We have a rule on this list that states a person is only allowed two postings a day. i wish that i could take back a posting, not because i have changed my mind or for any other reason than a stupd encounter this morning momentarily derailed my main object of the day. between this always provocative list and the daily newspaper reports, there is much that concerns me in the city. aside from all the issues we discuss none is of greater consequence than the health of citizens. once again we awake to the news, for those who don't watch t.v., to find that yet another mentally ill person has been gunned down by our city's police. This being a well informed group I'm certain this fact was well known to you all. r.t. rybak commented this morning in a posting titled "boundaries" the propriety of the star tribune's front page coverage of an incident involving steve bosacker. the pipress placed the same story on the front page of their local section. mr. bosacker, whom i do not know and yet someone i assume is a nice enough fellow, deserves exactly what he got if in fact he is guilty of the alleged offense. whether it happens on the front page in mpls. or an inside front page in st.paul is all the same. and for r.t. rybak to equate mr. bosacker's actions at the arena club with past episodes in mpls bathhouses in the 70's is laughable. no comparison. as publisher of the reader R.T. would have run a special edition if he thought he could make money off it. it is news when the governor's chief of staff is caught whacking off in a public place. then mr. rybak goes on to accuse the mpls. police of entrapment on some basis i do not understand. you do not allegedly masturbate in public period. explain to me how a rational person can be entrapped to masturbate in public. for god's sake go to sex world or some other sleazy joint if you feel the need or pick a guy up and take him home and masturbate. that's why god taught carpentry. i suggest that mr. bosacker, if he were to read the morning paper with anything other than his own hide in mind, ought to feel damn grateful to be alive despite the shame he might feel. i in no way wish to equate homosexuality with mental illness, but i would suggest that the behavior of a bi-polar man in south mpls is an aberration in the same way that an otherwise respected officeholder, albeit an appointed official, allegedly masturbating in the sauna of a public health club, is an aberration. I only wonder if it was his first time! Aside from all that nonsense, i am saddened beyond rage that another mentally ill citizen has been murdered due to the collective apathy of the citizens of this city and the criminally inept management of the city and its police force. in june i found myself writing of a similar death, that of barbara schneider, a 49 year old social activist who was shot nine times by police officers who had invaded her bedroom after she had tried to fight them off from entering her apartment. we're still waiting to hear the results of that whitewash job. at the time, police chief robert olson, forever it seems afflicted with foot in mouth disease, stated words to the effect that he had been thinking of creating a critical response team to address just such incidents like the one involving ms schneider and rocco d'andrea and sean hayes before her. now we have our police chief saying to PiPress reporters(incidentally to my mind they score way above strib writers on this one)that 'he is considering several options for responding to mentally ill people, including using stun guns.' he went on to say that no matter what new policy the department institutes, police would have used deadly force against Alfred Sanders. Olson goes on to say "it happened very quickly, and the officers responded appropriately." Quickly?!!!!!! The pioneer press reports that alfred sanders was trailed from augsburg college for 40 minutes. for god's sake get a city dump truck to trail along and block him in the alley. I don't buy any of it. My wife always said to me about our former place of employment when we got to grousing about our jobs, "the fish rots from the head down." I suspect that the morale of the police department could not be very good about now. reading this forum daily i would suggest that as a community those of us with any semblance of self-respect and a belief that government can be a force for good in society beyond merely plowing streets must be experiencing low morale. the mayor should have never hired robert olson. having made that mistake she could have fired him. long ago. she didn't. she has brought everlasting shame on our city through her inaction. It's time we lopped a few dead branches in this town. It's time we cut the heads of some rotting fish. and i know how to do both. after careful consideration and a tentative start late last spring i would like to add my name to the list of candidates for the mayoralty of minneapolis. it is not an easy decision. such an open gesture is not really in my nature. though i am gregarious in one way, i am shy in another. i sometimes wish i were only a lurker. i do it because i believe i will be a good mayor. i do it because, as a city, we need a good mayor more now then at any time in our recent history. these will not be easy years ahead. we will need both boldness and prudence. despite my combativeness on this forum i do know how to work with people: i just have little or no tolerance for fools. I'm not without experience. i am not without faults. My own brother suggested I would be crucified. I have no wish to be a martyr for a cause. I am willing to look the fool if it will further our goal of a better city. There will be time later for me to provide a resume. Better yet, i should leave it to some reporter. i am no big fan of orchestrated public relations. I have faith that i will be judged fairly by the people i matter to the most. I apologize to the family of Alfred Sanders for making his death the occasion for this announcement and i hope that they may find consolation in the coming days. I will light candles for Mr. Sanders. Some rules must be broken. Tim Connolly Ward 7 downtown resident __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? >From homework help to love advice, Yahoo! Experts has your answer. http://experts.yahoo.com/
