Valdis, I find myself wondering if you really live in the 3rd
ward, you might want to check a map.
>Enough is enough! This is starting to sound like small children bickering!
>Dyna wishes to make light of the serious problem we have when it comes to the
>Mississippi River and the pollutants being dumped into it. I do not care if
>it is one person, company or city policy that is being discussed or dealt
>with. The fact that Graco is being pointed out, is an example. It is
>impossible to broadly discuss ALL polluters at once. Until we take a stand
>and set forth biting legal consequences for ALL parties on the riverfront, we
>can only approach what is right before our eyes. The Graco expansion is
>indeed something topical as it is happening today. The facts, regardless
>where you find them, do not dispute that the facility is a polluter. The fact
>still remains that the Upper Mississippi Master Plan had been revised to
>allow Graco's expansion and changing/comprimising the intent to connect the
>river, the parks and the community with a series of greenways and
>development. For those of you who have not wandered down that way as of late,
>the building sits much closer to the river bank than one would normally
>expect when trying to make the river banks accessible to people in the
>neighborhood.
A candidate for city council should at minimum understand the
industries in their ward. Graco is not a chemical plant or smelter or
scrapyard. Do you know what Graco makes? Hint: check graco.com. And
if you'd wandered down their you would have noticed the land along
the river their giving us- they didn't have to do that.
>As for the American Iron issue, I have but three points to make;
>ONE- as a candidate for the Third Ward City Council seat, I believe it is
>best for me to meet with all parties concerned before making an assumption or
>opinion on ANY topic. Therefore I met with communities, activists, and yes,
>American Iron. Generally speaking the only thing that I am sure of is that
>the severe lack of communication between the parties led to the fiasco which
>was our cities case against American Iron. As the leader of this charge, the
>incumbent could have sought mediation instead. Now American Iron has our
>money and a "full head of steam" to continue business as usual.
Communication with American Iron is a one way street- the
send their PR junk mail, etc. out and don't give a rip what we
citizens think. Mediation requires that both parties respect each
other. American Iron has no respect for the neighborhood so mediation
won't work with them.
>TWO - During my meeting with American Iron's CEO and staff, there were no
>money asked for and no money given. In fact, the comment made was more like
>"Why should I give any money to anyone when I don't even know if you care
>about me or my business. I don't even know if you will be willing to listen
>to reason and work together about solving the issues at hand." So if you
>would like to make any more of this issue, you may state clearly that I am
>not funded by the Iassacs, and I feel that they would just as soon stay out
>of that strategy as a whole.
So you admit you and American Iron discussed money...
hmmm.... sad to hear you were unsuccessful in shaking down 55411's
foremost political donor. I am also saddened to hear that you made
time to meet with American Iron while I and many citizens of the ward
have never had the opportunity to meet you.
>THREE - When you take a cynical stand against someone or something that is
>actively trying to better the environment as a whole, be prepared to put up a
>better solution and then be willing to work at it! Otherwise you are just
>wasting valuable oxygen. The time is now to act. If anyone feels that there
>is not a problem with the pollution level in the Mississippi River, then I
>challenge them to a swim. Or even better, let's lets build a pool in the back
>yard and fill it with water from the river. How about a nice back yard pool
>party. The fact of the matter is we do need to address this issue directly
>and with consequence to those who would pollute. But the same set of rules
>needs to apply to all - be it Graco, American Iron or Mr.&Mrs. homeowner.
>Fair process should be the way of government. Favoritism is for organized
crime.
Were not only bathing in the Mississippi's waters, were
drinking them too- do you know where our water intakes are? Again,
this is basic stuff any council candidate should know. Graco does not
propose to carve up tanks that once contained Hazmat or grind heavy
metals to dust in the open air along the riverbank. So the rules
peculiar to such facilities as American Iron of course do not apply.
>In short, proceeding with a plan and amending it along the way is sometimes
>an unavoidable thing. But this plan has been modified and defied more than we
>should allow. The plan needs to be concrete before we go forward, lest we
>spend our money in a nonchalant manner and then later ask ourselves why the
>results don't match that of the original plan.
Including the the area south of the Broadway bridge in the
Upper River Master Plan fantasy never made sense, so amending that
area out does. By the way, have you figured out what the plan is
going to cost? and how do you propose to fund it?
>Valdis Rozentals
>3rd Ward City Council candidate
>Saint Anthony West.
I continue to be amazed at the lack of preparedness of some
of the candidates for city office- just the other day I had to
explain what POST is to one of the other 3rd ward challengers. The
Minneapolis City Council is not an on the job training program.
peace,
Dyna Sluyter from Hawthorne (let me know if you need
directions)
_______________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
