The Disastrous Impact of St. Paul's Rent Control Policy

It's the same old, same old. Last fall St. Paul was patting itself on the back for a new rent control policy, the most onerous (to landlords) in the U.S. When it went into effect in May, the Law of Unintended Consequences kicked in and already, just months later, the mayor is trying to distance himself from it. 

St. Paul. Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash

The policy St. Paul set in place was a rule that landlords can't raise rent by more than 3% a year. This is great for tenants, obviously, but what happens when the cost of owning property goes up 10%, 20% or more per year. Currently, we are in the middle of a rather wild inflation bump, fast approaching 10%. 

Here in St. Louis County property taxes seem to be climbing exponentially as property values get re-assessed. In an article titled The Results of St. Paul’s Rent Control Experiment Are In—and They’re Disastrous, John Miltimore points out one of the major flaws in this new legislation. It has no exemption for new construction. Therefore St. Paul's new housing construction is suddenly on hold with new building permits down by 80%. This will not alleviate the housing crisis they are experiencing. 

The mayor is fighting to insert an exemption clause, but housing advocates will have nothing to do with it. Building contractors are now struggling with another aspect of the problem which is financing. Banks want to support projects that will be successful. The new ordinance adds another layer of risk  and as most of us learn (too often the hard way), risk aversion is the name of the game. My personal guideline in these kinds of situations is, "When in doubt, chicken out."

Miltimore writes, "As anyone who has ever taken Economics 101 can you tell you, the solution to the high cost of housing isn’t price controls. The answer is to increase the supply of housing."

A little further on the author cites an anecdote from economist Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics regarding the destructive results of rent control policies around the world by citing a Swedish economist who once quipped that rent control “appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.”

In July the Wall Street Journal carried an opinion piece on St. Paul's housing woes titled St. Paul's Rent Control Backfire. The subhead reads, "Building permits fall, and so will the supply of affordable housing."

Here's what I don't get. Economics is a science, too. There are laws or basic principles that form a foundation for all economic theory. Like the law of gravity, you disregard these rules at your own risk. Unfortunately, K-12 education these days seems incapable of recognizing the importance or value of a good sense of how economics works, why mounting debt is grinding and why failing to think long term about one's life and choices can be devastating.

Here in Duluth, it's been said that "Duluth's housing restrictions are Hermantown's best friend." (Hermantown is the community up over the hill.) This appears to be a similar tale. Bloomington, Minneapolis and other sibling communities will be beneficiaries of St. Paul's mistake. No matter how good your intentions are, reality will bite you if you're not grounded on a foundation that is firm.

Paul Metsa Introduces His Upcoming Books and Shares Stories as Duluth Dylan Fest Winds Down

This year there have been two John Bushey Memorial Lectures at Duluth Dylan Fest. Wednesday evening Peter McKenzie talked about his insightful Bob Dylan: On a Couch and Fifty Cents a Day, with its many revelations about Bob's first months in New York City. Yesterday, at Wussow's Concert Cafe, Paul Metsa shared insights about his career in music along with excerpts from his upcoming book, Alphabet Jazz.

Sunbonnet Sue introduced the speaker, his speech being titled "Bob Dylan -- Highway 53 Revisited."

There's a famous dictum for speakers that you've probably heard before. "Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and tell them what you said." Metsa honored this by telling us what he was going to say and following through. "I will be reading from my book Alphabet Jazz," he said at the beginning, though we received much more than that.

But first, he gave a nod to the man who remains present at all these Duluth Dylan Fest gatherings, alive in all our hearts, John Bushey, whose radio program Highway 61 Revisited was a rich and rewarding feast for countless Dylan fans for more than 26 years. "John Bushey," Metsa said, "was the prime mover behind Dylan being re-respected in Duluth and the Iron Range." 

Metsa's first reading from the book was a 1992 letter that he wrote to the Twin Cities Reader in response to a seriously brutal Dylan harangue by Burl "Ives" Gilyard. Metsa's letter was titled, "Dylan -- Still a Hep Cat." It began like this: "Although Bob Dylan certainly needs no one to defend him, I still take issue with Burl “Ives” Gilyard’s shallow musings and cavalier dismissal of the modern Jewish troubadour."

Paul Metsa @ Wussow's. Photos
courtesy Michael Anderson

Great opening line, and it only gets better after that. 

Metsa then covered a swath of territory that included Hibbing High School, the teacher there that was possibly Dylan's biggest influence, and some additional anecdotes about Hibbing and the Iron Range. 

In the midst of all this was a story about 4th Street. In addition to beng one of the great put-down songs of all time, "Positively Fourth Street" has a couple of other interesting features. First, the song came out as a single, but was never on any of the tracks on any of Dylan's albums until it appeared on his Greatest Hits album. Second, many people have wondered whether this 4th Street put-down was rooted in a New York experience or Dinkytown, the section of Minneapolis where Dylan was resident before heading off to the Big Apple. 

Well, Metsa pointed out that there's a Fourth Street in Hibbing, following up with an anecdote about a couple there that never listens to music. Could this be one of the reasons Bob left Hibbing? 

