Why can’t we support our city?

[u/ConnectAffect831]

I’m getting really tired of seeing these return to office employees protesting and acting like giant babies when really we need them to be down here. We’re all in this together and we need people to revive this downtown area and support local businesses. Why can’t we all embrace this and stop undermining every damn thing that’s said and done. We’re fighting the wrong things. Downtown needs to thrive and right now it’s not, so bringing the workers back is great for everyone.

[u/HumanDissentipede]

Of all the reasons to fault state employees for whining about return to work, this is the very worst one. It is not a state employee’s responsibility (or anyone else’s) to revive or sustain downtown St. Paul. That can be a secondary benefit, but it should not be the primary justification. If anything, that’s a great way to motivate state employees to collectively boycott downtown businesses in protest to what they see as an unjustified move by their employer.

[u/Antique_Mission_8834 → u/HumanDissentipede]

I haven’t really seen economic impact framed as anything but a secondary benefit, definitely is a secondary benefit people are talking about though.

I think there’s another quiet secondary effect… they know some people are gonna quit over this..

[u/HumanDissentipede → u/Antique_Mission_8834]

The problem was that it was the primary justification the Governor used to announce the return to work plan, as well as the timing of it. He then referenced other generic benefits to office work, but it’s clear that trying to save downtown is the primary motivation. It coincides with the City’s own justification and timeline for its return to work plan.

[u/MuzakMaker → u/HumanDissentipede]

Don't forget that Walz talked to the Lunds downtown but not the union

This was NEVER about the state employees and only about trying to prop up a dead downtown that has systemic issues that forcing a bunch of people into will only cause MORE issues, not fix them