SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - SEPTEMBER 7, 2013
Today, the ND Board of Higher Education will interview six men who are finalists for the job of interim chancellor of the ND University System. Three of the men are from inside the state: Bismarck State College President Larry Skogen, former Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness, and former state Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle. Mike Jacobs and Tom Dennis from the GF Herald volunteered to whittle down the list.
First, they concluded no outsiders were needed -- time is too short, so say goodbye to the three out-of-staters. Next, they decided it should be someone outside the ND University System -- wave goodbye to Larry. Then they decided the person should not be “too closely identified with any city” -- oops, that eliminates Bruce. Wait a minute, there is only one person left standing, everyone else has been voted off the island. Say hello to new chancellor Shane Goettle.
Jacobs and Dennis are not the only ones to say the new chancellor should be familiar with the state and “hit the ground running.” The chancellor position could be eliminated in 14 months by a statewide vote. This necessitates a state insider who already knows the issues and players. By the way, the dynamic duo also recommended that the new chancellor should essentially adopt the reform plan of outgoing chancellor Hamid Shirvani.
It’s standard practice -- large universities schedule lower-ranked football opponents for the season home opener. The visiting team usually receives a hefty fee to accept a thrashing. Sometimes the practice backfires. The NDSU Bison upset highly ranked Kansas State before the largest home-opening crowd in Kansas State history. NDSU is ranked at the top of the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision).
ND universities import football players from more heavily populated states. Often, they also import crime. Ask NDSU. The Minot State Beavers looked a little bewildered last weekend when five members of the football team were arrested. One will face three felony charges, including attempted murder, for knocking out one police officer and injuring another. In addition to the violence, there were various drug charges. Three of the players are from California and one each from Nebraska and Washington.
Over the past 25 years, the U.S. has admitted about 84,000 Somali refugees of which around 40 percent are estimated to live in Minnesota. Some have settled in eastern ND cities. The reason so many Somalis came to Minnesota is largely the result of Lutheran Social Services contracting with the State Department to place refugees. Because of language and culture, Somalis are particularly difficult to integrate. The most well-publicized part of the challenge has been Somalis who left Minnesota for terrorist activities in Africa. Somali criminal gangs in Minnesota receive less attention. Last week, the body of a Somali man was found in Shoreview, a northern Twin Cities suburb. His death is believed to be part of a Somali gang war in the Twin Cities which has resulted in four deaths this summer.
Britain and the Scandinavian countries are also having difficulty keeping a lid on their Somali refugees. Britain has referred to a Somali crime “time bomb” and Somalis represent nearly half the prison inmates in Sweden, although they are a small part of the population. The refugee efforts of Lutheran Social Services in Minnesota are having significant unintended consequences. The sheriff of Hennepin County (Minneapolis) told a congressional subcommittee that he has a growing Somalia gang threat. It’s about more than crime -- a Minnesota economist believes language and education issues among refugees negatively impact state growth and productivity.
Minnesota Public Radio reports median household income in Minnesota, adjusted for inflation, has fallen 18 percent from 2000 to 2010, the steepest decline in the nation. The state’s median income of $58,000 is still close to the national median. There is not a total “cause and effect” relationship between the refugee issue and declining median income, but the declining income reflects a growing gap between wealthy and poor in the state. The state’s response is badly thought out -- taxes of all types have been increased, particularly on those with higher incomes.
Walleye fishing in Devils Lake is great. So great it attracts groups from as far away as the Twin Cities. The ND Game and Fish Department seized 136 walleyes and issued 29 citations in one weekend at the lake. The majority of the cited anglers were nonresidents.
In October 2011, Robert Kilber of Hazen was seriously injured when he crossed the I-94 median near New Salem and hit oncoming traffic. Kilber could not recall what happened. Last week, Kilber did the same thing again on I-94, this time he was found dead in his pickup lodged in the basement of a house in Dickinson.
“North Dakota’s west . . . is at risk of becoming a marketplace for organized crime.” -- From a Forum editorial discussing the threat of heroin and drug trafficking in the state.
Rob Port’s SayAnythingBlog had shocking news about ND’s pension liabilities. He cites information from an organization called State Budget Solutions that indicates ND’s pension liabilities are only 32 percent funded and the unfunded liability represents $10,000 for each state resident. That’s worrisome, but it may not be true. First, the pension liabilities of most states are understated because they use unrealistic assumptions to discount future obligations to today’s value (ND uses an 8 percent discount rate resulting in a low liability). However, Port’s data represents the other extreme and uses an ultraconservative assumption of 3.2 percent (which results in a high liability).
A more realistic assumption falls between the two extremes. ND’s pension liabilities may be over 50 percent funded if a more realistic assumption is used. That’s still not good and the state should use some of its current prosperity to improve the funding of its plans. Neighboring states all have better funded plans -- South Dakota plans are among the best funded in the nation.
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