For Immediate Release Contact: Lynn Daniels Neighbors for Jonathan Palmer 612-824-2531 [EMAIL PROTECTED]Palmer Campaign Announces Plans MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. May 29, 2001-The Neighbors for Jonathan Palmer campaign, candidacy for the Sixth Ward city council seat being vacated by Jim Niland, formally announced its plans yesterday to continue their bid to represent the citizens of the ward. The campaign has taken the past two months to consult residents, delegates, community leaders and City Councilmembers on the campaign's direction. The consensus was overwhelmingly to continue to the Primary. Joining the campaign in roles of dual campaign managers are Willie Daniels and Lynn Daniels, both veteran campaign organizers for campaigns in Minnesota, Illinois and Mississippi, including Sharon Sayles-Belton's and Harold Washington's mayoral campaigns. "We originally intended to abide by the endorsement," said Lynn Daniels, "but a groundswell of requests to continue and support for Jonathan from the community caused us to reconsider. We've had numerous residents come forth after the convention who were dissatisfied with the outcome, citing that a one-vote win on a seventh ballot was not a clear mandate from the community. They felt that 53 people should not decide the future of the ward." The campaign will therefore take the vote to the streets and engage all residents of the Sixth ward in the decision making process of who will represent them on the City Council. "This is a grassroots effort," said Willie Daniels, former director of the Salem House Literacy Program of the Phillips neighborhood. "We have a candidate who is honest and has integrity, and will actively represent all of the neighborhoods of the ward." Palmer, the only DFL candidate who is a renter in a ward that is mostly rental and the only candidate from the Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood, comes from a lifetime in and around public service. His earliest experiences came from working with his grandfather who was a Master Electrician and a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in Chicago and his mother who served as White House Senior Policy Specialist Manager in the Carter Administration and later as Director of Telecommunications for U.S. Representative Mickey Leland. His most enriching and engaging experiences, though, came from working with his uncle, Gleason Glover, who was President of the Minneapolis Urban League for over 25 years. Through his tutelage he developed his appreciation for the city of Minneapolis and desire to serve and represent the community. Currently he is serving his third consecutive term as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Stevens Square Community Organization, is a mayoral appointee to the Capital Long-Range Improvements Committee for the City of Minneapolis, and is completing his thesis for his MA in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. "This isn't a playful crusade or capricious venture for our campaign," he said. "We're running because we want the ward to have the best representation possible -- a City Councilmember, who knows the community, has really worked in the community and will do what the community needs rather than what is politically beneficial. We have serious issues facing our ward and now is the time for serious people." ###
Martha Bolinger
ECCO
on behalf of
Neighbors for Palmer
