Transparency in politics, what a wonderful idea. I have a dog in this hunt. I have been a candidate for Park Board and I ran against Marie Hauser as the Green Party endorsed candidate in the last election. If that makes me a stalking horse, so be it.
Tony Scallon also has a dog in this hunt and I wish he would be more upfront about who he is defending and why. Marie Hauser and Bob Fine have explained what a good choice they have made for Park Superintendent. But they haven't explained why it was necessary to exclude public input and commissioners, John Erwin, Annie Young, Vivian Mason and Rochelle Berry Graves in this decision. Why should $51 million dollars of public money be spent by a friend of Bob's without looking at his resume or checking references? Marie Hauser sent me an email response to a large list of folks including council members. She said, "Thank you for contacting me on this issue. Please let me clarify the situation. The process, as originally supported by all but one commissioner, was serving the board and the people of MPLS very well... until recently. We had a group of semifinalists from which we chose the two strongest finalists. Unfortunately, one commissioner in particular began commenting repeatedly and publicly in the paper. We lost both of our finalists following episodes of public grilling. At this point, the process failed." My BS detector dial goes off the meter listening to this. And besides what better place to do public grilling than in our fair parks? So what do we do? Contact the Commissioners (and have you tried? It isn't easy.) and insist that they let a little daylight and fresh air into their real estate deals, Marina plans, hiring, and vision. A big piece of restoring fairness and reason might be Commissioner Carol Kummer. I think she hasn't fully been subsumed to the dark side. She at least asked for a background check. The Park Board needs a better relationship with its constituents and City Hall. She holds the swing vote for better leadership which is elected annually in January. Thanks, Scott Vreeland Seward REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
