[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> 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. 14
> November 19, 2001
[snip]
>
> TIFF WITH DOWNTOWN BUSINESS LEADERS MAY HINDER RYBAK'S AGENDA
> A post-election salvo fired by Mayor-elect R.T. Rybak at two downtown business
>leaders who supported Sharon Sayles Belton may prove damaging to the new mayor's
>legislative work.
> As David Brauer reports in Skyway News (www.skywaynews.net), Rybak criticized
>Downtown Council president Sam Grabarski and Greater Minneapolis Convention and
>Visitors Asociation CEO Greg Ortale for their fundraising work on behalf of Sayles
>Belton. "I think the Downtown Council and GMCVA made a big mistake in being actively
>partisan," Rybak said. "They should be above reproach and play a policy role.
>Choosing sides makes it harder to build those [post-election] bridges."
> Grabarski defended the right of the business community to say "thanks" to an
>incumbent mayor and warned that Rybak may have difficulty at the legislature if he
>holds a grudge against business leaders. "At the state capitol, we will have to put
>our political capital on the line to help him succeed in the city," he said. "The
>state capitol doesn't give mayors from the central cities an automatic welcome."
> Rybak said he wouldn't hold a grudge, but added that he hoped Grabarski and his
>allies downtown would stay out of the political fundraising business next time
>around--"even if it's for me."
> "Perhaps in four years his opinion may change," said Grabarski.
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JSK -
Thanks Craig, for this extremely revealing passage that illustrates how
big business holds local government hostage. (The only problem is
Craig's headlines which confuse the problem as being the fault of RT
rather than the abusive monied interests). The abuse of the democratic
process is obvious when those interests with the most money organize and
concentrate their resources and connections so that elections are
essentially purchased rather than based on democratic organizing. This
was one of the rare modern elections where the monied interests were so
resoundingly defeated. RT (as well as Natlie Johnson Lee, Dean
Zimmermann, and Cam Gordon and Paul Zerby [and perhaps others]) deserve
a lot of credit for challenging this situation in their campaigns and
successfully exposing and deposing incumbents who were so tied to monied
interests that they had lost any accountability to the vast majority of
voters.
The problem illustrated by Grabaski's comments is that these abusive
monied interests are so arrogant in their power that they feel free to
disregard the obvious message sent by the larger community, and are
prepared to use their money and power to sabotage any efforts by the
[for once] democratically elected government to break free and act
democratically. The challenge of taking on these big business interests
in governance will be even far greater than winning the election. It
will be the real test of our new representatives' commitment.
Jordan Kushner
Ward 8
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