Remarks by Garrison McMurtrey
35 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 0:00
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 17:38
“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to highlight a couple of things from this past week. I had a chance to meet with health partners, Como Clinic staff, just to discuss the expansion and the new facility that they will be building in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood right off of Como. We just discussed the site plan as well as some of the new features that they'll be adding to this facility. including a health center for women, CT MRI services, and TRIA orthopedics, and TRIA urgent care will be added to this facility. So it was great to connect with their staff and learn more about the…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 8, 2026
- Play at 44:32
“Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Director Olson, for this presentation. My question is around the percentage of the first-time homeowners who are also first-generation homebuyers. As we look, I guess I would love to get insights on the county's role as we look towards the future and knowing that there are a few developments, redevelopment projects that are coming our way, whether it's as Rice Creek Commons or in Falcon Heights or in St. Paul, even though we don't serve as the land use authority for these properties, what role do we have to better influence the creation of more stock to…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 50:55
“No, that's helpful to hear and encouraging to know that we are, despite the limitations that we have over some of the control of how these things are pulled together, that we are leveraging whatever influence we do have to really push these projects and these developers to really consider the needs that we have as a county. The other piece, it's not listed as a performance measure, but I think it's also really important. And I appreciate you highlighting the performance measures that you did. But I also have been thinking more about the who. Who's developing these different properties, these…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:45:58
“Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Director McCabe, for the presentation. A couple of questions going back to the culturally specific community engagement. As you look towards the future in the next few years, are there any specific groups or organizations or even demographics that you're hoping to increase engagement with?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:47:12
“Gotcha. And kind of a follow-up to that, have we, have you all as a department, utilized some of the different communication platforms? I'm thinking specifically of, you know, Mung TV or the launch of the new podcast as ways to further engage folks in the community.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:48:07
“That's great to hear. My next question is around the culturally specific programs. Seeing that residents not feeling safe or comfortable to participate in activities, a piece of that I wonder and want to get your perspective is maybe a lack of that representation in the room, specifically of the makeup of our staff, of those who are coming up with these different ideas and ways to engage and ways to to come up with the different programming. Would you say that there is room for us to go to ensure that our staff, parks staff, really reflects the diversity of the county?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:50:28
“No, I think that's encouraging to hear and to know that that's something that you'll be focusing on is great. And I just bring it up because as we think about some of the trepidations by residents, of course, who's presenting is an important piece. I wanted to make sure that we're thinking, you know, the step before that of, like, who's in the room making the recommendations and coming up with the ideas to ensure that they, you know, reflect the challenges, the concerns, the different areas that we know we can build excitement with certain communities and to make sure that those folks who…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 4:08:48
“Thank you, Madam Chair. Two quick things. One, I just wanted to go back and highlight again, like you have, Pat, the importance of the property tax refund program. And to Commissioner Zhang's point, something that I think we should for sure on our end do what we can to continue to gain exposure to the program. also i think it's it's an important thing for us to continue to push uh amc on uh to make sure that this is a a statewide effort especially as we push i think should continue to push for making it automatic through the state legislature so i just wanted to name that because i i do think…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 5:00:16
“Awesome. Thank you, Madam Chair. And this is a really quick question. Going back to the library materials, I'm glad that you were highlighting the effort to make sure that those materials purchase reflect the communities that we're serving. Out of curiosity, out of those diverse materials, how many of them are from local authors or artists? Do we track at all how many are local to Minnesota?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 10:36
“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to pull five fund transfer from Foley's Totem Town and Maplewood Properties to a redevelopment implementation project.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 1, 2026
- Play at 10:49
“I just wanted to give an opportunity for the county manager and for our CD director to come and explain a little bit more about this particular item.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 1, 2026
- Play at 1:12:57
“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to highlight a couple of things from last week. Last Tuesday, I had a chance to participate in a town hall at the Lynn Blumstein Care Center in my district in the Como Park neighborhood. Myself, Senator Umunba Baden, and Councilmember Molly Coleman, Ward 4, all provided updates to residents as well as answered their questions. A lot of great conversation and questions around A lot of the decisions and topics that we've been dealing with here at the county, including questions around Medicaid and SNAP and how that's going to impact the residents there, as well…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 1, 2026
- Play at 32:35
“Thank you, Madam Chair, and appreciate the presentation. I had just a couple of questions, one on the election judges piece. You mentioned the goal of really putting a focus on ensuring that we have judges that reflect the communities that they're in. I want to kind of get a better understanding of what recruitment has been, what the process has been for recruitment, and what differently you all are planning to do to ensure we're reaching a more diverse pool of election judges. Sure.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 34:02
“Gotcha. So with us first having to go through the list that the state provides, do we know the demographic breakdown? Knowing that we are really determined to ensure that diversity and representation through these positions, is it... How much of a gap are we currently looking with that current list that's provided from the state?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 34:50
“Awesome. That'll be helpful. Thank you. And then my other question in regards to elections, just knowing in the lead up to the August primary, and we're continuing to see it in the lead up to the general election, a lot of the concerns that we've been hearing from constituents, are there steps you all are taking to track some of your major takeaways from August and from this coming November, because we know that 2028 presidential will be here before we know it. And just thinking through from a budget perspective of maybe additional needs that might be helpful as we're looking towards those…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 1:21:47
“Thank you, Madam Chair. I had a couple of questions in regards to the influencer partnership. First one, is there a vetting process that we go through when it comes to selecting the influencers that we partner with? And on top of that, are there specific areas that you're hoping that these influencers will cover as they're making content on behalf of the county?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 1:23:47
“Has the program been effective? How do we measure success with that type of program? Are there a certain amount of engagement that we're looking for from these influencers? What does the success look like for this type of program?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 1:25:12
“Great. No, I appreciate that. And I know that, as Commissioner McGuire also mentioned, I hope that as we look at the strategy that we continue to utilize the board as a way to continue to leverage our platforms and networks to get the message out even more so. And I'll make a pitch. If you need to reach the millennials, there are three of us here. We're happy to do a podcast together.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 2:22:11
“Thank you, Madam Chair. I will make this very quick. Thank you again for the presentation. A follow-up question to the public Wi-Fi piece. As it rolls out and you all make your way to hitting that 100% goal, are we prioritizing certain facilities as the rollout continues? And if so, what does that prioritization look like?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 2:23:41
“Thank you. I appreciate that. And the other question I had is in regards to the cost savings, which I appreciate you highlighting what those were. I'm fascinated by the public library data center. Is that something that's a norm in the Twin Cities metro with other counties as well? And since we have decommissioned that data center, where are those services provided through now?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:12:30
“Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Ferguson. I had a question around the retention rate. And I was wondering if we know that some areas in the organization has higher turnover rates than others. I'm thinking specifically of dispatch or FAS. Are those higher numbers reflected in why these numbers are where they're at? I guess because of those higher turnover rates, do we kind of see the average being brought down a bit more? How does that work with including those numbers in this overall average?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:00:06
“Thank you, Madam Chair. I also have a community advisory board's question. So How much demographic data do we track or collect when it comes to the boards? And I'm just thinking of, I appreciate the focus on the racial and ethnic diversity, but also thinking of making sure we have gender identity diversity and make sure that we're looking at renters versus homeowners, people with disabilities. There's so many different demographics that make up the diversity of Ramsey County that I want to make sure that we at least attempt to try to have reflected in these community boards. Is that a level…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:18:41
“The only question I have is could we possibly get like an executive summary of everything you just said?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:18:55
“track all of that, but if I had what you just said, it would be better. So if we can get that, that'd be great.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026