Multiple sources and critical thinking

It is vital for each of us to do our patriotic duty to become informed voters for the upcoming presidential elections. Political spin, misinformation, and outright lies are rampant now.

Our daughter is a high school Social Studies teacher whose tasks includes teaching “media literacy.” She knows it is important to check multiple sources and use your critical thinking to judge the credibility and bias of each source. I would suggest picking a few highly political topics, then checking the same news item on at least three sources. I have found TV news or websites from the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) to be relatively unbiased. You could compare their reporting to what you hear from Fox News and MSNBC, or the CBS and ABC networks.

Whatever you decide, I hope that next year you will feel you have done your civic duty, and you will not suffer “buyer’s remorse” for the vote that you cast on Nov. 5.

Dale R. Lutz, Maplewood

Down the storm sewer

Thursday, Aug. 22, at about 9:45 a.m. I observed a Cemstone concrete truck hosing down his equipment on Montreal Avenue one block south of Snelling Avenue. All the cement residue from his recent delivery was washed down the storm sewer. How is that allowable?

Earl Bailey, West St. Paul

Where should big data centers go?

As Minnesota continues its efforts to attract mega data centers, what responsibility do the cities and state have toward its citizens? What is in place to protect the people when cities push to allow these noisy facilities to be built next to our neighborhoods?

Tract Management Co., with the support of a willing Farmington City Council, is pushing forward with plans to build a 2.53 million-square-foot data center campus on 340 acres, sandwiched between, and next to, two residential communities. Meanwhile, the city moves ahead to rezone land, formerly planned for residential neighborhoods, to mixed-use commercial industrial (MUCI), disregarding the well-being and voices of those who will live next to the technology park.

Tract admits there will be constant noise, generated by cooling systems and backup generators. This low frequency tonal noise will be incessant, affecting over 3,100 homes within a two-mile radius. Their own presentations state that data centers are best located away from residential areas.

Where is the legislation to protect citizens from this kind of rezoning? Industrial buildings belong in industrial zones, it is truly that simple.

Nancy Aarestad, Farmington

Shedding light on WSCO

Thank you for placing on the first page of the Aug. 22 edition the article by Frederick Melo regarding the resignations of six of the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) board members, including all four members of the WSCO Board Executive Committee, as well as the resignation of two staff members.

The West Side Community has suffered the effects of ongoing dysfunction in WSCO for an oppressively long time. This is something that I know from having lived on the West Side since 1998 and having served on the WSCO Board of Directors following elections at the WSCO Annual Meeting in December of 2014. As a WSCO board and committee member I experienced disenfranchisement, and that experience continued in the years since, when I attempted to be involved in activities sponsored by WSCO. The disenfranchisement that I experienced bears similarity to recent events as reported in Melo’s recent article. Allegations of recent racism are disappointing, but do not surprise me, based upon my own experiences and observations.

It is difficult for the average West Side resident to gain an understanding of WSCO’s history, as the information is not readily available. For example, the current website provides board meeting notes only from the period of January 2015 to the current time. Board meeting notes from all years previous are not available on the WSCO website. And many of the monthly board meeting notes since 2015 are not available on the website. For example, in 2016, the year that the previous executive director of WSCO exited, and Monica Bravo received a promotion from community organizer to executive director, board meeting notes are available only for the first four months of the year. Rumors of a firing abounded, but the entire period of May-December of 2016 the board meeting notes were not available to the public.

This lack of transparency makes it impossible for the constituents of the West Side to have an informed understanding of the events that led to a change of leadership in our community. Due to this same chronic lack of transparency, it is likely that many in the community are unaware Monica Bravo also worked as a community organizer at WSCO in the 2000s, at a time of reportedly great controversy.

Despite that there are no board meeting notes for the years 2020-2021 on the WSCO website, the total of executive compensation, other salaries and wages for the fiscal year ending in December of 2021 was $273,058.

The mandate for the WSCO Board and staff is to serve the residents of the West Side. From my perspective, there needs to be reform in order for this to happen. It is my hope that Frederick Melo will expand upon his recent reporting about WSCO politics. With board elections coming up soon, now is the perfect time to shed bright light on WSCO.

Salina Amey, St. Paul