15 Great Ideas for Re-Forming DAKOTA
PROPOSALS
Below are proposed initiatives which have been presented to people of influence and legislators in the state. Many are controversial, many are hard to swallow. But the fact is, unless the state begins to make some hard decisions North Dakota life is about to get much harder.
GREAT OUTDOOR'S ENHANCEMENT
The number one reason people travel or play in North Dakota is our great and wide Outdoors. Let’s make it better. The number one reason young people will stay is because of the Outdoors. Hard to leave Dakota when there’s such great memories of the old fishing hole, the old camping grounds, or the hunting spot. Let’s make that better too. Three related ideas to the above theme:
GIVE TOURISTS A PLACE TO VISIT
Initiate 3 new county parks in every county in North Dakota (That would equal 162). Best if they were located on a waterway or a water interest manmade or otherwise. Best if they were treed already (an old tree claim for example would be great) avoiding the open prairie park look so many areas have. Best if there were fishing, boating, overnight campgrounds, toilet, running water, and a placard of interest about the area. Each park would have a theme designed by a person with creative ability. Make it an amateur contest open to North Dakotans only. North Dakota has many qualified artists whose ability could be well translated to make these new parks interesting and inviting. Sort of along the theme of trading places, make the budget fixed over and above the cost of the land. Example $50,000 total per park. Maintain it by volunteer groups, as do highway cleanup groups. Boy Scouts could have a part of this project. If the Boy Scout or other outdoor oriented group wanted to and if this park was adjacent to a larger tree claim or “wild” area they could use it for overnight campouts.
Finance it thru long-term bonds paid for by user fees and increased income from visitors. Along that line read on.
MAKE IT EASY FOR THE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
Create Access and Maps to all the new (and existing) campgrounds and parks like above in and outside of villages and towns. Sell a 48 hour vehicle camping pass to be put in the camper’s window for $12 at every C store (like they do phone cards). A violation (camping without the pass) is a hundred dollar ticket. That’s posted at the campground. There is also a drop box for which a sheriff’s officer has a key. The Rver can pay there.
The C-store keeps 25% of the revenues. They receive a packet of passes. When the clerk sells it he circles a month and day. The pass starts at sundown that day and continues until sundown 48 hours later. At $8 per sale, with 50000 Rv’s per year traveling the state and staying at the public campgrounds these bonds are retired in 20 years. The interest and operating expense for this comes from the fines levied.
PRIMATIVE ACCESS KEEPS PEOPLE COMING BACK
As an added incentive for eco-tourists, hunters, fishermen, bird watchers, tourists, hikers, people that love nature and as another reason for young people to stay in the state, develop a tax abatement and annual payment program for any waterways or bodies of water that crosses any well maintained roadway. The key is it must join the road.
Landowners who want to participate make Application to Fish and Game dept and they make the decision. The agreement is to give full access to an area a minimum of 100 yards wide and 300 yards deep (about 6 acres) to be divided along or either side of the water, or on both sides of the river. Standing water is critical. This is also a waterfowl habitat issue.
There must be a primitive parking area. This land many times is wasted un-tillable land. The landowner gets tax abatement, liability indemnification, and a payment. This is CRP for non-tillable land. Kind of a mini “PLOTS” program for opportunistic locations that have appeal.
Each county, particularly more “urban” is emphasized. Try not to haul coal to Newcaatle.
EDUCATION - Solving the Problem
Education is broken - badly. Money, Effectiveness, Consolidations.
Deconsolidate the elementary school system, particularly in very rural areas:
Stop hauling 7 year old little girls an hour each way to school in a bus.
There is no reason to do so. Education of elementary school children is best done in the fashion of those who are home schooled. They do better, they get personal attention, they can learn essential knowledge and skills, they do it in a safe environment, they will be able to enter High School prepared and balanced. There really is little infrastructure needed for elementary education. It doesn't cost much to do it right.
