Are Big Donors getting Tax Write-offs for developing Citizen owned Land?
Are Orono Parks FOR SALE to big donors?
After the City of Orono held a public meeting without recording it nor broadcasting it, now we look at the agenda packet for the next City Council meeting and what do we see? Entire projects getting shoved through without public hearings including a large open air Pickleball complex in the Long Lake Holbrook neighborhood.
Is Orono hiding niche development because the Citizens don't want it?
City of Orono - where is our Public Information?
Lack of transparency, and suppression of information helpful to the citizens continues to plague this city council. One example is how the city council minutes have now been restructured to leave out public statements and other pertinent details that occurred during the meeting. Orono citizens are being actively suppressed from making their own determination on how their city is being run.
Another recent example is the 2/6/24 Park Commission meeting that was supposed to be broadcast and recorded. It has now disappeared entirely from the public record as of this posting.
Is Mayor Walsh creating a Circus at the Orono Golf Course?
What a difference a year makes. Last year a golf league was fighting to keep Pickleball courts and a Hockey Rink out of the Orono Golf Course. Now, they are planning on building their own extra large private picnic shelter apparently for themselves. Is this a clever move by Mayor Walsh in order to push forward development in Orono on public land again?
A Grand Opening without a Public Hearing Ever Held?
The Orono Duplicate Fire Department has been a huge debacle. First Walsh blames Long Lake whose Fire Chief was Van Eyll and then hires the same Fire Chief for the Orono Fire Department. Has anyone mentioned it’s the same guy? Or that maybe the same issues will travel with him? Or that this move along split the department?
Then Walsh says he’s running “the budget on his intuition” presumably because he doesn’t want the Citizens to know it’s going to cost tens of millions for what will be unproven and possibly unsafe service.
Is Year after Year Deficit Spending the new way in Orono?
2024: What happened to the Park Fund?
In the past six years, the Orono City Council has spent over $1.2 million on park capital projects creating a $500,000 deficit by the end of 2022. This deficit spending will have to be made up by levying additional money each year in order to get the fund back to zero in 2025.
What kind of fiscal management is this? Why can’t this Mayor and his majority on the council spend within the fund limits? Why do special interest groups get their park projects considered while the Orono taxpayers have to pony up each year to fund their ideas?
Court testimony reveals Firefighters not responding to a Heart call
The headline from today's Evidentiary hearing…
ORONO FIREFIGHTERS MADE A DELIBERATE CHOICE NOT TO RESPOND TO A HEART CALL DURING AN ORONO FIRE BUSINESS MEETING ONE BLOCK AWAY FROM THE INCIDENT.
Today in court it was revealed that on January 2, 2024, Orono Firefighters were attending a business meeting at Orono City Hall. 1.5 miles away a handful of Long Lake Firefighters and Chief Heiland were attending the Long Lake City Council meeting.
Hennepin County Court Hearing for Orono's Historic Contempt of Court Case
Please join Orono Citizens in Supporting the Long Lake Fire Department and the City of Long Lake at the Hearing on February 1st at 10:00.
Hope to see you there!
#togetherwearebetter #supportllfd #supportfiscalconservation
Orono Citizens are Being Billed Multi Millions for Water and Sewer
Lately the Mayor has been under pressure to answer the following questions:
Why are you billing the Citizens so much more than needed for their water and sewer?
Are you hoping to fund the Duplicate Fire Department with the extra millions these funds are now accumulating?
Is it fair for the city’s utility customers to be funding a startup fire department?
Have you been intentionally avoiding going public with your funding ideas for Orono Fire? Have you held public hearings for all these issues and their actual budgets? No, it appears that you have not, and you continue to suppress Citizens' voices about this enormous spending.
Why is the City of Orono Flying the Blue Line Flag?
Our own city is divided by hate speech and symbology. By not considering that certain extremist groups took over the Blue Line Flag for their own rallies and communication, we are ignoring all those groups that are marginalized.
