Remarks by Kelly Miller
60 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
- Play at 54:31
“Thank you. I apologize for my tardiness, so if this has been covered, please bear with me. So on our first slide here, is this data, I understand this is our data from our programming, but is this data from that year that they close, or is it from the year that they go on to our property tax system? And I guess, do you want me to continue where I'm going with this? And I ask this just because maybe it'd be good if we had data or do we have data that kind of shows the bigger picture? Because if this is just for our program, like I see the American Indian community is at 1%, but I know that…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:33:17
“Okay, so if we go back to our first slide of the number of culturally specific community engagement sessions held, I kind of have a couple questions. So one, what does that engagement look like, and how did that change the way we do the work? So do we know if this engagement encouraged communities of color who we were engaging with to participate or attend some of these events? these locations. Like I've been to Battle Creek many times, Water Park. I know the makeup of the people who use it, but like Manitou Ridge Golf Course, right? Like did that encourage more communities of color to come…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:37:36
“That makes sense. Thank you. And then the total acreage for the next slide. I know you gave us some examples that, yes, you do partner with other organizations, but can you give me a specific of where? Is this where we're thinking of when you remodeled the golf course and we added in some of that, more of that natural landscape in that area? Is that the space we're talking about here? Or is it more going into our parks and not mowing it or planting more natural or...”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:39:26
“Okay, and then I guess my last question here goes to the last slide. Do we have attendance data on who attended these culturally specific facilitated programs? I mean, I think it's wonderful that we hosted them and we contracted with people, but do we know who attended them and how many and just if that work is being fruitful and it's actually meeting the need of the community?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:40:47
“And then when we charge the fee, do we charge the fee for straight across anybody who wants to attend them? So whether you're a Ramsey County resident or whether you're a non-resident to participate in them, it's the same amount? And I only ask that because I went to Anoka County Park for my son's birthday. Let me tell you, they charge for everything. So I'm just saying, do we have similar fee structures where we're charging non-residents and residents Different fees for using our services with Commissioner Miller.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 1:41:45
“I've heard similar that they charge for use of their dog parks. They charge for use of parking, right? And I'm just curious at how much revenue that helps generate that can go back into programming. I saw in a slide ahead that you haven't got to that some of the funding challenges to restore lands is that maintaining them. Well, I wonder if this is an area that we could use to offset that cost and help with that. So we're still following our climate equity plan, but we're also being you know, fair and equitable to our residents as well.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:47:51
“Good morning, or mid-morning. Good morning. Okay, my question goes back to, let's go to our first slide. I have a couple questions. So with rating of the county road pavement and I understand that 17% of our county roads are in poor condition or rated in poor condition. My first question, are these roads that we maintain or are they just in general all roads in Ramsey County?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:48:22
“We maintain, not our county roads that the city of St. Paul maintains.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:48:27
“It includes that, okay. And then my next one goes to, is the future investments that we're making and the plans we have to fix some of these roads, does that help us reach our goal or bring us close to our goals of 14% by 2028 and then 12% for 2030?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:48:47
“It does, okay. And then does this also, like how does that work with the transfer of roads? I know that we've transferred a few roads into our system or we've transferred a few roads out of our system over the last six to eight months. How does that also tie into, and I know like in White Bear Lake, like we've made it very clear we will not take over ownership of that road until it is fixed, right? Right, right.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:50:35
“Yeah, it does Okay, and then the last point it says the data is collected by MnDOT every other year We do our I'm assuming do that we do our own data collection on and assessments on our roads as well Or are we just taking MnDOT's? Collection and what do they do with that information? Is it like score like hey Ramsey? You're up here at 17% but Hennepin's at 20 or Anoka's at 14, right?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:53:02
“Okay, thank you for that detailed information. Okay, I'm going to skip now to the third slide on the chloride level. I know that this is the average across all Ramsey County lakes. Are we seeing higher numbers in certain areas and are we doing a targeted approach for those areas?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:53:32
“I'm not sure. I know this talks about our usage, but how do we partner with our cities to know their usage as well? I have a few constituents that reach out to me about this topic often, so I'm kind familiar with some of this information. And then with our benchmark, are we measuring, like, is there a water quality benchmark we're trying to get to versus the usage of the chloride?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:55:14
“And then when we do road updates, I'm sure we take into consideration the water runoff and where the wastewater enters the system at and how can we prevent that spread. So maybe adding a curb and here's the sewer or making sure it gets into where it's supposed to go.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:56:10
“Okay, perfect. Thank you for that. And I just want to also say, driving on White Bear Avenue is so nice now. So thank you very much for getting that part done.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 2:56:21
“Yeah, that's exactly why. So I have no more further questions. Thank you.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 3:17:55
“Any trails around like ride those scooters and those bikes. You're talking about me taking away the fun.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 3:18:57
“You can take that. We won't lock you in.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 3:55:15
“Well, I don't know if I want to go back in now. Sorry. I felt like you kind of wrapped that up. No, no, I didn't mean to do that. Go ahead. You can do it. On the first slide, thank you so much for this, Pat. Can you kind of help me understand this equity piece a little bit more on the 24? I know we're in compliance. I know we're at 100%. I appreciate that. I also appreciate Commissioner Zhang's question on what changed to get us there. But with these 24 measures, how are they assessed? Because they're not ours, right? They're the... the state's measures that we measure. So where's the equity…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 3:57:39
“And so do we see that across different neighborhoods, though, in different areas? And how do we... Maybe I'm just... I'll have to go back to you on that one because I'm not sure how to say what I'm thinking.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 3:58:49
“Thank you. That's very helpful. I appreciate that.”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 4:40:36
“I thank you, Director Yang, for everything that you and your staff do. As somebody that has three libraries in their district and who visits them monthly, I appreciate each and every one of your staff that welcome me into their space monthly. My first slide is gonna go to, our first slide, my first question goes with, This is great seeing, and I appreciate the effort to purchase more culturally and ethnically diverse material. What is the utilization on the material that's being purchased?”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 4:41:50
“Then my next as we were purchasing these materials I just want to make sure just like I just want to add the note in is to make sure that we're purchasing materials that are written by Authors that are reflect what they're writing. So I know often time in the native community Non-native people like to write about us But it's just better to purchase it from an actual native author for that's an example that I was just wanted to give I”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 4:42:42
“And not just for the native community, but for all communities. Okay, and then my question, I did have a big question on the slide, but I did see it that it's on the next slide. So when we go to the performance measures, can you talk a little more about these challenging and complex incidents that you and your staff are experiencing? Maybe give us an example would be helpful. And then how are your... how do you respond to that in real time, right? Like, if you've mentioned here and you said in your presentation that, you know, you've required more staffing or, you know, partnering with…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 4:46:42
“While we're on staffing, you did mention in the last slide the steward and cost savings. You did mention the update on the subsystem. And I'm just curious to see how that has changed and how is that working. As someone, again, who's in the libraries, three different libraries monthly, I can kind of see and I can kind of see how busy sometimes it really is. And so I'm just curious how the subs are working and... if that's successful and that has actually played out or if that's something that we need to reconsider. And why I say that is because I don't want it to get us into a situation where…”
Board of Commissioners · Sep 3, 2026