I get very tired of the old story about the "neighborhood" person sold out
to the evil downtown developers. It is an easy, simple line that
"neighborhood" people throw around in whisper campaigns to try to hurt
incumbents.
But these same "neighborhood" people work in downtown, eat in downtown, and
go to events in downtown. The neighbors of these "neighborhood" people do
the same. The reality is that there is a vital synergy between the
downtowns and the neighborhoods. Part of the reason Minneapolis has avoided
the problems of the neighborhoods of other urban areas is that it has been
able to maintain a vital downtown to provide jobs and to provide amenities
for a better quality of life.
Any council member who didn't work on downtown issues would be hurting their
own wards. Now there is a balance there. A council member who went the
other way of never working on ward issues would also be remiss. But it
simply isn't fair to attack council members for working on downtown and
other city-wide issues. Neighborhoods are not islands. Each neighborhood
needs the other neighborhoods and they need the downtown.
Carol Becker
Longfellow
----- Original Message -----
From: Eva Young <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Rosalind Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 7:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Mpls] Fifth ward race
> At 08:19 AM 4/18/01 -0500, Rosalind Nelson wrote:
> >City Pages has an article about Natalie Johnson Lee, Jackie Cherryhome's
> >challenger.
> >
> >http://www.citypages.com/databank/22/1063/article9496.asp
> >
> >If the link breaks, go to www.citypages.com and click on "An unlikely
> >challenger." A quote from Rev. Curtis Herron (of Zion Baptist Church,
and
> >father of Brian):
> >
> >"People like and respect Natalie around here," Herron continues. "She
will
> >be a formidable candidate--and it will take one to beat Cherryhomes,
> >because people are afraid of Jackie. They are intimidated by her, and
many
> >of them owe her favors. She hands out a lot of favors and is deeply
> >entrenched around here. She remembers people who go against her and she
> >gets revenge on them. People know that, so Natalie will have to go up
> >against all of that fear people have, if she's going to win."
>
> Thanks Rosalind for posting this. Curtis Herron has another interesting
> quote:
>
> <<"I think the way the Hollman development has ended up has shown
> people Cherryhomes's true colors," says Rev. Curtis A. Herron, who directs
> the north-side Zion Baptist Church and is the father of Eighth
> Ward council member Brian Herron. "There was a time when she was an
> effective council person, but it seems clear that she has lost her
> ability to identify with poor people. She is a bureaucrat now who has lost
> something that she will never get back. She has lost the ties that
> bind. She has political ties, sure. But she is no longer part of this
> community." >>
>
> ---------------------------------
> What's interesting is this: <<In 1989 Cherryhomes--then the director of
> the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council--unseated Van White,
> Minneapolis's first black city council member. She campaigned on the
> assertion that White had crawled into the pockets of downtown developers
> and lost touch with
> his constituents.>>
> ---------------------------
> Ironic isn't it--Cherryhomes hasn't seen a taxpayer subsidy she doesn't
> like when it has to do with downtown development. When she ran against
> White, Alfred Babbington Johnson (who was running for School Board at the
> time) told her "If you had an ounce of African blood in you, Jackie, I'd
> support you. But it's better having a dumb black man than a smart white
> woman representing the fifth ward."
>
> Cherryhomes has $26,000 in her campaign. She has been actively involved
> with other endorsement fights--6th ward in particular, when she did floor
> work for DFL endorsed candidate Dean Kallenbach. Perhaps she should be
> busier with her own ward.
>
> Eva
> Eva Young
> Central
>
>
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