Does anybody know if it is too late to fill out this survey and send it in?
Also, has anybody wondered why there is no question on making the park board
full time vs. leaving it a part time position??? At the risk of being
lambasted, I am going to put forth my opinion on this matter. (sorry in
advance for the length of this post)
I believe that our Park Board should be full time. After working with them
on the dog park project for over three years, I have seen that we have a
park board that is largely staff driven. No surprise when you realize that
the commissioners are paid about $600/mo to do their job. If the staff were
elected and therefore accountable to their constituents, this would not be a
problem. But, they are not and therefore, money and time are wasted and
often, citizen input is ignored and people who are willing to be involved
get burnt out and give up. Mention a problem to some commissioners and they
might respond that they don't have time to micromanage a project. (I was
actually told that by one commissioner) Agreed, it takes a lot of time to
manage a project well, and therefore, a full time commissioner would be
better able to do this. The dog park, to my understanding has not been the
only contentious project before the park board that could use better
management.
Additionally, if the position were full time, we would be able to pull from
a much larger pool of candidates. As it stands now, we can only hope that
people will run if perhaps they have a flexible schedule, are retired, or
can somehow jam in the hours this job takes to do well into their schedules.
The part about doing to job well is the issue with this last option, as I
believe it is hard to do well, while also trying to do another full time job
well. We are missing out on a huge pool of talent because this position is
part time.
Cost?? Sure, this might cost some money. But I believe that you get what
you pay for. We have one of the finest park systems in the country. If
that isn't worth investing in, I don't know what is. Also, one might argue
that if commissioners were full time, they could be expected to take on some
of the duties that full time staff are currently doing. We could still have
the same number of full time paid staff, but some of them would be elected
officials, accountable to their public that can vote to keep them or vote
them out.
'nuf said. Now I'm going to run for cover, and hope someone will let me know
when it's safe to come back on line.
Beth Popalisky
East Harriet Farmstead
Ward 10
>From: "Gary Thaden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Mpls Line" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [Mpls] Charter Commission Survey
>Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 15:05:24 -0600
>
>The Minneapolis Charter Commission is requesting input from interested
>citizens about the structure and shape of city government. We have posted
>a
>survey at
>http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/charter-commission/survey.asp
>(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). Click on the link to open and print the
>survey.
>
>When completed, mail to:
>
>Charter Commission Survey
>Office of the City Clerk
>350 S 5th St, Room 304
>Minneapolis, MN 55415
>
>or fax to:
>
>City Clerk at 612-673-3812
>
>-Gary Thaden
>WD 10, LD 60A
>Charter Commission Member
>
>_______________________________________________
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