Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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Actor brings Mark Twain to life. See Thisweekend Page 7A

NEWS OPINION SPORTS

Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

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VOLUME 32, NO. 30

www.thisweeklive.com

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Announcements/5A

Public Notices/6A

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Race for Hunger raises little money for food shelves Large overhead, lack of ticket sales cited for reasons behind losses by Aaron Vehling and Tad Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Local city officials and some media members racing cars against each other sounds like a fun way to raise money for local food shelves. But the Sept. 9 Race for Hunger at Raceway Park in Shakopee drew a small crowd and raised a small fraction of what attendees and participants anticipated. Rosemount Mayor Bill

Droste, Apple Valley Council Member John Bergman, Eagan Council Member Meg Tilley, Lakeville Mayor Mark Bellows and Burnsville Council Member Dan Kealey participated in the event, which lost money for organizer, Click Club USA. Dennis Barlau, president of Click Club USA, said that after the $10,000 to rent the race track and about $1,200 to print the tickets, about “$700 is as close as we can come� to donating to food shelves run by 360

Heritage Center divides Lakeville City Council

Communities, Neighbors Inc. and the Emergency Foodshelf Network. The event sold 788 tickets, Barlau said, and, in a letter to Thisweek, he wrote that “$1.00 of each ticket sold will go to the designated food shelf organizations.� His company lost about $5,000 on the event, he said. “I would have been much better off handing them a check out of my pocket for $5,000,� Barlau said in an interview.

It was not the first time the Race for Hunger was unable to distribute money to food shelves. A June race with Scott County mayors broke even, Barlau said, leaving nothing for the charitable cause. “We booked it on the night of Scott County graduation(s),� he said, “so everyone bought tickets but no one showed up.� Barlau said that when participants signed up for the recent race with Dakota County officials, he told

them that if each of the 20 city participants sold 100 tickets the event would raise $10,000 for the food shelves. “Our food shelves are in such bad shape,� he said. “I wanted to do something to help.� Mike Hellendrung, the general manager of Raceway Park, said the $10,000 cost Barlau paid was “for renting (for the event) and bringing out corporate sponsors to drive cars on different occasions.� “Corporate sponsors

came out a couple days after the race night and drove cars,� he said.

Participants Barlau said much of the reason for the losses of the Sept. 9 race stems from circumstance. He said a couple of the participating mayors were involved in emergencies that kept them from participating. He also said Lakeville Council Member Matt Little, who was originally supSee Race, 3A

Homecoming in Lakeville

Mayor accuses Senior Center leader of lying, calls for special meeting by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

The Heritage Center project became a wedge issue again at Monday night’s Lakeville City Council meeting. Mayor Mark Bellows, upon voting against approval of a contract with Wold Architects, accused Senior Center Coordinator Linda Walter of lying about the project. The contract was for engineering and design work at the former police station on Holyoke Avenue. “I’m embarrassed by the process,� Bellows said. “The issue for me is I feel like we were lied to by a staff member. I don’t think there were ramifications for that.�

He added that he had talked to City Administrator Steve Mielke “about it a couple of Bellows times� and did not want to set a precedent among the staff that “this behavior can continue.� Bellows declined to identify Walter initially, but City Attorney Roger Knutson said state law required Bellows to identify the staff member in question if he planned to call a special meeting to discuss her. That was Bellows’ intent. He also indicated he See Lying, 13A

Photo by Rick Orndorf

Drum major Amy Sullivan from the Lakeville South High School marching band leads the group up Holyoke Avenue in downtown Lakeville as part of the Homecoming Parade last Thursday, Sept. 15. Check out thisweeklive.com for more photos.

Larson reconsiders debt Lakeville superintendent reduction plan in Farmington discusses school reform Open houses set for citizen input regarding budget proposal THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Farmington Mayor Todd Larson is reconsidering his full support of the city’s debt reduction plan. Citing citizens’ concerns about multiple property tax increases the plan would create, Larson told Thisweek Newspapers he will propose an alternative that will likely reduce the 2012 preliminary levy by $400,000 and replace it with bonding for the street rehabilitiation fund. For months, Larson has

sided with City Council members Christy Jo Fogarty and Jason Bartholomay in promoting a city plan that builds a cash account to fund major projects like road work to avoid adding to the city’s $38 million bond debt. To avoid incurring more debt, annual property tax increases are required in all but four years through 2023. Next year, if unchanged, Farmington’s $9.5 million preliminary levy adds $84 onto 2012 tax bills

for homestead property with an average value of $190,200. Farmington businesses and rental properties at the same average value would have a $288 increase next year. Since voting for the preliminary levy Sept. 6, Larson said he heard from citizens who have had salaries cut, are struggling financially and oppose an increase. Larson said he has spoken with City AdministraSee Debt, 13A

Art Fest draws a crowd Photo by Rick Orndorf

Kim Yolitz, an instructor at the Lakeville Area Arts Center, demonstrates glass and lamp working at the Lakeville Arts Festival. The festival was held last weekend, Sept. 17 and 18, at the Arts Center in downtown Lakeville. For more photos, check out thisweeklive.com.

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by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Lakeville schools Superintendent Lisa Snyder stood before the audience of Chamber of Commerce members at the Chart House on Sept. 21 for the first time as leader of the district. Snyder, hired in part to be a reformer, declared to those eating lunch at the annual State of the Schools speech that while the district has done a great many wonderful things, there is a lot of room for improvement. She said the focus for the school year consists of four main points: academic achievement, community connectedness, fiscal responsibility and a highquality workforce. As she has discussed since her job interview two months ago, Snyder emphasized the need to bring the students into 21st century learning through technology. Digital learning was increasingly the norm in Wisconsin, where she was previously a superintendent, and she said it is becoming more important in the modern

Photo by Aaron Vehling

Lakeville Superintendent Lisa Snyder gave the annual State of the Schools speech to Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce members at the Chart House on Sept. 21. era. Building off this is the idea of personalized student learning. “For the last 100 years schools have worked on a ‘deficit model,’� Snyder said. “You didn’t choose your careers based on what you were bad at.� Through digital tools, Snyder said students will have a greater ability to achieve at their own pace. She posed the questions: “What if we didn’t have

grade levels? What if a child could progress based on their own needs?� This also relates to another area of improvement she identified: the large achievement gap between students of different backgrounds. A chart showed white and Asian kids on the ascent, while black and Latino children were falling behind. Snyder said that while See Changes, 14A

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by Laura Adelmann

Snyder says district is doing well but needs to close achievement gap, become more tech savvy


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