Make K-6 schools local. This means small form elementary education in towns that may have lost their schools years ago. Even a little town of 100 people might have a school with 15 children and 2 teachers costing less than the institutional system that exists now. Those teachers and people from the community can teach arts, music, real field trips (to fields). Preparing them for High School.
Change the funding strategy back to what it was in North Dakota before the mid 1970's. The money followed the students. This is what vouchers are all about that work so well in other states.
North Dakota used to functionally have a voucher system and it worked well. If schools didn't work well people voted with their feet, took their children and the funding that followed them and moved to a school they would rather patronize. It sometimes was a public school, sometimes a parochial school, sometimes a private school. It can be again. These new form schools may be charter, cottage schools or even just an association of quasi home schoolers. There are plenty of empty buildings to use for this purpose. Some even used to be schools at one time.
Teachers who now teach elementary in public schools would be accountable to the parents of these schools directly. Certification requirements would be modified to meet these goals.
The cost to the state and the school districts would be half of what is spent per student to accomplish the same goals that are being achieved now. Administrative functions would be centralized and much more hands off than they are now. Much of the savings would be facilities and much less of an administrative financial burden.
The courage to do this will mean the ability to rise above the pressures from teachers unions who fear accountability for their poorer teachers, administrators who have engaged in a land grab of consolidation to build their financially rewarding kingdom, school boards who could lose power and other vested interests. If you are wondering why you are getting pressure just follow the money. Educational lobby pressure isn't about the kids, it's about the money. Check it out, be dubious.
The empty buildings you will hear about this as you decentralize elementary schools should be rededicated, refurbished to provide a first class High School system which produces college ready students or well trained 18 year old people ready to take a quality trades job or people ready to go on to advanced training (technical) in the future. Recreate high schools with broad spectrums of opportunity and development that they can contain. Some of those empty buildings might end up as dorms. Distance is always the problem in a depopulating area.
AND, It's ok to bus 13 year old kids. Training for commuting later in life. That's what old buses are for.
In larger towns and cities if they want to keep their central elementary schools as they are, fine. This isn't about them. This is about offering quality elementary education in a safe local environment.
STOP THE INSANITY:STOP BUSING LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS 60 MILES EACH WAY TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY
REST AREA ENTERPRISE ZONES
Privatize the closed rest areas in the state. Maybe all of them. Allow private enterprising entrepreneurs to run them. Throw out the vending. A Mini C Store. Offer the “Franchise" to anyone who has a similar business (like another C Store) within 10 miles first, or a lottery if there is more than one, they get free rent and indemnification from liability, heat, upkeep, they fund the rest (people) themselves. In exchange they keep the bathrooms clean, water running, maps stocked, sell space in an advertising kiosk for local sites and attractions. Mapquest portal. They sell coffee, coco, candy, fruit, sandwiches (pre-packaged), soda and there are two people on site at all times. 24-7-365. They also sell souvenirs, local ND products, Art, Books. A real ND sellathon. Phones and phone cards. Wireless internet access. Think of the people who race across ND on I-94 or up I-29 and never pull off but to get gasoline. Let’s put out the welcome mat. The closed Rest Areas are really tacky.
RAFFEL OFF NORTH DAKOTA OPPROTUNITIES TO VISIT
THE Number ONE reason people visit ND from other states is to enjoy our number ONE asset. OUT OF DOORS.
If a person comes to ND and enjoys themselves you might expect that some might fall in love and stay. In that regard, Getting out of doors visitors to come is an economic development effort.
Provide Legislative incentive to do the following:
At 20 of the major sports shows nationwide (the largest is in Harrisburg PA in Feb) raffle off 2000 each of pheasant and deer licenses (free) to develop a mailing list (and email list). Give away 100 at each show. Of course no one hunts alone. So, if they come, they will bring someone and they will spend money. If 2000 hunters came with just one person for 3 days and spent $500 while in state that's a million dollars. That will more than pay for the cost of going to the shows. To spice it up Dakota could give away 3000 free fishing licenses and 3000 golf passes for any public course to be played only once on the pass. These assets are underused now anyway.
