As the screenshot above documents, state representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, has joined in condemning the hiring of a Chief Resilience Officer by the City of Minneapolis. We're told by the Star Tribune Morning Hot Dish newsletter that this development deserves listing on the "Minneapolis Self Parody Watch."
Miller, the man who would be a congressman is outraged in a now-vanished Facebook post:
Government completely out of control. Hard to say which is worse, that this exists or that the taxpayer is paying for it.
He'll have to center his outrage on the first option, since taxpayers aren't footing the bill (even Coolican's swipe in the Strib newsletter noted that the project was grant-funded). Emma Nelson reports in Former legislator Kate Knuth hired as Minneapolis' chief resilience officer, the article Miller shared:
The 100 Resilient Cities project provides resources and guidance to participating cities, including money to cover the chief resilience officer's salary. Knuth's annual salary is $114,999, according to the city.
Those cities in the United States include such liberal bastions as Tulsa, Oklahoma; Donald Trump's beloved Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; naval town Norfolk, Virginia; El Paso and Dallas, Texas. That should prove scary to the folks in Sacred Heart and Echo who don't read beyond the headline.
So much easier to just make fun of Minneapolis.
There's more in Nate Gotlieb's article in the Southwest Journal, Former state Rep. Knuth takes Chief Resilience Officer position:
Kate Knuth’s education has centered around biology and conservation. Her career has centered around her home state of Minnesota.
She’ll get to apply the former to help the latter in her new job as chief resilience officer of Minneapolis.
Knuth, a former state representative who’s spent years studying biology and conservation, assumed the new job earlier this month. The position aims to help the city prepare for challenges such as natural disasters, climate change and aging infrastructure, among others. . . .
Knuth’s position is part of an effort the by New York-based Rockefeller Foundation to help cities around the world become better prepared for climate change, natural disasters and other challenges they could face in coming years.
The foundation is underwriting the CRO position in 100 cities around the world and helping them develop technical plans and creative infrastructure financing to become more resilient, former President Judith Rodin said in a 2013 video. It has called the program 100 Resilient Cities and has committed $164 million to it.
The foundation pays for each participating city’s CRO for two years and potentially three. That person is supposed to work across government departments to help cities improve internal communication, bring together stakeholders and lead the development of a resilience strategy. . . .
Bluestem believes that if the Rockefeller Foundation were funding a position in Willmar, Moorhead or Alexandria, Miller would be touting the private dollars coming to the Seventh Congressional District, instead of echoing a cheap shot heard round the state.
Screengrab (supplied): Miller imagines taxpayers are picking up Knuth's salary, while hoping his Facebook friends imagine he's read the article. Miller is seeking the Republican endorsement in Minnesota's Seventh District.
Note: This post has been updated to reflect that the post was no longer viewable by the public, as several readers informed us.
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Seems as though said post has gone the way of the Dodo.
Posted by: Jonathan Marchand | Jun 23, 2017 at 08:31 AM