[9th ward candidate Gary Schiff received Kathy Thurber's withdrawal letter
earlier today, and asked me to forward this response - David Brauer, list
manager]
My campaign and I were stunned to hear of Council Member Kathy Thurber's
decision to withdraw from the race for 9th Ward City Council. I was looking
forward to a healthy dialogue about the issues of concern to neighborhood
residents at upcoming debates and at the DFL Convention on March 3rd.
Kathy deserves a lot of credit as a working mother and the first woman to
serve the 9th Ward on the City Council. She has been a leader in the
neighborhood on reducing crime and shutting down saunas on Lake Street.
I was surprised to read her statement that "neither opponent has ever
stepped forward to challenge me face-to-face or work with me on neighborhood
projects." Besides the scheduled debates, I had asked for a meeting with
Kathy as recently as two weeks ago, and as far back as last spring when she
said, "We should talk," and I agreed.
I also disagree that we hadn't worked together on neighborhood projects.
Kathy had voted in favor of my appointment to the Zoning Board of
Adjustments and to the MCDA advisory committee on Hi-Lake Redevelopment. As
recently as two weeks ago we had agreed to work together to fight a new
three-story wall proposed by the contractor of Light Rail that is to loom
over the Phillips neighborhood. I always felt that Kathy Thurber was a
person I could work with on projects that benefit our neighborhood when I
was treasurer of the board of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association,
whether it was getting rid of garbage houses or working to improve
commercial areas.
I have always been committed to building coalitions to get things done. I
hope to build on Kathy's work on developing inter-governmental relations and
serving the needs of neighborhoods. For more information about my campaign,
see my web site at www.garyschiff.org{ HYPERLINK
"http://www.garyschiff.org" } or call me at 612-724-5942.
Gary Schiff
Minneapolis City Council Candidate
Ward 9
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