Some clarification, some observation, some speculation:
It is true that Ernie Belton is resigning from the Park Board. Park Board
vacancies are filled either by a special election or by a vote of the
board -- depending on how much time is left on the vacated seat. In this
case, because there is so little time left on the term, the vacancy will be
filled by the other eight commissioners. This will require a super majority
vote, i.e., 6 votes to pick the replacement. Given the process that must
happen, I would guess that the earliest the vacancy can be filled would be
about August 1st. An interesting wrinkle is that August 1st is after the
filing deadline for the Sept 11/Nov 6th election.
Whether or not Commission Berry-Graves will give up her at-large seat to try
for the appointment to the district seat is problematic. First, the vote to
confirm her would require 6 votes and she may not be eligible to vote for
herself -- conflict of interest, don'tch know. Second, she would need to
file in July for the fall election. She would have to decide which seat to
file for, at large or district, without knowing what will be the outcome of
the appointment process--she can not afford to guess wrong, without making
her fall election bid very difficult. Third, Berry-Graves now enjoys city
wide name recognition, DFL endorsement and a sort of favorite daughter
status from the North side. If she were to run as a district candidate from
the North side, she would loose that favorite daughter status and have to
get more involved in the internal nitty gritty North side political haggles
and infighting. Fourth, Because of where she lives, there is a good
possibility that she will be redistricted out of the North side district
when the maps are redrawn. So, while she is now talking about switching to
a district seat, it is the opinion of this disinterested observer that after
she has thought about it for a while, she will stay with the at-large seat.
The Bob Fine thing is way too speculative to even discuss at this time.
Kathy Thurber has not applied for the position that Joan Niemic is currently
leaving, There is a pool of 25 applicants that are being looked at, and that
pool is currently closed, so that unless no suitable candidate is found
among those 25, there will not be more applications taken. There is a
remote chance that no suitable candidate would be found and applications
reopened and that Thurber would apply and be accepted and hired. In my
opinion, a remote possibility.
Dean Zimmermann
Commissioner District 3
Mpls Park and Recreation Board
Candidate for Mpls City Council, Ward 6
612-722-8768
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
David Brauer
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 9:26 AM
To: Mpls list
Subject: [Mpls] Park Board rumor
Disclaimer...disclaimer...disclaimer:
What follows are rumors, albeit speedily making its way around insider
circles. I haven't been able to verify (sorry, I don't get paid to report
these), but I'm hoping list members can confirm/deny/discuss. I figured list
members should be in the loop, too. In any event, it's fun speculating, and
what follows is not an attempt to denigrate anyone.
OK, it all starts with District 2 (N. Minneapolis) park commissioner Ernie
Belton quitting the park board this summer. That's fact.
The rumor begins thusly: current at-large commissioner Rochelle Berry Graves
will give up her at-large campaign (for which she is DFL-endorsed) and
declare her candidacy for District 2 seat. (Running for a district seat is
usually easier than running city-wide.)
Bob Fine, current at-large commissioner, will give up his District 6 bid and
return to running at-large. Bob lost DFL endorsement to Tracy Nordstrom.
It gets interesting because when vacancies occur after the DFL convention,
the DFL Central Committee gets to endorse. Minneapolis DFL officers are
currently chewing over exactly how to do the District 2 endorsement. But
what if Rochelle Berry Graves gives UP one DFL endorsement - granted by
convention delegates - to get another one granted by the Central Committee?
Would the Central Committee want to encourage such post-convention
endorsement-switching, which risks disempowering delegates?
Bob Fine's case would be extremely interesting, too, should he choose to
seek DFL at-large endorsement. By all accounts, Bob is currently running
against a DFL-endorsed candidate, Tracy Nordstrom, in District 6. Would the
party want to turn around and give him its endorsement for the at-large seat
when he is challenging a DFL endorsee, even if he is a DFL incumbent? Stay
tuned.
A few other wrinkles: Jon Olson sought and lost the DFL endorsement for the
at-large parks district, but is still running and is heavily backed by
labor. Rumor is he could use his labor connections to be appointed when
Ernie Belton leaves (question to all: how are park vacancies filled?), and
could try to get either District 2 or at-large endorsement.
One other wrinkle: there was a boomlet at the DFL convention to only endorse
two of three at-large slots...a way to keep a spot "open" for former DFLer
and incumbent Annie Young. Would those same people try to prevent any new
at-large endorsement if one becomes open?
Last rumor: that Joan Niemiec, former city council member and now park board
staffer, will leave her job, to be replaced by...council member Kathy
Thurber. Kathy is a former park board member and, I believe, head of the
city's intergovernmental relations committee (the park job involves some
lobbying). The gossip is that Joan could leave either in a few weeks or at
the end of the year. If she left early, Kathy might leave her council seat,
necessitating an appointment (question: how is a city council vacancy filled
this close to an election?). On a council often split 7-6, with Kathy
Thurber in the majority, this could be interesting.
Again, it's rumor, gossip, etc., but definitely out there among the elected
officials and insiders. Confirmation, quashing, discussion all welcome.
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
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