Residents of the Twin Cities southern suburb of Apple Valley will have a unique opportunity this fall, with a Libertarian in the race for Mayor. Ryan Richard Moe, a longtime resident and small businessman, is running against incumbent Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland. Ryan Moe has seen some troubling things in the city, including wasteful spending on city-run liquor stores and a multi-million dollar waterpark, two issues which inspired him to throw his hat into the ring.
Mr. Moe helps to manage his family business, a car rental franchise, and he understands firsthand the frustrations of dealing with government. As an established car rental service at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport for many years, he was dismayed to learn that the Metropolitan Airports Commission had decided to exclude his locally-owned franchise from continuing to serve the airport terminal, allowing only major chains and companies meeting politically-established criteria to remain, in an arbitrary decision made by bureaucrats rather than a result of customer demand from the marketplace.
Much the same happened again, this time directly adjacent to his own home. In an effort to stay viable and competitive, a neighboring gas station owner had invested considerable funds of his own to install a state-of-the-art car wash. Mr. Moe and his neighbors had signed a petition agreeing to the new car wash. However, when the owner had to appear at a City Council meeting, they wouldn’t even let him speak, and the Council and Mayor simply voted against allowing the car wash. This callous dismissal by the city upset Mr. Moe, who wanted a successful business next door providing value to the community, not a vacant property that could become a center for crime.
City spending projects have also shown officials to be out-of-touch with the community. The city spent $14 million on parks, including a large waterpark which benefits a few at the expense of the many. Apple Valley property taxes were hiked 3½% to pay for this waterpark. Mr. Moe also disagrees with the city liquor monopoly; he believes government has no business being in the liquor business. The city’s newest liquor store cost taxpayers $5 million, which Mr. Moe describes as a “taj mahal” built “in the middle of nowhere”. This liquor store was so expensive and poorly-located that he thinks it’s unlikely the city can recoup all that was spent on it. His goal will be to sell all the city-run liquor stores, the waterpark, and two city-owned golf courses, and refund any money obtained from these sales directly back to taxpayers.
Mr. Moe understands that many homeowners are struggling to keep their jobs, pay their mortgages, and keep up with family expenses like schooling and healthcare. Many people have been cutting back on their personal expenses, and he thinks it’s time for city government to do the same. He would cut city spending with the goal of cutting property taxes by at least 10%. Allowing people to keep more of their own money means helping all city residents to become more financially secure. He knows that when individuals are financially stronger, the community will be stronger.
Once elected, Mr. Moe would seek out silly ordinances for repeal. One example is a recent trash can ordinance, micromanaging how residents must keep trash cans indoors or in specially-built enclosures. After years of keeping his trash cans by his side yard, an unobtrusive spot which never bothered his neighbors, he was surprised to receive a letter from the city ordering him to move them or face fines. Many of his neighbors received similar threatening letters. Mr. Moe cites this as a prime example of overreaching government. Repealing this ordinance would save residents from harassment by the city, as well as save the taxes needed to pay a bureaucrat who apparently had little better to do than to prowl the streets looking at trash cans.
He also takes issue with the city’s seizures and sales of private vehicles in DWI cases. A DWI offense does not give those in government a license to steal. Some are older vehicles with a lower value, while others are new trucks worth many thousands of dollars, and he points out that these seizures are unfair and unequal treatment. An alternative he proposes is to impound the license plates during the term of the sentence, allowing owners to keep their vehicles for storage or sale.
Mr. Moe would also seek to ban the city from using Google Earth or satellite imagery to snoop onto homeowners’ property, looking for swimming pools, decks, or sheds. Furthermore, he’d like to end the permitting requirement for home renovations. A permit is now required even for replacement of a home water heater. He disagrees with home improvements being used by the city as a way to extract more revenue with permit fees and property tax reassessments, and getting to the root of the issue, he believes homeowners should not have to go to beg government bureaucrats for permission to improve their own private property. If homeowners want to improve their homes, this should be commended, not penalized.
Ryan Moe isn’t a career politician. He’s a citizen who realizes that the city government needs to change the way it operates. He sees it as his duty to step up, take action, and stand up for his neighbors. As a Libertarian, he understands that freedom is key to both economic prosperity and personal happiness, and he knows that wealth is created by people’s hard work, so it shouldn’t be squandered. As a longtime resident, he’d be a true representative of the people and a refreshing change from the autocratic “we know best” attitude which unfortunately describes so many politicians today.
Please support Ryan Richard Moe for Apple Valley Mayor on November 2.
His website is www.moe4mayor.com, and his email is ryan@moe4mayor.com.
Concerned about the relentless expansion of government control and the erosion of individual liberty? Consider joining and becoming active in the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. Libertarians stand in support of liberty on all issues, all the time. Libertarianism is a philosophical and political movement promoting individual freedom, voluntary interaction, genuine free markets, and peace.