Go to good shows, put up a nice booth, give away maps of all the public access hunting lands in the state, give directories of motels, hotels. Offer a subscription to ND outdoors on line. INVITE THEM TO COME.
Do all the things that will bring in people from all over the USA to enjoy our number one asset. If we did that for just 3 years the result would be several people moving to the state once they've visited, some would start businesses, some might retire, some might even find new opportunities.
North Dakota is one of the best kept secrets in the country, it's time we let people find out what it's all about.
A STEP IN SOLVING THE RURAL DOCTOR SHORTAGE
The reason a Doctor comes is for opportunity. IF ND offers that opportunity and some will come and some will stay.
They contract to receive a free medical education in exchange for 7 years service, They contract to work in the community at a wage of $60,000 the first year and $10,000 increase for every year they work until the last year when they are earning $120,000. This is commensurate with what they would be earning in metro clinics after 7 years if you factor in the following:
They get malpractice insurance paid for by patrons in the local tax base. (they pay anyway)
In case of any litigation ND law mandates a jury of their peers only . That means that Docs judge Docs only. Takes all sensation out of it all. This single action will attract doctors to North Dakota even if nothing else was done.
For small town clinics the first line of defense is not a Doctor but a Physician's Assistant. Most PA's are better trained than doctors of 75 years ago. Set up a program to attract and keep a PA in small towns. They should be the first line of defense in any case.
The administration, billing and equipment required are managed by a community based organization. It operates as a non profit. The people that work there are paid by the local clinic. The Doctor is an employee of the clinic organization. After 10 years he has the option of buying part or all of the operation.
The answer to depopulation is more people!
THE PROBLEM IS TOO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE LEAVING THE STATE,
REVERSE THE TREND.
200,000 children in America are in foster homes and considered un-adoptable, mostly because they aren’t babies any more (average age 9). Create and fund and adoption initiative for population balancing to offset those who are leaving. Use state tax incentives to help people decide to take the step. Make it public. Have a campaign. Since so many young people are leaving ND create a goal of 100,000 of these adoptions. Some of them would stay if they grew up here. It’s a safe option and it costs nothing. It could put our state over 700,000 people in a year. Make the incentive for the underpopulated and declining population counties intense. There may be a few orphans available from the Tsunami catastrophe who might find ND a fine place to live far from the ocean wave.
BASELINE SERVICES FOR CONSOLIDATING COUNTIES
Right now there is a level of fire, administrative, sheriff, and other county services which is in ALL ND counties. As the levels of populations decline (without other reasons why not) in over half the counties in North Dakota, those counties with populations of 3000 or less (right now about 20 of 57 counties) will not be able to support basic services on their tax base. In most cases these counties will be consolidated into other counties. This proposal is to baseline the level of services for response times in Fire and Law enforcement. The Meth Lab problem will accelerate in these counties that become less and less enforced. Random arson on grasslands and vacant buildings will become a greater problem. Unless there is a legislative funded mandate to maintain appropriate levels of first responders these empty counties will become places less and less likely to be inhabited. The purpose is to continue to make North Dakota a place to live.
SALES TAX ABATEMENT AS ECONOMIC INCENTIVE FOR RURAL COUNTIES
THE NET SALES TAX COLLECTIONS FROM RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS IN COUNTIES WITH POPULATIONS OF 6000 PEOPLE OR FEWER
33 of 53 counties are under 6000 with an average population loss of 15% in the last 10 years) IS MINISCULE IN COMPARISON TO METRO AREA SHOPPING CENTERS. The total population of all of these counties combined is fewer than Cass County. Since they are very sm
Below are proposed initiatives which have been presented to people of influence and legislators in the state. Many are controversial, many are hard to swallow. But the fact is, unless the state begins to make some hard decisions North Dakota life is about to get much harder.
