2018 sales value of all taxable property in Jamestown is about $1 billion, an increase of about five percent during the last year.
ALTERNATIVES TO PRISON In the decade from 2005 to 2014 ND’s population increased 14 percent while its prison population increased 32 percent. An unsustainable trend — the fiscal costs include not only confinement, but also the ripple costs to society for matters such as families left without parents and wage earners. In ND, and nationally, this has led to a bipartisan interest in “justice reinvestment.” This largely means finding alternatives to prison time. An example, 62 percent of ND’s jail population are pre-trial detainees, changing the cash bail system and enrolling these individuals in pre-trial programs has significant fiscal and social benefits.
EVER EXPANDING PONZI SCHEME, check kiting, NSF checks, money laundering, diversion of funds and felony theft are charges and allegations against roving grain trader Hunter Hanson and his company Midwest Grain Trading. His business has been shut down by the ND Public Service Commission and he has been arrested in McLean County. There are 50 claims together exceeding $7 million against Hanson and his businesses.
WHERE T0 GET MUGGED The FBI rates cities on violent crime by listing the annual number of such crimes per 100,000 population. Fargo (280) and Bismarck (322) are relatively mild. What about neighboring states? Sioux Falls (355) and Billings (397) are only slightly higher, but Minneapolis (1,101) is another matter. That makes Minneapolis 19th among large cities; St. Louis (2,082) is No. 1 and Detroit (2,057) is No. 2.
HEAD SPINNING BANKRUPTCY Susan Bala and her bankrupt company Racing Services Inc.(RSI) have been in ND headlines since at least 2004. Susan went to prison, but her conviction was overturned. RSI filed for bankruptcy in 2004, but for 15 years courts have been occupied with terms of the bankruptcy. The story is long and complicated. In the latest phase, a creditor of RSI is claiming $11 million, part of a refund to the RSI bankruptcy estate for tax collected without authorization by the state of ND. The ND Attorney General has ruled the there is an alternative under which the $11 million could go to charity. The issue may go back to bankruptcy court.
POLICE SHOOTING The Final Four basketball tournament is concluded in Minneapolis and media attention has shifted sharply to the jury trial of Mohamed Noor, a Somali immigrant who was a Minneapolis police officer. He is charged with shooting Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a resident who sought police help. This will be one of the most closely-followed criminal trials in recent Minneapolis history.
REMEMBER JERRY HENNESSY? Our old friend stole over $5 million from the Ashby, Minnesota, Farmers Cooperative Elevator, which he managed, and ran it into bankruptcy. Hennessy used much of the money for exotic hunting trips. The co-op’s attorney is pursuing a novel recovery technique. He is suing six guide services for $560,000 representing checks they received directly from the co-op. The attorney says they “knew or should have known they were taking checks from an agricultural cooperative for expenses unrelated to the business.” The attorney used his ingenuity another way — he served all of the guides at one time while they were attending an industry convention in Reno.
DAKTOIDS: Among ND’s 12 largest cities, Wahpeton has the highest residential property tax rates, Minot the second highest; Williston the lowest, Bismarck the second lowest . . . Of ND’s 63 OB-GYN doctors, only 16 are in rural communities. ND has a “huge problem” retaining specialty doctors.
DakotaBeacon