For the record, there is also a Fourth Street in Duluth, one-and-a-half blocks from the home where young Bobby Zimmerman grew up. It's my hope that one day the City of Duluth will rename it Positively Fourth Street some day. (EdNote: Inasmuch as Bob left Duluth at age 6 when his family moved to Hibbing, it is doubtful that the song is referencing any of his kindergarten experiences.)

For what it's worth, Metsa is an engaging storyteller. Whether talking about his experiences navigating the Minnesota music scene or what it's like to live in the same house where Bob Dylan once lived, he draws you in. (He has been renting the lower half of the duplex while looking for a house here in Duluth, which he now has found.)

FWIW, Paul's first book is titled Blue Guitar Highway and is available on Amazon. He also has a third book in the worked that will be published by University of Minnesota Press titled Blood In The Tracks.

* * * 

In 2018, the Minnesota musicians who recorded five of the songs on Dylan's much-lauded Blood on the Tracks album got the long-overdue recognition they deserved for their contributions to that very special album. Paul Metsa featured their stories on his Wall of Power program, a very special event for everyone present. Here are my three blog posts about that special day.

Part One  
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/inside-studio-still-more-blood-and.html 

Part Two
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/paul-metsas-wall-of-power-featuring.html

Part Three

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/lives-touched-and-changed-dylan-blood.html

* * * 

Thank you, Paul, for sharing your stories. Welcome to Duluth.

Senator Klobuchar Addresses Carjacking Crisis

When a local musician friend who transplanted back to Minneapolis, got injured during a carjacking attempt last year, that hit pretty close to home. For some reason this carjacking epidemic struck me as especially disconcerting. In Mary Bue's case, it was the audacity that struck me. The perpetrators were probably no more than 14 years old. 

The frequency of references to carjacking caused me to make a Google Alert on this topic a couple months ago. It is a remarkably widespread problem, occurring in cities from coast to coast. Two themes that especially jumped out to me were (1) how many of these were being carried out by teens, and (2) how many involved weapons and physical harm to the victim. 

Having one's catalytic converter stolen from your car while you are sleeping is one thing. Being struck in the jaw by the butt of a pistol to grab your keys and steal your car is quite another.

On Monday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar conducted a roundtable with six police chiefs to address the spike in carjackings. In Minneapolis, the number of carjacking incidents increased by 537% between 2019 and 2020. 

The police chiefs brought up some other concerns, including the need for more resources to deal with the mental health issues here.  

Kudos to the senator for speaking openly about the carjacking epidemic and Minnesota crime, which are visible evidence that our social fabric is frayed and coming unravelled.

* * *

Related Link

Sen. Klobuchar hosts roundtable to discuss spike in carjacking

Our National Carjacking Epidemic and a Few Prevention Tips

Our National Carjacking Epidemic and a Few Prevention Tips

I assume that you've heard that our country is in the midst of a carjacking epidemic. What concerns me is how many of these brazen events are happening in public places. 

Stealing cars is nothing new. What's new is the audacity. Victims aren't just having their vehicles stolen from their driveways after dark. Victims are being assaulted while pumping gas or just sitting at a traffic light. What's worse is that they are getting stabbed, pistol whipped, knocked out or punched in the face.

And the biggest surprise of all seems to be how many of these crimes are being committed by teenagers. 

Here are a few stories from today's news feed:

After dragging their victim, carjackers crash vehicle in the LGD and flee, police say - NOLA.com

Man charged in armed ride-share carjacking on I-80 - FOX 32 Chicago

Carjacking victim: I'm angry, but I feel sad for these kids | wwltv.com

Uber Driver Shot Twice During Mayfair Carjacking: Police - CBS Philly

NH man gets at least 12 years in fatal carjacking assault - WCAX

Man injured in carjacking at Cleveland gas station

* * *

The other night, after seeing a carjacking notice on Twitter, I decided to do a Twitter search on "carjacking" to see what would show up. Here's what I found.

RECENT CARJACKING COMMENTS

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blames increase in carjackings on schools shifting to remote learning due to COVID-19: “There was a correlation between remote learning and the rise in carjacking...”

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls
Another carjacking at gunpoint.
34xx Irving Ave S
Loss: white 2002 Cadillac

Just saw a post today where Walz said that carjackers shouldn't be put in jail. Somebody is going to get killed. And even then I doubt they will do anything. Walz has to go. Maybe won't have to worry about Frey, demonstrators today are wanting him gone.. got to love that.

CWBChicago

@CWBChicago

·

47m

Now: Armed carjacking. Victim pistol-whipped. 1400 block of West Addison. #Chicago #ChicagoScanner

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls 

·

Feb 8

Carjacking and shots were fired. 39xx Drew Ave S Suspects: Hispanic M's in dark clothing. Loss: black Dodge Challenger, plate AHE946 Squad 570

CARJACKER STOPPED BY POLICE CARJACKS ANOTHER AUTO--- Branch Ave. An armed carjacking suspect stopped by police, fled on foot, then carjacks a Toyota RAV4 after punching female driver in face. They are at Naylor Rd and Suitland Parkway. EMS needed for her and an officer.

