I like the idea of a city council candidate questionnaire, but I
disagree with the emphases of the current draft. I would like to see
lots more priority given to issues like fiscal responsibility, physical
infrastructure, credit rating (a la Wally Swan's letter regarding the
potential impact thereon of the library referendum), and the possibility
that city taxes will be rising significantly in the next several years
because of the current Council's and Mayor's inadequete stewardship.
These issues are hot! For instance, check out the article in the
current SW Journal, about how the Mayor's budget only narrowly passed,
7-6. (SW councilmembers say budget moves city in wrong direction)
http://www.swjournal.com/swjournal/myarticles.asp?P=344275&S=212&PubID=6101&EC=0
(or go to http://www.swjournal/com and go to news)
I don't think we should be asking foreign policy questions (or county,
state and federal questions) and ignoring questions about the
traditional primary responsibilities of a city, such as water, sewers,
roads, public order, and long-term financial viability.
Alan Shilepsky
Downtown
> The following is the questionnaire which was previously posted on this list and
> sent to candidates (so far we have only received one partial response):
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> MINNEAPOLIS 2001 CITY CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE:
>
> Under what circumstances would you support any public funding for sports
>
> facilities intended primarily for the use of private professional teams?
>
> Under what circumstances would you support subsidies or special tax
> breaks for for-profit corporations engaged in commerical development?
>
> What is your position on domestic partner benefits for city employees?
>
> What, if any additional civilian oversight for the Minneapolis police
> department do you support?
>
> Do you have any proposals to address racial profiling and other racial
> disparities in police encounters with citizens?
>
> What support or criticism do express for current police department
> practices such as the following:
> - CODEFOR
> - SAFE program
> - Responses to political protests
>
> Do you believe that police department leaders should have a role in
> setting policy for the city government? If so, what do you believe
> should be the scope and extent of that role?
>
> Do you support the city's policy of holding landlords and their property
>
> accountable for the criminal actions of tenants, non-tenants and
> passerby? What changes or enhancements to this policy, if any, would
> you support?
>
> How do you feel about the city's physical appearance?
>
> Do you believe that there is any problem with the amoung of trash and
> graffiti on the streets? What solutions would you propose?
>
> What initiatives would you propose to increase the supply of affordable
> housing?
>
> Do you support strenghtening the living wage ordinance? If so,
> describe.
>
> What solutions or initiatives would you propose to improve the quality
> of life in the most impoverished areas of the City?
>
> Do you believe that the City should be committed to social
> responsibility in determining its investments and business
> transactions? For example, would you support the following:
> - Refusal to contract with or invest with companies that use sweatshop
> labor
> - Refusal to contract with or invest in companies that have are actively
>
> involved with oppressive governments
>
> What proposals would you advance to reduce the high levels of air
> pollution in the city?
>
> What level of priority and what initiatives would you support for
> maintaining the quality and integrity of the lakes, creeks, and rivers
> in the City?
>
> Would you support any initiatives to encourage the use of organic
> foods? If so, please describe.
>
> Do you support the current noise plan for the airport? Do you support
> moving the airport to another location? How would you go about
> addressing the noise issues?
>
> What is your analysis of the current process for distributing NRP funds?
>
> What are your feelings and assessment of the diversity of people that
> you would be representing, in terms of ethnicity, income, values, life
> styles, age, and physical appearance? How will you be able to respect
> and serve their needs? How will you balance the needs of different
> groups whose concerns or interests my at times be in conflict?
>
> -
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