JUNE 7, 2016 ROTARY IN REVIEW:
Tom Horner

President’s Remarks:

Ann Frisch will be attending the RI convention in Korea.

Tuesday, June 21 will be the installation of our new District Governor from the White Bear Lake Yacht Club.

Please sign up to volunteer at our booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival. We are partnering with Rotaract and three other clubs to have a presence at this huge event in Loring Park.

Rotarians in the news included Jay Pfaender in the article about the Catholic Charities expansion (below the fold, but in color!).

Thanks to Sarah Kolar and the planting crew for getting Cleveland Circle planted on Monday!

Linda Mulhern introduced Wina, our departing exchange student from Bali , Indonesia, for her farewell speech. She spent her year at Central HS as a Sophomore. She will be making a 20-hour flight home to Indonesia  - a country of more than 255 million. Wina appeared in the spring musical Guys and Dolls as a dancer and in the chorus as a tourist. She had an awesome experience! She also took a lifeguard class so she is now licensed to guard at the beaches back home. She also appeared in her school’s dance performance. She really enjoyed RYLA. In Minnesota, she’s visited Lake Itasca, where she saw our state bird, the Loon. Halloween as a fun holiday, and she carved her first pumpkin. Learning about Rudolph and the Grinch during Christmas was a hoot, and she really enjoyed all our winter sports (if not the temperatures!). She did enjoy the snow. Being knighted as part of the Winter Carnival Royal Court was a great honor and highlight of the winter. As any young woman would, she really enjoyed meeting her favorite band – Fallout Boy! She is really looking forward to the upcoming East Coast trip.

Past President Dan McKeown made a special promo for next week’s Fellowship Day at the White Bear Lake Yacht Club. Who would want to miss out on lunch looking out over the lake? And if you can take the afternoon off, please stay for a game of golf, tennis, cards, or come back for the evening barbeque. Please sign up by Friday, June 10.

Jay Pfaender offered a promo for the June 21 speaker about the Dorothy Day expansion at Catholic Charities.

Shelly Rucks collected happy dollars from Sarah Kolar in honor of the “planting machine” of volunteers including Linda Mulhern, Larry Morgan, Kathleen Riley and so many others who got Cleveland Circle planted (the evening was a blur, all she can see is purple petunias!); Scott Van, in honor of Sarah’s sister Sally, who was also part of the “planting machine;” Bob Stephenson in honor of pinning Naval Flight Officer wings on his son and in honor his daughter’s graduation from St. Thomas on a ROTC scholarship.

Jay Pfaender introduced Tom Horner, Principal of Honor Strategies, LLC, a PR firm who spoke passionately about the current political reality and the role we in the business community have to make change.

Pew Research shows that 70% of all citizens polled – regardless of party or deomographic – believe that whatever change they seek in government or society, they are “losing” out and not making progress. Anti-government/anti-tax anger blocked tax reform in 2009 under Tim Pawlenty, who had appointed the commission, leading to

Government has become more expensive and less effective. Tax laws, fees, internal borrowing has

Increased 18% while population growth has only been 3% in that time.

Decisions best left to the private marketplace are being made by government, such as the recent decision by the Minneapolis City Council to reform employment law in that city.

Smarter tax policy, reducing disparity, restraining government are all important, but who will address these?

How can our high school graduate rate be only 50% in our core cities? We are at risk in so many families of bringing up kids who will grow up poorer and less educated that their parents’ generation. The business community has the chance to lead the way to create a difference legacy for our community. Here are a few thoughts about the role government has to play in making change:

1. Government has a legitimate and vital role to play, particularly in helping lift people out of poverty.
2. Government is a better guarantor of rights than a provider of services.
3. Government needs to be held accountable. Every program and spending bill should include specific measures and outcomes, which dictate future funding.

We also need a better tax system. The recent 2013 “tax the rich” legislation is not working. Those making $500K or more were paying 19% more taxes than the national average, but now they are paying 40% more than the national average. More importantly, that tax bill removed opportunities to change life for the working poor, which is not good public policy. We’ve created a tax system that rewards consumption and punishes savings and investment.

Our current tax system is creating the roller coaster of deficit and surplus. In a state with an aging demographic, a tax system that relies more heavily than other states on income tax for its revenue, is unsustainable.

We also need to think of education – from early childhood through lifelong learning.
Our business community has done a great job of championing early childhood education. Congratulations! Our K-12 system, however, is not creating critical thinkers even though we live in an entrepreneurial economy. We can do a better job of rewarding the best and brightest, rather than advancing the best test takers. The need to supplement public education with tutoring and other private programs, keeps education in the hands of the wealthy. This means we need a new model for schools.

One of the good things that came out of this year’s legislative session was seed money to study teacher-centered schools to explore new models.

Higher education also needs change. We need a research-driven institution that attracts the nation’s best students. There seems to be a great deal of “mission creep” among many of our higher ed schools, blurring the lines between vocational schools, community colleges, baccalaureate programs and research institutions.

In conclusion, we need to look at ways to expand the middle class to serve as the fulcrum for all this change and to fuel a robust economy.

Carla Hauge closed the meeting by leading the club in the Four Way Test.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael-jon Pease