Please consider taking down a symbol that has now been confused with violence and anger overriding the positive symbols of Law Enforcement.
Why did Orono create a Legal Subcommittee?
At the last Orono City Council work session, Mayor Walsh defended his desire to continue having a “legal” subcommittee. This subcommittee, composed of Walsh and another council member, is designed to discuss legal issues without the full council present. The staff did not recommend this idea and no other cities have such a subcommittee.
Breaking News: City of Orono Appears to Break Open Meeting Law
BREAKING NEWS: The CITY OF ORONO appears to have BROKEN OPEN MEETING LAW again.
On Monday January 8th, 2024 three Orono City Council members gathered at the Long Lake Fire Department’s “Pinning Ceremony.” Orono Council members #MariaVeach, #MattJohnson and #RichardCrosby attended without a public announcement of a quorum (half or more members of City Council) to the Citizens of Orono.
Orono Struggles with Communication to Citizens Again
On Thursday 1/18/24, the City of Orono sent out a notice for this Monday’s City Council meeting. There was an attached two-page agenda. What wasn’t included was a link to the 200+ page packet on information that appeared separately on the City website.
Why isn’t Orono trying to help its citizens learn about city matters?
Is this another example of citizen suppression of information?
Can Orono Maintain Their Own Parks?
Let's ask the City of Orono how they are going to maintain our Parks and how much that is going to cost? Once again, poor @BederwoodPark is subject to someone ripping up the turf by riding through the entire park on a motorized vehicle.
Why is Orono building more amenities when they haven't put forth a plan for tree maintenance, invasive species or even upkeep of the park features we already have?
Hennepin County and the Nation focus on #racialhealing - Can Orono City Council Do the Same?
Ask #MayorDennyWalsh and the rest of Orono City Council to address #racialhealing in Orono. Both Orono City Council member #RichardCrosby and Orono's Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) Representative #RichAnderson need to hear how their language and actions affect women, minorities and others in Orono and our sister communities. Stand up against hate. Stand up for all Citizens in Orono and attend City Council meetings to make your voices heard.
2nd in our Series: Mayor Walsh Misstatements?
Second in our Series about misstatements in the Orono Happenings Newsletter
Why is Mayor Walsh writing mistruths?
Walsh said Finance Director Ron Olson “retired.” That is not what Mr. Olson said in his resignation letter. Mr. Olson stated that he took another job due to “the stress of the
current political climate within Orono.”
Why would Walsh cover this up?
Why would Mayor Walsh Make up a Quote for Rep. Andrew Myers?
With numerous lawsuits pending and many misstatements in his own Orono Happenings Newsletter, perhaps Mayor Walsh needs a fact checker to correct his mistruths.
Orono’s LMCD Rep lashes back a Orono Citizens
Here’s how Mr. Rich Anderson (Orono’s LMCD Rep and City appointed official) responds to the Citizens of Orono - profanity. Add that to his slurs on X. Want to see more? https://www.friendsoforono.org/oronosunrest
Citizens Speak Out at 1/8/24 Orono City Council Meeting
Krista goes on to make another great point - why belittle the LLFD, and then hire their Chief and several of their Firefighters? This form of double talk to the Citizens of Orono is insulting given the vast expense that Orono taxpayers will be footing for this unnecessary fire department - millions of dollars yet to be finalized and explained in a public manner
1/8/23 Orono City Council Work Session: Inappropriate Communication; Other Cities No Subcommittees
Orono City Council members discuss inappropriate comments made by Orono’s LMCD representative in emails to a City Council member.
Check the twitter link in the video description to see some very colorful language.
They also discuss the rationale for subcommittees within the Orono government. These subcommittees are out of the public's purview, and as such, hide government discussion and information.
New In A Series: Orono’s Big Picture/Crime
New In A Series: Orono’s Big Picture
In the latest Orono Happenings newsletter, Mayor Walsh writes that Orono is the 17th most safe city in Minnesota according to Safewise.