What a glorious day it was yesterday! Today, less so, though still passable given I'm drawing breath. It all reminds me of why I love Minneapols, the combination of pain and pleasure that is so much a part of the change of seasons here. Yesterday was that glorious feeling one has when they stop pounding their head against the wall if ever so briefly. After meeting a friend for coffee at 50th and Xerxes S. in the late afternoon I headed east on foot along 50th Street through the Lynnhurst neighborhood. It is so different than where I usually walk on daily errands. A few things come to mind: It is definitely not a walking street not in the way south Hennepin is even though Hennepin is also a main commuter route. It's like walking beside a highway with no barrier between one and the traffic. The effects of the people's action of last summer are long since forgotten. Planes, Planes, Planes: a steady drone on top of the traffic noise and exhaust fumes left me nauseous and frazzled by the time I got to my next stop at Pan, Dolce, Vino at 50th and Byrant to score some cash owed me. Redirecting airplane freight traffic to Rochester is not going to help matters that much. Everytime I think about the lack of foresight and courage of the past generation of politicians in this region I want to gather them together, stand 'em against a wall handcuffed, and make them endure the stress forever of incessant planes and traffic with the explosions of pollutants that that come along with them. To think that in the past two decades only one new major airport was constructed in this country and we could not have been the second. Our Mayor made much of her great connections in Washington and damn near every elected pol in the urban core is a Democrat and for the life of me all I can see we got was Clinton Cops and money for a dubious start to a rail system. The Codefor meting was still a ways off in time and distance so it made sense to hop into Washburn Library and check e-mail and chat withthe ladies at the info desk. If Jan Feye-Stukas is reading, or anyone else from Library Admin. they are still waiting for someone to fix the building where a car drove through it last winter. We talked about the good neighborhood libraries and i put in a plug for Wizard Marks whom both these womwn knew. They were excited at someone who actually works in the system being on the Board. I bemoaned the fact that Sumner was closed on Saturdays and we joked at how little new space would come out of the remodeling of Linden Hills. Heading through Windom along lyndale and then 58th east to Nicollet I was reminded again of what a nice neighborhood Windom is between the two main streets that are its boundaries, or nearly so on the east. Walking into the parking lot of the church where the Codefor meeting and seeing all the cop cars I had the feeling of walking into the lion's den. Try as I might I never have felt real comfortable around the cops. the authority thing. I'm inherently a wise guy and cops don't like wise guys. I know I am not like most of our city's population in that regard and that was never more evident than at the meeting. This was an enthusiastically supportive group with some exceptions. One man from the 13th spoke to his frustration that the police presence in his neighborhood was non-existent. People from Stevens Square neighborhood, one a Mr. Hanson who owns many units of rental property in SS and loring park areas was effusive in his praise tough he was concerned that legislation at the capitol regarding tenants rights would hamstring him in screening tenants. I finally had a chance to meet Luther Krueger which was a pleasure, shake the hand of Randy Johnson and Chief Olson, and talk with the City Attorney and say hello once again to Her Honor. I often disagree with a few of the above but I'm less inclined to question their motives than the tactics they may employ. I'm always reminded of the memorable line from 'COOL HAND LUKE'; "What we have here is a failure to communicate". Being an Irish-American Catholic, I'm always waiting for the bullet, or a piano to land on my head from a great height on a gloriously sunny day. There was a noticeable absence of African-Americans in the audience. I had hoped the meeting's proximity to City Limits Apartments where there was so much turmoil occurred last year would have brought out a greater showing. It led me to wonder how the meeting was publicized. In general I wonder what it is that makes people want to participate in these meetings. I'm this weirdo who owns no property and has pretty much lost everything I've ever owned through constant moves, so much so I begin to think of myself as a priest having taken a vow of poverty. I envy those people in the audience who are concerned about their property and physical well-being while I stand to make barely coherent comments about fears that civil liberties are being trampled upon in our haste to make the streets safe and worry about liability exposure and the enormous costs associated with police protection when I have this undying belief that simple social justice issues like equal employment oppportunity, livable wages, fair priced and abundant housing and common decency might achieve just as much at less cost. Call me a dreamer Tim Connolly Ward 7 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! 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