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls

·

Feb 8

Carjacking, and suspects crashed the vehicle near 3rd and Main St SE. Two suspects, mixed race M,. All in dark clothing, fleeing.

BREAKING: Arrest made in connection with brutal carjacking of woman pumping gas at Costco; teen suspect recently freed from armed robbery arrest after DA Jason Williams' office refused to prosecute

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls

·

Feb 9

Message from a follower who said they were carjacked just after 2 p.m. today near Pleasant and Ridgewood (near W Franklin Ave). There's a corresponding dispatch for a strong-arm robbery/carjacking at that location. Police arrived, according to the victim.

EdNote: I used to paint apartments on Franklin and also on So. Irving mentioned earlier.

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls

·

9h

Delayed post. Police observing a 2017 black Challenger taken in a carjacking where shots were fired (we posted Tuesday). Now parked at Girard Ave N and Dowling, occupied by two. Also involved in the bus shoot 12:00 --PURSUIT --East on Lowry from Humbolt

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls

·

Feb 5

Carjacking at gunpoint. 43rd and Linden Hills Blvd Loss: rented red Alpha Romeo, plate HUS747 or HUD757

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls

·

22h

PURSUIT from 40th and Hiawatha, northbound. Stolen vehicle with a KOPS Alert, carjacking. Ford Explorer. 22:34 Now back southbound, approaching 40th.

CrimeWatchMpls

@CrimeWatchMpls

·

Feb 9

Police got flagged down on a carjacking at gunpoint that happened 30 minutes ago at 19th and E Lake St, by the taco truck. Suspects: 2 BM, 19-20, arrived in a 1998 copper Dodge minivan

Chicago Tribune

@chicagotribune

·

6h

A 16-year-old boy is accused of carjacking a Lyft driver then driving the stolen car to the scene where he fatally shot a 15-year-old walking home from school, prosecutors said.

WAFB

@WAFB

·

7h

Police are searching for a second, preteen suspect accused of carjacking a woman while she was pumping gas at the Costco in New Orleans. https://bit.ly/3gD1CxC

SueinJenkintown שנה

@sueinphilly

·

7h

I just talked to my former neighbor Pat, whose son was killed in a carjacking behind her house on Sunday She is a strong woman She found out a neighbor came out & held George's hand while he lay dying on the pavement It meant alot to her

Crystal P.

@crystalp

·

5h

The carjacking chaos in DC is off the charts Chris O'Connell @CoconnellFox29 · 3h

Update:Philly Police recover SUV that was carjacked in West Philly with 3 kids in backseat. All three were let go about a block away.Police looking for suspect. @FOX29philly

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of carjackings in D.C. increased 300 percent, and Mayor Muriel Bowser was quick to blame D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and his office for a perceived lack of prosecution. Yesterday, Racine adjusted the narrative.

DunningWatch

@DunningWatch

·

7h

Last night around 7pm there was an armed carjacking at the Citgo @ 2000 Harlem Ave in Elmwood Park. A black 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, IL plate CH 24903 was taken by 2 male Blacks wearing all black clothing and armed with black semi-automatic handgun(s).

Leader McConnell

@LeaderMcConnell

·

Feb 9

Innocent Americans across the country are becoming victims of a violent crime wave. My hometown Louisville set a new all-time murder record last year and averages a carjacking every 42 hours. Democrats have got to quit the radical anti-police rhetoric and soft-on-crime policies.

killmoenews

@Killmoenews1

·

Feb 9

CARJACKING BY "MACHINE GUN"--- 3 guys, one armed with a handgun and another with a "machine gun," carjacked victim in the 1800 blk Upshur St NE DC of a silver Hyundai Kona with Maryland temp tags.

Steve Keeley

@KeeleyFox29

·

Feb 9

2/2

@phillypolice

officer got elbowed in face by carjacker,32. The carjacker tossed stolen credit cards&identity taken from a 2nd carjacking victim of his Monday. New PhillyPD Carjacking Investigation Unit went to carjacker’s home&found carjacked Audi from Monday

@fox29philly

Jenna Barnes

@Jenna_Barnes

·

Feb 9

Police say the 16-year-old now charged with first-degree murder was wearing an electronic monitor when he killed 15-year-old Michael Brown yesterday. The suspect is also charged in a carjacking that happened hours before the shooting.

>>Chicago<<

PPB Central Precinct

@PPBCentral

·

Feb 9

Officers Arrest Suspect involved in Carjacking https://ift.tt/6JwV8y9

Markie Kelly

@MarcTwinCities

·

23h

BLOOMINGTON: Reports of a carjacking, vehicle taken at gunpoint.

NOPD

@NOPDNews

·

6h

Jaylah Hamp (pictured) sought for questioning re: att. carjacking at Downman Rd & Hayne Blvd. & for armed robbery in 5700 blk of Crowder Blvd. Both incidents occurred on Jan. 14. Call #NOPD at 504-658-6070 or

@CrimestopperGNO

w/any info on these incidents.

AS PROMISED, HERE ARE A FEW PREVENTION TIPS

COURTESY THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT

Click to enlarge. Feel free to download and share.

“In order to build our nation, 

we must all exceed our own expectations.”

— Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, Invictus