I would suggest that R.T. would not have provided chronological data in his
recent posting regarding the Mayor's first stop on her election tour had he
not been intimately involved in the issues to which he speaks.
Interesting that R.T. should be held up to a higher standard than that of
many of our elected officials. I'm certain that R.T. did not enter this race
because everything is going just swimmingly. In fact, I'm willing to bet it's
because he, along with many others of us, is no longer willing to settle for
mediocrity. One of the definitions of a politician is public servant. Yes
folks, they work for us. We pay their salaries through our taxes. So why is
it so hard for some to expect better than what we have gotten? Why must our
elected officials be elevated to a celebrity status? Recently at a meeting
to define a stakeholder process for the Upper River Master Plan, someone
wanted to know if we could expect the elected officials to even listen to
what we have to say. Someone touting considerable experience in these
processes stated that "first we have to earn their respect". What about
earning the respect of the constituents? When does that happen?
It bears repeating - they work for us. We have every reason to expect
accountability. Yet there are those who live among us that will do the
bidding of the politicians even if it may not be in the best interest of our
neighborhoods and communities. I have worked with some incredibly amazing
people in the trenches of the communities. Those who have made some pretty
great projects happen and happen well. And I have seen that credit go to
elected officials who have played but a small role in making it happen. Yet
these amazing people ignore the slight to go on to make something else good
happen because they will stop at nothing to make their neighborhoods and
communities better places to live, work and play. They are the folks that
have my greatest respect and admiration. R.T. knows this too. He knows these
folks exist. That has to be one of the reasons he cares enough to make a run
for the Mayor's office.
J. Burns had the courage to say out loud what I've heard a great many others
say. Two evenings in a row this week on the bus ride home from work lively
political discussion ensued about both our mayor and our city council. The
look of disdain accompanied by that "tone" as one woman remarked, "you mean
our invisible mayor?" To which someone else living in Brooklyn Center
replied, "Minneapolis has a mayor?"
Candyce L. Sartell
Lind-Bohanon Neighborhood
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