Star Tribune
Children are the voices of Metro Transit’s new anti-smoking messages
The voices of children are pleading with riders on light-rail trains and platforms in the Twin Cities to “love your lungs,” just one of a series of anti-smoking messages recorded by the kids of Metro Transit employees meant to discourage lighting up on the Blue and Green lines.
“Please don’t smoke at the station or on the train. You harm my health when we ride together. Thank you,” says part of one of the announcements that began playing on platforms and trains this week.
Smoking on light-rail trains has drawn more customer complaints than any of the bad behavior that has plagued the Blue and Green lines in recent years, General Manager Lesley Kandaras said.
“We were looking to communicate our expectations to riders in a new way,” Kandaras said, noting that standard recorded announcements using a monotonous voice can easily blend into the background. “It is intended to get attention, but also to humanize the impact of this really inconsiderate act of smoking in an enclosed transit vehicle.”
Some riders who have heard the young voices come over the intercom have taken to social media to describe the effect as “jarring,” “startling,” “annoying” and “loud.” But that doesn’t mean they don’t want it to work.
“It definitely made me think I was in a horror movie for a minute the first time I heard the disembodied voice of a small child echo through the train,” wrote a user on the social website Reddit. “No idea if it will make any kind of difference, and if it does that would be great.”
Kandaras said the recordings alone won’t solve the problem, but that it’s meant as an innovative attempt at solving a persistent problem.
Besides bringing the anti-smoking messages to social media platforms in the coming weeks, Kandaras said Metro Transit continues to deploy police officers and community service officers to remind people not to smoke on trains or at platforms and who will respond when they find that behavior. By the end of the month, more agents from the agency’s Transit Rider Investment Program will also be on the case, too, she said.
Metro Transit recently revised its code of conduct and placed signs at bus stops and rail platforms setting rules and expectations for users of the state’s largest transit system. Future announcements may focus on littering, vandalism, playing loud music and other unsavory behaviors.
“We are not going to stop with smoking,” Kandaras said.
In conjunction with the announcements, Metro Transit recently kicked off an evolving “Take Pride in Your Ride” campaign. It begins with “The Great Week in Transit,” which will run Monday through Friday. Hundreds of Metro Transit employees will be riding trains and buses to mingle with passengers and share information about the revised code of conduct.
Executives such as Kandaras will be out and about as well.
“We want everyone to have a comfortable and safe experience riding with us,” Kandaras said. “We need all riders respecting each other on the system.”
Nine votes were needed to override Frey’s veto, but the vote was 7-6 in favor — not enough to overturn the resolution, which expressed solidarity with “nonviolent campus activism opposing war and supporting Palestinian human rights.”
The university has disputed that the protest at Morrill Hall was nonviolent, saying protesters spray-painted security cameras, broke interior windows and barricaded exits, trapping staffers for “an extended period of time.” University police and Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies arrested 11 protesters.
The university said the protesters caused over $67,000 in damage to doorways, walls and flooring; violated multiple university polices; and caused emotional harm to employees as they piled up furniture and copy machines to prevent workers from leaving.
The vote to override was supported by Council Members Robin Wonsley, Jason Chavez, Aurin Chowdhury, Jeremiah Ellison and Jamal Osman, as well as Council President Elliott Payne and Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai.
Those voting to sustain the veto were Council Members Michael Rainville, LaTrisha Vetaw, Katie Cashman, Emily Koski, Andrea Jenkins and Linea Palmisano.
That’s the same breakdown as the original 7-5 vote to approve the resolution, except that Jenkins was absent.
Bartho said she was heartbroken that such an act came to Northfield, but “we’re trying to make the most of it.”
The tree was donated by Paisley Gardens, a boutique garden center in Northfield. Decorated in purple garlands and big round ornaments, the tree will also be surrounded by lit-up trees and a thousand luminaries.
The Winter Walk, now in its 26th year, includes live music, fireworks, carolers, firepits and plenty of shopping.
If anything will put a damper on the evening, it’ll be temperatures in the single digits Thursday night, Bartho said. Not the actions of a Grinch with the heart of a dead tomato splotched.
“It’s not going to keep people away,” Bartho said. “People are coming down anyway.”
The Hennepin County Board approved a 5.5% increase to its property tax levy Thursday to fund a $3 billion budget for 2025.
Property taxes fund about $1 billion of the county’s $2.5 billion operating budget and $463 million capital improvement plan. About 60% of the county operating budget comes from state and federal dollars dedicated to various social programs.
Hennepin County is Minnesota’s second largest government, after the state government. Overall, county spending will grow by $87 million, or 3.6%, next year.
About $55 million comes from the property tax increase and the rest from savings. County leaders noted that federal pandemic aid is spent and tapping savings will make up short-term gaps without impacting long-term finances.
Much of the new spending will go toward rising salaries and benefits for the county’s 10,000 employees. The size of the workforce is not expected to change, and county officials are finalizing new contracts with the 17 unions that represent about ⅔ of workers.
More than 4,000 workers represented by six different AFSCME units approved new three-year contracts Wednesday that include 4% raises each year. That is on top of the regular increases some workers receive for their experience.
The new budget also includes $10 million toward covering the cost of uncompensated care at HCMC, the safety-net hospital overseen by commissioners and the Hennepin Healthcare System board.
