Posted 4/18/01 Why the birds left To the editor: Itís too early to criticize the new city leaders in North Branch, since it takes time to learn and initiate new policies. However, if the responses by those recently elected continue to be shallow cliches like ěwe have to rely on ëveteran leadership,í NBís troubles are caused by dissidents; or we have to be ëconsistent,íî city residents may continue to experience more ěpainful episodes like those in the 1990s.î In recent years, one business has been forced to move from I-35 to a remote part of the city (under eminent domain condemnation threats) with ěno tax benefits.î A similar business relocated from the older part of town to I-35 (with no tax benefits). and now another older business is proposing to move near I-35 (with large tax benefits). Consistency? How about a ětax abatement policyî that is fair, equally applied and open to everyone? With the 2000 census numbers now available, we can look at real, comparative data. Although last weekís article in the ěSt. Paul Pioneer Pressî left out the recognition that the city of Branch merged with North Branch in 1994, census data is available on the U.S. Census Bureau website. The ěpolicies of local governmentsî become more obvious when you compare populations and growth rates in the last decade. While Cambridge and Isanti leaders examine Smart Growth principles (ěStarî, p.1, 4/4/01), we can see from the numbers that North Branch has more than quadrupled in 30 years and doubled in 10 years. If our ěleadersî continue these growth rate policies, North Branch will exceed 15,000 by 2010. A NB councilman recently bemoaned the fact that there were ěno birdsî at his feeder near his new house in NB. Rejuvenated and new businesses along with new people bring vibrancy to town, but ěthe costs of growthî detracts from everyone. Gee wiz, I wonder why the birds left? Max Malmquist North Branch ©Post Review