[Mpls] Anti Repub rant. Answer
Apparently no accounting for disgruntled Republicans (and a few others) who will never be satisfied until every public service is privatized and unavailable to everyone but the affluent and their property tax bills disappear. Craig the Repub here. I've noticed precious few if any Mpls services privatized. Maybe one of the city officials who monitor this list can name some. Try get over the 1% threshold of total city outlays. I doubt we'll find it. You don't get something for nothing. You can't expect taxes to disappear without watching little things like your streets going unplowed, Talk to my fellow citizens in Near North. In snowy winters it is common belief that large parts of north go relatively un- plowed. street lighting go dark, we have large parts of the city that don't get street lights repaired or replaced for longs stints already. If it was a privately owned system the bulbs would be changed within 48 hours or someone would get fired. schools shut down, We already have that in Redwing etc. criminals freed, already have that to. no one does anywhere near 60% of their sentance. Mpls is where other jurisdictions unload their extra criminals. It's called prison by other means. Hawthorne, Jordan, Phillips. cops disappear, we have that already, count how many officers are on duty after 12:00 midnight. Compare that to how many are working between 8:00-4:30 M-F buildings burn to the ground, water stop flowing, sewers back up. I believe it's been well documented for the past 8 years that our water infrastructure system has been neglected for quite some time. You want more patrols, better patrolling, fewer gangs, less violence? Pay up. And shut up. We are already paying for all of the above. I'm not sure if I see the difference in what we are getting for payment or no payment. Oh and by the way. There hasn't been a republican administration in over 30 years. There has not been a Republican mayor with a republican council ever. Ever since we went with party designation there has been long uninterupted decades of DFL Majorities coupled with DFL Mayors. You think if all those city services were privately operated they'd be cheaper and better and less bureaucratic? Some of them? Yes. Gaze around at the wonderful corporations who represent not only privatization of public services but also have a monopoly on most of them: Xcel/NSP. Qwest. Tried dealing with those people lately? Watched their management all but indicted? Don't you love those gas bills? Those electric bills? Those telephone statements? And the great service they give in return? White collar Criminals should be punished. But as for the service they provide. Yes I am still happy. I know my phone, gas, electric companies work. I turn on my switch or pick up the dial and wahlaa. It works. Now if I call a city official for the basics, that's another matter. Crime.lets just stop right there. Do the people listed below as wanting their very own mayor think this is all OK? I have never understood is why so many of you place so much faith in the private sector as if the private sector is run by angels while the public sector is seen as Satan's realm. I fear there is nothing that would satisfy some people. People who chronically complain about anything public would do so no matter the mayor. Best thing to do in these cases: ignore them. Yep, we got ignored for quite a while. We tossed out bushels of Mr. Driscolls co-horts. Fritz and Roger looked into the camera in those last days and asked. Who do you trust or said in one way or another. It's a matter of trust In nation leading record turnout, we voted Republican. Go figure. Craig Miller Rogers MN [EMAIL PROTECTED] Andy Driscoll Saint Paul ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Anti Repub rant. Answer
At 12:11 PM 12/2/2002 -0600, Craig Miller wrote: Apparently no accounting for disgruntled Republicans (and a few others) who will never be satisfied until every public service is privatized and unavailable to everyone but the affluent and their property tax bills disappear. Craig the Repub here. I've noticed precious few if any Mpls services privatized. Maybe one of the city officials who monitor this list can name some. Try get over the 1% threshold of total city outlays. I doubt we'll find it. There can be good reasons for privatising some city services, but it's important to be careful about which ones - this means doing a good cost/benefit analysis -- and look at current and projected future costs. A private contractor can bid low for the first year -- then jack up the prices significantly for successive years. I'm not into outsourcing for outsourcing sake - but rather am interested in having the city look at its options and see what options are going to make sense. I really like Vicky Heller's ideas for bringing increased accoutability to the MCDA. I hope Mayor Rybak listens to those ideas and goes with them. You don't get something for nothing. You can't expect taxes to disappear without watching little things like your streets going unplowed, Talk to my fellow citizens in Near North. In snowy winters it is common belief that large parts of north go relatively un- plowed. street lighting go dark, we have large parts of the city that don't get street lights repaired or replaced for longs stints already. If it was a privately owned system the bulbs would be changed within 48 hours or someone would get fired. This is just nonsense. Some privately owned companies do very good at managing and running their businesses - and others don't. Knee jerk non-profit or government is good, business is bad is dumb stuff from liberals -- kneejerk the private sector always does it better than the public sector is dumb stuff from conservatives. Oh and by the way. There hasn't been a republican administration in over 30 years. There has not been a Republican mayor with a republican council ever. Ever since we went with party designation there has been long uninterupted decades of DFL Majorities coupled with DFL Mayors. And part of the reason for this is the reputation for social nuttiness in the Republican Party. The fact that Republican Activists who question candidates and their campaign managers about where they go to church, and then go on in lurid detail about gay bowell syndrom or whatever else are gatekeepers and kingmakers for candidates in the suburbs is a problem with the current party structure. Meanwhile Lavender Magazine has a rant about Gay Republicans -- it's pretty negative. Check it out at: http://www.lavendermagazine.com/196/196_news_36.html from the column: Well, I belong to the Green Party, one of whose four core values is nonviolence. So, I can't in good conscience urge the rest of us to do what part of me really would like to do: slap them silly and throw them off the Washington Avenue Bridge. == Then the column goes on about how Republican gays should get socially shunned. Whatever. Ofcourse the column includes the anti-gay sections in the Republican platform -- and doesn't mention how out gay people in the GOP along with other moderates are trying to change those segments of the platform. Eva Young Near North Minneapolis [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Anti Repub rant. Answer
Eva said: Some privately owned companies do very good at managing and running their businesses - and others don't. Knee jerk non-profit or government is good, business is bad is dumb stuff from liberals -- kneejerk the private sector always does it better than the public sector is dumb stuff from conservatives. I COULD JUST HUG YOU, EVA!!! I couldn't agree with you more on this statement. The knee-jerk responses are generally from the same power brokers who desire only control - at any cost. That City Pages article 'Slap the Donkey' was right on in showing that the Dems (as a national party) are more business than politics meaning that the values are sacrificed for the benefit of the bottom line. This is the same reason why we all must take on 'sacred cow' public institutions like the library, the U, MCDA, public schools, etc. Not to privatize them (that is failing miserably where it is being tried in these 'human service' type services) but to scrutinize and adjust them. Sorry for the public display of affection...hope no one is offended. :-) Bob Velez Shingle Creek Ward 4-1 _ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
