MCDA is not always the sternest of taskmasters and is itself occasionally accused of preferring one faction's agenda over another's for less than sterling reasons. How shall a challenging faction bring a runaway board to task unless there are immutable groundrules? Here are some unpleasant possibilities: stacking attorneys - "see you and raise you" lawsuits - seasoned veterans walking away from participation, development slowing in comparison to adjacent neighborhoods, energy dissipated in fruitless competition, annual meeting attendance falling off ... been there, done that! There is also the structural reality of uneven resources (money, equipment and personnel, experience, tenure) that advantage some over others, creating the possibility of skewed outcomes - Whittier has a 90% tenant population and substantial demographic diversity; Stevens Square is almost entirely big box apartments; Phillips has more hardscrabble than horn of plenty. Admittedly there are also neighborhoods with economic and demographic homogeneity for whom quorum is more challenging than division of opinion, but statutory rules of engagement govern rich and poor alike and regularize supervision of what can be a very bumptious exercise in democracy. Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward 10 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2001 4:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] RE: N'hood org. legislation/ A modest proposal A modest proposal re: the n'hood association voting/meeting legislation under consideration: Many of us, especially listees, I'd bet, tend to prefer local solutions for local issues. Why not here? If part of the problem is that current n'hood association practice violates state law, then perhaps these groups should be exempted from this provision IF there is a community standard for participation AND since the voting/membership issue is local and the Minneapolis groups are "blessed" by MCDA acting on behalf of the City, then the n'hood groups could collectively develop a standard for voting/participation across the city and leave the state out of it. Karen Collier said this seemed like shooting gnats with cannons. I'm inclined to agree that this problem needs a more local, less rigid remedy. Let's solve our own troubles when we can. Ann Berget _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