GREAT OUTDOOR'S ENHANCEMENT
The number one reason people travel or play in North Dakota is our great and wide Outdoors. Let’s make it better. The number one reason young people will stay is because of the Outdoors. Hard to leave Dakota when there’s such great memories of the old fishing hole, the old camping grounds, or the hunting spot. Let’s make that better too. Three related ideas to the above theme:
GIVE TOURISTS A PLACE TO VISIT
Initiate 3 new county parks in every county in North Dakota (That would equal 162). Best if they were located on a waterway or a water interest manmade or otherwise. Best if they were treed already (an old tree claim for example would be great) avoiding the open prairie park look so many areas have. Best if there were fishing, boating, overnight campgrounds, toilet, running water, and a placard of interest about the area. Each park would have a theme designed by a person with creative ability. Make it an amateur contest open to North Dakotans only. North Dakota has many qualified artists whose ability could be well translated to make these new parks interesting and inviting. Sort of along the theme of trading places, make the budget fixed over and above the cost of the land. Example $50,000 total per park. Maintain it by volunteer groups, as do highway cleanup groups. Boy Scouts could have a part of this project. If the Boy Scout or other outdoor oriented group wanted to and if this park was adjacent to a larger tree claim or “wild” area they could use it for overnight campouts.
Finance it thru long-term bonds paid for by user fees and increased income from visitors. Along that line read on.
MAKE IT EASY FOR THE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
Create Access and Maps to all the new (and existing) campgrounds and parks like above in and outside of villages and towns. Sell a 48 hour vehicle camping pass to be put in the camper’s window for $12 at every C store (like they do phone cards). A violation (camping without the pass) is a hundred dollar ticket. That’s posted at the campground. There is also a drop box for which a sheriff’s officer has a key. The Rver can pay there.
The C-store keeps 25% of the revenues. They receive a packet of passes. When the clerk sells it he circles a month and day. The pass starts at sundown that day and continues until sundown 48 hours later. At $8 per sale, with 50000 Rv’s per year traveling the state and staying at the public campgrounds these bonds are retired in 20 years. The interest and operating expense for this comes from the fines levied.
PRIMATIVE ACCESS KEEPS PEOPLE COMING BACK
As an added incentive for eco-tourists, hunters, fishermen, bird watchers, tourists, hikers, people that love nature and as another reason for young people to stay in the state, develop a tax abatement and annual payment program for any waterways or bodies of water that crosses any well maintained roadway. The key is it must join the road.
Landowners who want to participate make Application to Fish and Game dept and they make the decision. The agreement is to give full access to an area a minimum of 100 yards wide and 300 yards deep (about 6 acres) to be divided along or either side of the water, or on both sides of the river. Standing water is critical. This is also a waterfowl habitat issue.
There must be a primitive parking area. This land many times is wasted un-tillable land. The landowner gets tax abatement, liability indemnification, and a payment. This is CRP for non-tillable land. Kind of a mini “PLOTS” program for opportunistic locations that have appeal.
Each county, particularly more “urban” is emphasized. Try not to haul coal to Newcaatle.
EDUCATION - Solving the Problem
Education is broken - badly. Money, Effectiveness, Consolidations.
Deconsolidate the elementary school system, particularly in very rural areas:
Stop hauling 7 year old little girls an hour each way to school in a bus.
There is no reason to do so. Education of elementary school children is best done in the fashion of those who are home schooled. They do better, they get personal attention, they can learn essential knowledge and skills, they do it in a safe environment, they will be able to enter High School prepared and balanced. There really is little infrastructure needed for elementary education. It doesn't cost much to do it right.
Make K-6 schools local. This means small form elementary education in towns that may have lost their schools years ago. Even a little town of 100 people might have a school with 15 children and 2 teachers costing less than the institutional system that exists now. Those teachers and people from the community can teach arts, music, real field trips (to fields). Preparing them for High School.
