I disagree with Dan Niziolek and his supporters on the importance of his experience. While I do commend his commitment to the Lyndale Neighborhood, there is much more to being a good representative on the City Council.
As I see it, Dan's campaign suffers from a severe shortage of new ideas and vision for where he intends to take Minneapolis in four years. When I read his literature, or browse his web site, I see nothing particularly innovative on issues such as housing, transportation, economics, or the environment. I read much about working with the players and "partnering," but I see little about making changes that get to the heart of our city's problems. Ever since I first heard the DFL candidates in a forum last February, I have thought that Dan was running what I call a "feel good" campaign. To borrow a phrase from Madison Avenue, his campaign tastes great, but it's not very filling. The message I get from Dan and his followers is that extensive experience with the neighborhood association is enough to qualify a person to sit on the Council. But that's like a person who thinks that six years as the supervisor of the company mail room makes him qualified to be the Vice President of Communications. The impression I get from Dan, is that the key to stewardship of the city is to work well with people and improve the process. His rhetoric continually reminds me of someone who likes to build better mousetraps. But real leadership is about much more than improving the bureaucracy. It requires people who can LEAD the citizens into new ideas and new ways of living. Among other things, we need to move Minneapolis away from corporate influence, away from being dominated by cars, toward an equitable distribution of power, and toward sustainability. This progression will require a RADICAL transformation of our current system of governance. I have seen no evidence that Dan understands this. Therefore, as admirable as his neighborhood credentials may be, I can only conclude that he is half qualified for the job. When I went from door to door this summer, the overwhelming majority of the voters agreed with the ideas that I presented -- especially rent stabilization, building a city infrastructure that promotes bicycling and mass transit, and reforming our elections with Instant Runoff Voting. But the results of Election Day showed that most of those who voted were bothered by my short history in the city and were not willing to make what seemed like a leap of faith in my commitment to Minneapolis. Ward 10 needs to be represented by someone who has both experience in the city AND the vision necessary for leadership. I'm not sure what the answer to this dilemma is, but I know that Dan Niziolek on the City Council is not the solution. Mark Knapp City Council Candidate, Ward 10 (write-in) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com _______________________________________ 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
