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Lake Calhoun is NOT for Sale:
At 09:56 AM 5/11/01 -0700, Constance Sheppard wrote:
>Can anyone substantiate a rumor I heard involving the
>sale of Lake Calhoun and surrounding property to a
>developer? It sounds too crazy to be true.
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It is.
There was an "April Fools" article in the ECCO (I think) newspaper about
something like this. It took me a while to find the April Fool part of the
article. Both my roommate and I at first were getting totally indignant
about this -- but eventually we figured it out. It was funny, but I think
the newspaper did too good a job on the "joke".
Brian Herron vs. Robert Lilligren and GLBT issues:
Wizard Marks wrote on Brian Herron's record with GLBT issues:
He has and is still going to bat for city-employed GLBT people to get
parity in benefits so they will be getting equal pay for equal work--this
is a long march situation. The legislature is feeling it's Republican oats,
so it is not going to pass this session. And probably not next session
either. GLBT folks will have to up the pressure at the state level to get
this to happen.
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Just for the record: when both houses were Democratic, this didn't get done
either. All the Republican candidates LCR/MN endorsed supported the rights
of municipalities to determine the benefits they wanted to offer.
Did Brian Herron go and testify to the state legislature, when this issue
was presented there? Or did he just vote right on the issue when it came
to the City Council? There is a big difference.
Should race effect issues an Office Holder works on?
For the record, Wizard Marks also stated on this list a while back that
Rep. Walker shouldn't be expected to work on sodomy repeal because it was
her first session, and because she is an African American Woman.
In Wizard Marks own words posted on Minneapolis Issues Feb 16, 2001:
"An African American woman who
starts off with the sodomy law when so many are counting on her
for bread and butter issues, might be in a world of hum. I'd
like to see this woman succeed. Gay or straight (and no one
calls me straight) sodomy laws, like fornacation laws, can be
used to make people's lives miserable. And there are people out
there willing to exercise their bigotry on us all, but it's
still not the biggest issue. "
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EY: The sodomy law-- making GLBT sexual relationships criminal affects all
these other issues. Successful repeal efforts in other states have always
involved both parties. The 61 District Republican Party passed a sodomy
repeal resolution at the 2000 district convention. Personally, I would
call it racist and sexist to make assumptions about which issues a
legislator should work on and not work on based on race and gender. It's
kind of like the expectation that women legislators will work on choice,
child care, and other such "women's issues" and stay away from those
masculine issues like transportation and taxes.
Wizard continues in this vein (same post):
"As a lesbian person, I would say
the issue of whether I could claim a significant other woman
through benefits packages at work. If this hypothetical s.o.
were to die, could I be at her bedside even if her family were
bigoted about her situation, if we got pulled over for making a
bone-headed traffic manoever, would the cop act the fool because
we are lesbian. That stuff is more important than the sodomy
law in my estimation, particularly as the sodomy and fornication
laws are mostly honored in the breach (sorry, accidental pun)."
EY: You are certainly not speaking for all Lesbians here, Wizard. You are
speaking for yourself. Making GLBT sexual relationships criminal affects
all these other issues. There is no excuse for Government regulating the
details of how consenting adults engage in sex. The benefits issue is
broader than Gay or Straight -- the problem is married people get higher
compensation than singles. That's something the city should look at
creatively. Other cities use a cafeteria style benefits approach. I like
that idea. The Unions tend to oppose cafeteria style benefits. I've never
totally understood why. When Peter Bell ran for county commissioner, he
understood that aspect of the problem. He proposed that the county look at
equitable ways of compensating single and married employees. His
experience as HR director with TCF gave him experience in this area.
I'd actually like to hear what City Council Candidates and incumbents have
to say about looking at better ways to fairly compensate City employees.
Eva
Eva Young
Central
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