Re: [Mpls] City Hall Food Fight

[Lisa McDonald]

David, it's not quite that complicated. Ironically when Cherryhomes only counted to seven everyone criticized her.  Ostrow should have down his homework sooner and should have gotten a few extra votes to cover his position. All thru the last month Johnson was quietly and effectively lobbying people. Also once people knew Cherryhomes wasn't coming back, the lay of the land changed tremendously, and people no longer felt obligated to positions they'd taken before the election. It's very normal for people to jostle for the best positions they can get. Although in the past seniority determined chairmanships and eight years ago as freshman, we all had to wait our turn for four years.   Ostrow got his votes in two ways...promising and threatening. Promising plum positions or in the case of Colvin Roy threatening no T&PW. Not everyone handles that stress well. So yes Ostrow did engage in strong-arming and the loyalty pledge was proof of that. But you can't count on anything till the vote is in, so it pays to have more than seven.   As to Dan and Gary. Both of them would make good Z & P chairs. Although each is a little green around the edges they both have their strengths and weaknesses and I told Ostrow either one of them would work out. Gary and Dan both wanted the position and so they voted for Council Pres based on what they were promised.   What is unusual about Wednesday's activity is that the council has always voted unanimously even when we weren't happy with the choice (i.e. Cherryhomes). This group is unusual and shows their independence and it will be an interesting ride for the next few years. I guess what that is why they were elected....to do what they think is best and represent their constituency.   One last note, I'm all for facilitation and getting along, but unfortunately City Hall is not a private company and so because of the open meeting law everything one does is under a microscope. Personally I think these folks jumped the gun, and given a few weeks to let strong feelings die down, things would have worked out. Ultimately you have to get your colleagues to go along with projects, ordinances and actions you want passed by the Council and so alliances shift and change and people learn to be cordial to get things done.   Lisa McDonald East Harriet Farmstead   ----- Original Message ----- From: David Brauer Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 11:33 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] City Hall Food Fight   Dave Piehl writes: > Further, I hope Paul Ostrow learned something.  As I see it, he tried to > persuade council members to sign on to his "list" through promises and > probably > some strong arm tactics, peer pressure, etc.  I do not approve of a "herd > mentalitiy", and that's what this feels like.  Council members need to > evaluate > each decision carefully. I have not talked to all sides and I hope council members with first-hand knowledge will weigh in, but from what I've heard, Paul's problem may be that he didn't play the typical strong-arm City Hall game strategically enough. I spoke briefly with Robert Lilligren at the Inaugural who allowed that if Paul had picked him (Lilligren) as chair of Transportation and Public Works (TAPS), and been more flexible on a couple of other slots, Ostrow would have won with 8 to 10 votes. This makes sense. Paul originally offered Sandy the TAPS chair because, I'm told, he wanted to include experience at the chair even though everyone knew Sandy was not a part of RTs & Paul's coalition. That's a job Robert wanted - and he's been very active on 35W stuff, so he certainly had the qualifications to seek it. However, Paul genuinely believed his rhetoric about building a big tent to less-than-core supporters - though perhaps on a flawed premise. Ditto with Z&P, where Paul chose Dan Niziolek over Gary Schiff. It was, I'm told, a tough call. I'm totally guessing now (I have not asked Dan about this), but I suspect had Dan not been Paul's choice, he would have remained in the Ostrow coalition. Gary - who was quoted post-election in the PiPress calling for Ostrow to be picked UNANIMOUSLY - bolted to Johnson, and, playing the political game adroitly, won the Z&P chair by supporting a rival. So had Ostrow been, say, Jackie Cherryhomes, he'd have picked Robert & Gary for strategic reasons, notwithstanding merit (about which I make no judgments.) As I'm speculating, Dan stays in Paul's coalition, Robert comes in and probably Gary, too, and that's 8 votes (Ostrow, Zerby, Benson, Goodman, Lane, Lilligren, Schiff, Niziolek). Sandy ends up bolting Paul's slate, but she wound up doing that anyway. To sum up: Ostrow was, if anything, too earnest  - and not enough hardball City Hall business-as-usual. The lesson is - you can't do anything lofty until you have seven solid votes. Many told me before Tuesday that Sandy was the new Herron (not corrupt, but not reliable about sticking to a position). She seems to have proven that with her late switch. David Brauer King Field - Ward 10 _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.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 Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com