This is response to the following post from candidate Zimmerman regarding
statements he made regarding re-opening saunas (massage parlors) along Lake
Street. The following is a letter I wrote in response to his letter to the
Whittier Globe. (I understand it exceed the word limit, but I hope Forum
Administrator and readers will bear with me.)
To: Whittier Globe
Dear Editor:
In a letter to the editor in this edition, Green Party candidate Dean
Zimmerman is trying desperately to create �political spin� for statements he
made at an East Phillips Improvement Coalition (EPIC) meeting on September
13th and at a Stevens Square Candidate Open House Oct. 10th. Statements
regarding his belief that the saunas (massage parlors) along Lake Street
should be re-opened.
On two listserves, Zimmerman has accused me of �making political hay out of
statements that he says were taken out of context or that he was advocating
such a policy.� Further, he says that, �it is not only dishonest, but is
the kind of reaction one might expect from those unwilling to deal with this
issue.�
What he is attempting to do now is to make the �political spin� move. I
would like to state some facts for readers. I ask them to contact Chair
Glory Gloudemann, Board members Margaret Kirkpatrick and Carol Pass, or the
Neighborhood CCPSafe Officer Troy Schoenberger of EPIC, to confirm that his
statement regarding reopening the saunas was not taken out of context and
that he not was �brainstorming�. The EPIC minutes and the conversations I
had with residents at that meeting afterwards, clearly show that Zimmerman
was not brainstorming. In fact, when ask during the September 13 EPIC
meeting if he was serious about his comments on reopening the saunas, he
response was YES! It should be noted that the Chair and Secretaries and
many other board members of East Phillips were supporters of Primary
candidate Barb Lickness and not me.
To further refute the �taken out of context� rebuttal, Rebecca Moyer, a
Stevens Square Board Member, asked candidate Zimmerman at the community�s
Oct. 10 Candidate Open House if he had said that we should re-open the
saunas along Lake Street. On October 18, I talked again with Ms. Moyer and
she re-confirmed to me that Zimmerman said to her that he had said, yes, to
his belief that saunas should be re-opened and further added, �it�s better
to have prostitutes in the saunas than the alleys�. In addition, Moyer said
that at no time during the Oct. 10 conversation did Zimmerman say that his
comment was taken out of context. Now, Zimmerman says on listserves that he
perhaps misunderstood or miscommunicated with her. But, at a event held at
the Moyer home Oct. 18, Zimmerman again never indicated that his comments
were taken out of context or miscommunicated. It should be noted that Ms.
Moyer was a supporter of Primary candidate Jonathan Palmer and not me.
Zimmerman and my campaign manger share a mutual friend who is a supporter
and colleague of Z�s on the Mpls. Park and Recreation Board. My campaign
manager, Rick Stafford, who has been a long-time friend and political
supporter of hers, spoke to her and she had personally talked with Zimmerman
and stated to him that she was extremely upset with his suggestion that the
saunas on Lake Street should be reopened and he further stated that we
should create a �red-light district� in the industrial part of downtown.
She stated that she knew clearly he was not brainstorming, but stating a
position.
It is only now that he wishes to characterize this as brainstorming. When
caught taking a wrong or unpopular stand, candidates like to throw out �they
are taking it out of context.� The point is that Zimmerman made these
statements at separate times because he believes it. And, this is not the
only time that he has made a bad public statement. On September 22, at a
rally at Peavy Plaza to show a commitment to tolerance and respect and to
reject anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, anti-Middle Eastern backlash, Zimmerman told
a WCCO reporter on tape that the September 11 terrorist act was, �Terrible,
but�� There is no BUT to what occurred on September 11 in New York City.
Zimmerman has stated that, �I have been unwilling to deal with this issue
head-on�. During my campaign I have repeatedly stated that prostitution,
drug-trafficking and other streets crimes must be dealt with in our
neighborhoods. I have said in most of my campaign literature and forums
that I will, as a council member, require minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour,
day-by-day attention by law enforcement to these crimes in the ward�s
neighborhoods. And, if the leadership of the city�s police department does
not give that attention, I will call for new leadership of our police
department. While I do not have a sure-fire remedy to these problems, I
have also stated that we need to have true community policing in our problem
neighborhoods, including more beat officers, to put more pedestrian
street-level lighting in our ward�s neighborhoods and to prosecute not only
prostitutes, but to go after their customers, johns and street pimps.
We need effective, common-sense leadership for the Sixth Ward on the City
Council. I believe that during the past 10 months I have tried to
articulate a vision for the ward and city of Minneapolis�from affordable
housing to neighborhood economic development versus downtown subsidies to
assisting our new immigrant neighbors to working for safe, livable
neighborhoods.
I don�t have all the answers or solutions, but I will listen and continue to
talk with constituents as we work jointly toward a better Sixth Ward and
city.
Sincerely,
Dean Kallenbach
Candidate � DFL
Sixth Ward City Council
Below, a copy of the letter I sent to the Whittier Globe, in reponse to a
letter from Pauletter Will.
To the Editor:
I would like to set the record straight, I do not advocate reopening
the
saunas on Lake Street. I know there are some who claim that this is my
position. I believe these criticisms to be more partisan than factual.
The simple truth is that the streets and alleys of the residential
parts
of East Phillips have gotten much worse in terms of prostitution since the
saunas on Lake Street were closed a few years ago. Shuttling prostitution
back
and forth between the business districts and the neighborhoods is clearly
not
the answer.
........
For someone to pull a brainstorming question or suggestion out of
context and purport that somehow it is my "position" on the matter or that I
am
"advocating" such and such a policy is not only dishonest, but it is the
kind
of reaction one might expect from those unwilling to deal with this issue
head
on.
Prostitution is an issue that must be dealt with in our ward.
Prostitution, like drugs, is a part of the underground economy of our ward.
Creative solutions must include dealing with the roots of that economy*more
living wage jobs and more job training programs, for instance. We either
think
outside the box, or end up pushing prostitution back and forth
across the city.
I welcome a discussion of real solutions to the problem. I look
forward
to this debate moving beyond fingerpointing and misrepresentation for
political
gain.
Sincerely,
Dean Zimmermann
Candidate for City Council-Ward 6
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_______________________________________
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Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