Change the funding strategy back to what it was in North Dakota before the mid 1970's. The money followed the students. This is what vouchers are all about that work so well in other states.
North Dakota used to functionally have a voucher system and it worked well. If schools didn't work well people voted with their feet, took their children and the funding that followed them and moved to a school they would rather patronize. It sometimes was a public school, sometimes a parochial school, sometimes a private school. It can be again. These new form schools may be charter, cottage schools or even just an association of quasi home schoolers. There are plenty of empty buildings to use for this purpose. Some even used to be schools at one time.
Teachers who now teach elementary in public schools would be accountable to the parents of these schools directly. Certification requirements would be modified to meet these goals.
The cost to the state and the school districts would be half of what is spent per student to accomplish the same goals that are being achieved now. Administrative functions would be centralized and much more hands off than they are now. Much of the savings would be facilities and much less of an administrative financial burden.
The courage to do this will mean the ability to rise above the pressures from teachers unions who fear accountability for their poorer teachers, administrators who have engaged in a land grab of consolidation to build their financially rewarding kingdom, school boards who could lose power and other vested interests. If you are wondering why you are getting pressure just follow the money. Educational lobby pressure isn't about the kids, it's about the money. Check it out, be dubious.
The empty buildings you will hear about this as you decentralize elementary schools should be rededicated, refurbished to provide a first class High School system which produces college ready students or well trained 18 year old people ready to take a quality trades job or people ready to go on to advanced training (technical) in the future. Recreate high schools with broad spectrums of opportunity and development that they can contain. Some of those empty buildings might end up as dorms. Distance is always the problem in a depopulating area.
AND, It's ok to bus 13 year old kids. Training for commuting later in life. That's what old buses are for.
In larger towns and cities if they want to keep their central elementary schools as they are, fine. This isn't about them. This is about offering quality elementary education in a safe local environment.
STOP THE INSANITY:STOP BUSING LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS 60 MILES EACH WAY TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY
REST AREA ENTERPRISE ZONES
Privatize the closed rest areas in the state. Maybe all of them. Allow private enterprising entrepreneurs to run them. Throw out the vending. A Mini C Store. Offer the “Franchise" to anyone who has a similar business (like another C Store) within 10 miles first, or a lottery if there is more than one, they get free rent and indemnification from liability, heat, upkeep, they fund the rest (people) themselves. In exchange they keep the bathrooms clean, water running, maps stocked, sell space in an advertising kiosk for local sites and attractions. Mapquest portal. They sell coffee, coco, candy, fruit, sandwiches (pre-packaged), soda and there are two people on site at all times. 24-7-365. They also sell souvenirs, local ND products, Art, Books. A real ND sellathon. Phones and phone cards. Wireless internet access. Think of the people who race across ND on I-94 or up I-29 and never pull off but to get gasoline. Let’s put out the welcome mat. The closed Rest Areas are really tacky.
RAFFEL OFF NORTH DAKOTA OPPROTUNITIES TO VISIT
THE Number ONE reason people visit ND from other states is to enjoy our number ONE asset. OUT OF DOORS.
If a person comes to ND and enjoys themselves you might expect that some might fall in love and stay. In that regard, Getting out of doors visitors to come is an economic development effort.
Provide Legislative incentive to do the following:
At 20 of the major sports shows nationwide (the largest is in Harrisburg PA in Feb) raffle off 2000 each of pheasant and deer licenses (free) to develop a mailing list (and email list). Give away 100 at each show. Of course no one hunts alone. So, if they come, they will bring someone and they will spend money. If 2000 hunters came with just one person for 3 days and spent $500 while in state that's a million dollars. That will more than pay for the cost of going to the shows. To spice it up Dakota could give away 3000 free fishing licenses and 3000 golf passes for any public course to be played only once on the pass. These assets are underused now anyway.
