[Mpls] This Week in The Minneapolis Observer

[craig]

T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R
A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan
Vol. 1, No. 13
November 12, 2001

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THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER:
* Green Machine
* Losing (Gardening) Ground in Phillips
* Desperately Seeking Native Americans
* A Question of Congestion
* What Makes Sid Hartman Cry
Plus: Grace and civility in the Eighth Ward, the Mayor shows us the money, remembering Dave Moore, cops and potholes, and R.T.'s speed dial.

(This is a preview issue of The Observer. To subscribe to the full-text edition ($12/yr.), e-mail your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED])

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GREEN MACHINE
Lost amid the shocking mayoral results in Tuesday's election was the sudden emergence of the Green Party as the city's second major party. With the election of Dean Zimmermann in the Sixth Ward and Natalie Johnson Lee in the Fifth, Minneapolis becomes the second-largest city in America to elect a Green Party candidate to the city council (San Francisco is the largest).
It was, writes John Slade of the Indepedent Media Center (http://twincities.indymedia.org), a victory of historic proportions. "This is the first time that a 'third party' has succeeded electorally in Council races since the Farmer-Labor Party of the 1920s and 1930s," he writes.
The Greens fielded four candidates in Council races, with Cam Gordon losing a tightly contested race in the Second Ward (50.7 percent to 48.6 percent) and Brother Shane Price garnering 35.8 percent of the vote against popular incumbent Joe Biernat. In Park Board races, Green Party-endorsed Annie Young won her fourth term, and Lynn Levine, Michael Sumner, and Scott Vreeland each collected more than 40 percent of the vote in a strong multi-candidate field.
"This election year has established the Green Party as the second party in Minneapolis," said city Green Party chair Holle Brian. "We are offering the voters qualified, committed candidates with fresh ideas and diverse perspectives, and opening up Minneapolis politics to a new generation of community leaders who are dedicated to social justice and ecological wisdom."
Nationwide, Green Party candidates have won 42 races this year. And with two Greens winning election to New Haven's city council on Tuesday, nine cities now have at least two Greens on their city councils.

CIVILITY REIGNS IN THE EIGHTH WARD
Robert Lilligren, fresh off his resounding victory over Brian Herron's aide Vickie Brock on Tuesday, will be sworn into office Nov. 21, apparently with Herron's blessing--and his aide.
The new council member says he hasn't heard directly from his predecessor, but has heard that Herron "wishes me well." As for his electoral opponent, Lilligren says he'll be speaking with Brock on Tuesday to work out the details of her continued employment. "I have asked Vickie Brock to stay on for the rest of the term," he says. "And I'm happy to say she has accepted."

LOSING (GARDENING) GROUND IN PHILLIPS
Community gardeners in the Phillips neighborhood, who have been so instrumental over the years in reclaiming their neighborhood, are now struggling with the city to keep their green space.

MISCARRIAGE
"It's like losing a baby, of course."
--Guthrie architect Ralph Rapson on the imminent razing of the theater he designed, in the Seward Profile

NATIVES A NO-SHOW AT GENOCIDE EXHIBITION
An exhibition designed to make a statement on genocide ended up becoming a commentary on Native American photographers--or, rather, the lack of them.
The pARTs Photographic Arts gallery in August put out a call through its Web site, an e-mail list of photographers it had previously worked with, and in the journal Art Papers for submissions from photographers whose work might comment on Native American genocide. But, according to Duane Stinson, writing in The Circle (www.thecirclenews.org), the gallery never thought to contact any Native American photographers. Predictably, seven submissions arrived by the Oct. 1 deadline--none from Native photographers.

POLITICAL CONGESTION
Light rail advocates, who have sold the project largely on the promise that it will relieve traffic congestion, may be facing the ire of commuters once the line opens for business, reports Andrew Tellijohn in City Business (http://twincites.bcentral.com).
"The commute from Burnsville to Bloomington is going to be the same as it always has," says former Governor Arne Carlson. "I think the public is going to be disappointed in that."
Carlson, whose administration made the case for light rail in the '90s by stressing the line's economic development benefits in the Hiawatha Corridor, now says that argument was downplayed by the Ventura administration in order to gain the legislative votes in 1998 and 1999 necessary to fund the project and will hurt subsequent attempts to extend the line beyond the corridor.

REBELS WITH A CAUSE
Local writers Burt Berlowe, Rebecca Janke, and Julie Penshorn have released a new book designed to help us chart a path to peace. The Compassionate Rebel profiles 50 local peacemakers, including Loan Huynh, legal director of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights' Immigrant and Refugee Program; V.J. Smith, founder of a MAD DADS chapter; and veteran activist Dorothy Woolfork.
The book's authors and many of those profiled in the book will gather at a book release reception and panel discussion on Thursday, Nov. 15 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Minnesota Human Rights Center in the Walter Mondale School of Law Building on the U of M West Bank campus. For more information, call 800/211-3971.

BACK IN THE DAY
30 Years Ago This Week
"Something, it seems to us, has to be done about Highway 12. It is plainly inadequate to its daily task at present and can only become less useful as time goes on. While some upgrading short of freeway standards would be possible, significant improvement will require upgrading to the freeway level."
--editorial in the Minneapolis Star
November 12, 1971

IT'S JUST MY OPINION, BUT . . .
I have said more than once in this space that our new mayor-elect's resume does little to inspire confidence in his ability to execute his decidedly ambitious vision. So, here's a short list of advisors he might consider programming into his speed dial as he prepares to embark on his governing adventure:
o Rip Rapson: The former deputy mayor and head of the McKnight Foundation is a savvy pol and powerful deal-maker.
o Kathy O'Brien: SSB's right-hand woman knows how to navigate the murky corridors of City Hall.
o Joe Selvaggio: The founder of Project for Pride in Living would provide sage advice on the affordable housing puzzle.
o Jean Wagenius: A legislative veteran who can help build coalitions at the Capitol.
o Steve Minn: Sure he's a curmudgeonly Republican, but the former 13th Ward council member has strong connections with the Ventura administration.
o John Moir: The former city finance guru was one of the few at City Hall who saw trouble brewing around Block E and the Target subsidies.
o Clarence Hightower: The head of the Urban League is a respected connection to a black community that may be feeling disenfranchised.
o Gretchen Nichols: As executive director of the Center for Neighborhoods, she could be a vital link as the new mayor struggles to rebuild the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
o Tony Bouza: No police chief in recent years has balanced civil liberties and public safety so deftly.
o Myron Orfield: This state legislator literally wrote the book on city-suburb cooperation.
o Holle Brian: The local Green Party chair will be a valuable ally as the new mayor seeks to build coalitions around sustainable development issues.
o Emmitt Carson: The head of the Minneapolis Foundation could offer wise counsel on a whole range of public-private partnerships.
o Chuck Denny: The former CEO of ADC Telecommunications is one of state's most innovative--and ethical--business thinkers.
I'm sure there are dozens more thoughtful people who could lend a hand when the new mayor finds himself in a fix, and I'm sure he's built a pretty good rolodex of his own over the years. My fervent hope is that he's as good a listener as he is a campaigner.

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The Minneapolis Observer is published 48 times/year by Independent Media, L.L.C. �2001 Independent Media, 4152 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55406; www.mplsobserver.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Independent Media. Subscriptions: $12/yr. To unsubscribe, send us an e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and we'll get you off the list and refund the unused portion of your subscription.

Editor: Craig Cox
Associate Editor: Sharon Parker
Contributing writers: Mark Engebretson, Leo Mezzrow.
Research assistance: Martin and Nora Cox
Thanks to: Karl Roe