As a member of the candidate screening committee for
the Mpls/5th District Green Party, I went into the
convention with an advantage of having met all the
candidates and read their questionaires. As a regular
participant on the party's email discussion list, I
was far from surprised that the Greens did not endorse
a mayoral candidate.
It became clear to me more than a month ago when RT,
Lisa, and Jeffrey had expressed interest in screening
with the party, that the no endorsement option lead
the race coming into the convention. Note that unlike
at the DFL convention, where no endorsement was the
result of a deadlock between Sharon Sayles Belton and
RT Rybak supporters, no endorsement got more votes
than any of the three candidates screening with the
party.
Was this then a futile excercise?
I don't think so. RT gained the support of many
Greens for his race in the fall and broadened his
coalition. Lisa presented plans for many interesting
initiatives including an annual report on
sustainability indicators. Jeffrey was given a
platform and an audience that saw the substance in his
message. I know I heard many younger and
counter-cultural Greens say "Jeffrey is soooo COOOL!"
I believe all three are better candidates for having
screened with the Greens, and the Greens learned alot
through the process as well.
Thanks, David Strand
Loring Park
Ward 7
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