The document in my hand says "No Later than May 31, 2001".
Actually there is a question that is even broader:
#6: Indicate the status you support for the following boards or agencies
(Park Board, Library, Board, Board of Estimate and Taxation, NRP Policy
Board).
Your choices include:
Independent and Elected
Independent and Appointed
Combination of Elected and Appointed
Give greater control to Council or Mayor
Eliminate and grant powers to Council
Wouldn't it be interesting to throw MCDA into that mix?
I hope many of you will respond to the importance of maintaining an
independent board. AS much as you may or may not like the Park Board please
do not give over to the City Council. Enough said.
On the subject of full-time Commissioners positions. One might expect me to
say - sure I'd love a full-time job of this. But folks, nine fulltime
commissioner really jacks the budget up for adminstration and support etc.
rather than into programming, improving facitilites, taking on our
environmental issues and more. Please be real -
And if those nine positions got added to the already Council and Mayor
budgets and administrative costs - talk about a tax increase. Ooo - la - la!
What I would appreciate even more would be an intern that would be a 1/3 or
1/4 staff to me to help do the necessary functions and help schedule and
take care of citzen needs. The electronic age is actually bringing lots
more work. (IMHO)
I don't fall into the usual suspect categories of rich, famous, married to
someone rich and famous, retired or other categories that indicate you
might have time on your hands and coule be a Park Commissioner (of past -
that stereo type went out about 1970-80. But I do love the parks and my
job as Parks Commissioner enough to do it to the best of my ability and the
fullest amount of time that I have.
Mayor's debate when the question came up - in your face - as one would say:
my response:
In my 12 years around here (and I bet in the history of the Park Board)
there has never been a Mayor's debate or forum that started out with
discussion and dialogue about the Park Board. Maybe it really is moving
off the back burner. This would be a blessing in disguise and one I would
relish. Bring it on! And I will tell you about the money as the summer
wears on.
At 10:30 PM 4/24/01 -0500, Beth Popalisky wrote:
>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
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
>>Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
>>http://e-democracy.org/mpls
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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>
>_______________________________________________
>Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
>Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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>http://e-democracy.org/mpls
>
Annie Young
www.annieyoung.org
Ward 6 - East Phillips in Minneapolis
Citywide at-large Park Board Commissioner
Working to build a sustainable community
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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