Just a little fyi...Russ King is Miss RICHFIELD 1981...not Miss Richardson...
Doing my part to share Minneapolis' gayness with others... -Brandon -Powderhorn Park 9-4 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- W. Brandon Lacy Campos Community Liaison Minnesota Men of Color 612-871-1788 x 13 "No odies a tu enemigo, porque si lo haces eres de alguna manera su esclavo; tu odio nunca sera mejor que tu paz." Jorge Borges --Jorge Borges ----- Original Message ----- From: Joe Barisonzi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:49 PM Subject: [Mpls] Any enemy of Repulican Spinmister Sara Janecek is a friend of mine > Campaign Profile: R.T. Rybak > By Art Hughes > Minnesota Public Radio > October 23, 2001 > > R.T. Rybak hopes to become the first challenger to unseat an incumbent > Minneapolis mayor since 1977. Backers say the political newcomer has a gift > for energizing people toward his causes. Critics, however, say Rybak's > vision lacks specifics and his big-tent approach is so big that it includes > conflicting ideals that can't be sustained. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ----- > > Between his short salt-and-pepper hair and a slightly crooked smile, Raymond > Thomas Rybak Jr.'s glacier blue eyes are like the light on a stove > indicating the burner is on. > > Rybak and an assistant start the day of eight scheduled campaign > appearances, knocking on doors at a senior residence high-rise in downtown > Minneapolis. Rybak knocks on two doors at a time, not waiting for an answer > before slipping a campaign flyer underneath. He can cover an entire floor of > the building in under five minutes. When someone answers, he sustains eye > contact, listens intently to peoples' ideas on things like better placement > of public trash cans, and promises to get back with information on polling > places and voter registration. > > The one word most used to describe Rybak is energetic. He often wears > sweater vests and as a personal touch of whimsy, mismatched socks. A sign in > his campaign office reminds volunteers to feed the candidate, since he > sometimes forgets to eat. Rybak, already thin, says he's only lost four > pounds since the start of the campaign. > > The DFL challenger for mayor says holding the office has been a dream of his > since he was 13. But he has never held any other elected office. In fact, > outside of volunteering on other campaigns, Rybak has taken few of the > conventional steps toward fulfilling his dream. > > "I think people have the wrong impression of how someone's supposed to get > up through politics," he says. "This isn't the Army, where you have one rank > then go to the next rank. I've trained for this job in ways that no one's > trained for this job. If people think the only people qualified to elected > office are the ones who are already there and the rest of us who have never > held office are somehow supposed to be subjects of that permanent ruling > class then we have a pretty lousy idea of a democracy." > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---- > > "He talks a good game - fiscal conservative, but liberal on this - but he's > just a vast unknown quantity. And in these uncertain times, both in the > world and in Minneapolis, I think we're better off going with what we know." > > - Sarah Janecek, Editor - Minnesota Politics, Sayles Belton supporter > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---- > > Most recently Rybak ran his own consulting business for Internet strategies. > The work ranges from doing background research on how markets are being > served to coordinating the right mix of advertisers and content providers. > > For the past two years he's worked on various Internet projects for Public > Radio International. He was also hired as a consultant for Minnesota Public > Radio. > > Even Rybak admits his varied work experience makes him hard to pin down. "I > cannot be summarized in two words. And I think a leader today can't. I do > think a leader is a good word to attach to me because I've been that > everywhere I've gone," he says. > > Before striking out on his own in 1998, Rybak spent a year and a half as > vice president of Internet Broadcasting Systems, his sole job being to > coordinate the WCCO news Web site, channel4000.com. He came to that job > after publishing the weekly Twin Cities Reader, which was sold and > discontinued in 1997. > > In the early 1990s Rybak ran his own business marketing firm and did a stint > with Minneapolis' Eberhardt Real Estate, recruiting storefront tenants and > facilitated development projects. > > It was during this time - the early '90s - that he contacted the Target > Corporation about locating a store downtown. The fruition of that idea is a > key campaign issue of Rybak's. He couldn't pull his deal together, but he > says the Target store plan lost his support as the public costs mounted > toward the $60 million that the city eventually paid. > > While Rybak likes to point to his business experience as training for > political life, his organizing a group of pajama-wearing protestors at the > airport is probably the signature event that propelled Rybak into the public > eye. > > Already an activist on clean water issues, Rybak was invited into a group of > south Minneapolis neighbors frustrated by increasing jet noise over their > homes and what they perceived to be indifference by elected officials to do > anything about it. > > "The general attitude of the City Council and staffers seemed to be, 'Oh, > we've heard you people before. Go away. Don't really want to hear this > anymore. The issue's dead we don't want to talk to you,'" said Sara Strzok, > one of the four founding members of ROAR - Residents Opposed to Airport > Racket. > > She says the group would still be a small, ineffectual group of complainers > without Rybak's enthusiasm and marketing expertise. She says he created a > renewed excitement in people who'd long given up on airport issues. > > "He's just got an energy I've seen in very few people. He's almost > relentless. He keeps on going when everybody else is ready to poop out. So > in that respect he'll be able to carry through on things he began to work > on," she said. > > The energy and enthusiasm has won Rybak a wide spectrum of support. He has > endorsements from opposing candidates in at least two City Council races. > Rybak, who supported Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in last year's > presidential race, gets the nod from some of the city's most liberal DFLers. > > At the same time he's backed by staunch Republicans and the chair of the > state Independence Party. Sara Janecek, the Republican editor for Minnesota > Politics, says she's openly supporting Rybak's opponent, incumbent and DFLer > Sharon Sayles Belton. Janecek says Rybak's attempt to woo conservative > voters is merely rhetoric. > > "He talks a good game - fiscal conservative, but liberal on this - but he's > just a vast unknown quantity. And in these uncertain times, both in the > world and in Minneapolis, I think we're better off going with what we know," > Janecek says. > > What's more, Janecek says, such broad coalitions - Rybak's so-called big > tent - are the least effective means to run government. "I think that's part > of what's scary about him," she says. "It's always exciting and energizing > in a candidate who has not previously not held public office to come in at > it with new ideas. On the other hand when you put pen to paper and try to > implement those ideas, they're not necessarily workable." > > Rybak's campaign has been very skilled at answering any public relations > gains by the politically savvy and better funded Sayles Belton campaign. > When Sayles Belton got the endorsement from the AFL-CIO, Rybak got > endorsements from the police officers, firefighters and professional > employees unions in City Hall. The two sides divide support from the > Minneapolis legislative delegation. And when Sayles Belton secured the the > endorsement of the city's gay and lesbian DFL caucus, Rybak scheduled an > appearance with Russ King, otherwise known as drag queen Miss Richardson > 1981 at a Minneapolis gay bar. > > Rybak has to shout over the music so patrons could hear his views on the > downtown library and historic building preservation. It's 9:30 at night and > Rybak is still shaking hands, still making eye contact. He has been at this > non-stop since 6:30 in the morning and shows no sign of slowing down. > > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