Go to good shows, put up a nice booth, give away maps of all the public access hunting lands in the state, give directories of motels, hotels. Offer a subscription to ND outdoors on line. INVITE THEM TO COME.
Do all the things that will bring in people from all over the USA to enjoy our number one asset. If we did that for just 3 years the result would be several people moving to the state once they've visited, some would start businesses, some might retire, some might even find new opportunities.
North Dakota is one of the best kept secrets in the country, it's time we let people find out what it's all about.
A STEP IN SOLVING THE RURAL DOCTOR SHORTAGE
The reason a Doctor comes is for opportunity. IF ND offers that opportunity and some will come and some will stay.
They contract to receive a free medical education in exchange for 7 years service, They contract to work in the community at a wage of $60,000 the first year and $10,000 increase for every year they work until the last year when they are earning $120,000. This is commensurate with what they would be earning in metro clinics after 7 years if you factor in the following:
They get malpractice insurance paid for by patrons in the local tax base. (they pay anyway)
In case of any litigation ND law mandates a jury of their peers only . That means that Docs judge Docs only. Takes all sensation out of it all. This single action will attract doctors to North Dakota even if nothing else was done.
For small town clinics the first line of defense is not a Doctor but a Physician's Assistant. Most PA's are better trained than doctors of 75 years ago. Set up a program to attract and keep a PA in small towns. They should be the first line of defense in any case.
The administration, billing and equipment required are managed by a community based organization. It operates as a non profit. The people that work there are paid by the local clinic. The Doctor is an employee of the clinic organization. After 10 years he has the option of buying part or all of the operation.
The answer to depopulation is more people!
THE PROBLEM IS TOO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE LEAVING THE STATE,
REVERSE THE TREND.
200,000 children in America are in foster homes and considered un-adoptable, mostly because they aren’t babies any more (average age 9). Create and fund and adoption initiative for population balancing to offset those who are leaving. Use state tax incentives to help people decide to take the step. Make it public. Have a campaign. Since so many young people are leaving ND create a goal of 100,000 of these adoptions. Some of them would stay if they grew up here. It’s a safe option and it costs nothing. It could put our state over 700,000 people in a year. Make the incentive for the underpopulated and declining population counties intense. There may be a few orphans available from the Tsunami catastrophe who might find ND a fine place to live far from the ocean wave.
BASELINE SERVICES FOR CONSOLIDATING COUNTIES
Right now there is a level of fire, administrative, sheriff, and other county services which is in ALL ND counties. As the levels of populations decline (without other reasons why not) in over half the counties in North Dakota, those counties with populations of 3000 or less (right now about 20 of 57 counties) will not be able to support basic services on their tax base. In most cases these counties will be consolidated into other counties. This proposal is to baseline the level of services for response times in Fire and Law enforcement. The Meth Lab problem will accelerate in these counties that become less and less enforced. Random arson on grasslands and vacant buildings will become a greater problem. Unless there is a legislative funded mandate to maintain appropriate levels of first responders these empty counties will become places less and less likely to be inhabited. The purpose is to continue to make North Dakota a place to live.
SALES TAX ABATEMENT AS ECONOMIC INCENTIVE FOR RURAL COUNTIES
THE NET SALES TAX COLLECTIONS FROM RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS IN COUNTIES WITH POPULATIONS OF 6000 PEOPLE OR FEWER
33 of 53 counties are under 6000 with an average population loss of 15% in the last 10 years) IS MINISCULE IN COMPARISON TO METRO AREA SHOPPING CENTERS. The total population of all of these counties combined is fewer than Cass County. Since they are very sm
posted by Gene at 8:53 PM
2 Comments:
I'm interested in anything to do with the Civil War and with Cassville, Georgia. Your blog is interesting.
Regards,
A Cassville Heritage Association member, Cassville, Georgia
Bartow County History
yoU aRe reaLLy a thinkeR aNd pLanner
aRe yoU a PolititioN..You shouLd bE..
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