Richard Carney notes that the newspaper stated the closure of 5th Street in Mpls. for moving of water mains in front of City Hall and wonders if this is not "putting the cart before the horse"? I would have to answer YES. a resounding YES! You might expect that sort of response from an opponent of light rail but as one who has counted on "the check being in the mail" in the past I am a firm believer in caution in these matters. I hate to sound like one of these dolts who can only refer to overused movie lines from popular culture but "Show me the money" might be entirely apt at this point in time. What time is it, you ask? In a word, or two, I would say: "Crunch time!" Oh, there I go again. I've just been reading Barret Lane's latest post which ought to be downloaded and framed. As bleak a picture as Barret paints of city finances, I feel great hope knowing he is on the City Council. What a refreshing voice. I recently attended a Ways and Means/Budget committee meeting where there was a quite lengthy dicussion and presentation of the Mayor's initiated "Avenue of the Arts" project. Who can object to this project meant to beautify 3rd Avenue? Two voices on the committee spoke up with some reservations but mostly it was a love fest. The least audible but strongest objection came from Sandra Colvin Roy. God, I wish she would speak louder. In my humble opinion, this project should not proceed at the present time. It is symptomatic of what passes for vision in this city. We have far greater priorities than putting this plan into effect. I even question the accepted wisdom of prior scheduling of 3rd Avenue in the coming year for reconstruction and repaving. At a time when light rail might be coming to 5th Street it only makes sense to schedule these projects to coincide with one another. I can only envision closing 3rd Avenue one year , then 5th street the next when the intersection of 3rd Av and 5th st. will be torn up all over again. The Mayor's sole justification for going ahead with Avenue of the Arts iniative at the present time is that it will coincide with reconstruction next summer. I agree that the two ought to go together but now is not the time. And excuse me for saying this (I'm trying a new tack here; diplomacy. I'm told by some that I only inflame matters with my rhetoric) but what is this "Avenue of the Arts" stuff anyway? Why can't we carry over the Central Avenue name instead? Symbollicly, I think it might have even greater meaning. One avenue with one name will run through the heart of Northeast Mpls., historically an area of our city seen as least tolerant of minorities, read African-Americans, through the heart of the predominantly southside African-American community past Richard Green Central Middle School. i could go on about this and talk more about the vision that expanded the Convention Center across Third Avenue rather than toward Nicollet Avenue where crowds could spill out onto northern Eat Street and acted as a catalyst for change where it was most needed and that made a necessity of a curving bridge that has to cost more than other freeway bridges, or the vision that belatedly gives thought to adding a housing component to a new library while the city has scattered parking ramps throughout downtown where combining housing atop the structures makes much more sense than the lbrary proposal. All these vision issues dovetail with Barret Lane's discussion of past financial decisions that have left our city in the parlous state we now confront. But it's easy to be an armchair quarterback. What is required of future leaders will be the ability to work within the limitations of the present and instill in the voters hope for the future, one that will include all the pieces of the mosaic that Minneapolis has become. "Pay as you go" makes sense in times of uncertainty but we should not dismiss out of hand bonding iniatives when they are warranted and we have confidence in projects and the leadership that proposes them and the timing is right. Tim Connolly Ward 7 D.T. resident __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/
