For the record I have to say I am disappointed about what happened to Barret Lane. Here is a person who everyone agrees is an expert on the complexities of the budget and city finance. Since we are going into a finance maelstrom we should have put our best person in a place where he can guide us through. It wasn't a matter of his dictating his philosophy; he still would have to get the approval of the committee and full council. It really smacks of party and special interest politics. And possibly an effort by those who object to fiscal responsibility if it may mean turning down the money spigots at City Hall for their favorite programs.
I went to the special DFL Central Committee meeting on December 27, since it was open to the public. (Thanks DFL!) I wanted to see the debate over the motion to keep a non-DFLer from chairing Ways and Means. Wish more observers had come to see the show, especially Doug Grow. The meeting reenforced my distaste for party politics (which in a one party town turns to party bullying). I perceived specious arguments and a disinterest in the good of the city. Of course one irony for me is that Barret, from my perspective, is more of a Democrat than an Independence Party person or Republican. He's just fiscally responsibility and not beholden to the party apparecheks. Or the unions. (More on the DFL CC meeting below.) A great disappointment to me is that two minority (i.e., non-DFL) Council Members voted to disempower the third minority CM on the Council. Further, many insurgents--who were supposedly running for change and better governance--voted against him too. Because he isn't a Democrat? Because he isn't nicy-nice enough? I've never been much of a manager but one thing I have learned is that you should try to work with and give place to people you believe have the skills to move the ball down the field for you and your organization--even if you don't like them. You indulge your personal feelings at your and your organization's risk. (I don't say I always practice this, but now I see many "successful" political leaders apparently don't either.) In a word I think that Barret has a right to be disappointed. Even angry. Many of us were looking forward to a new politics in Minneapolis and then one of the more talented and (budget) experienced Council members gets shut out (NO committee chairs?!) because of a party label. Really! The self-seeking reform newcomers who voted against him should be ashamed. Now a bit more on that DFL Central Committee meeting. I have to relate a few particulars. First, from Marie Hauser. (Too bad DFL party line voters passed over earnest, dedicated and knowledgeable Green Party candidate Scott Vreeland!) As I heard her she spoke against CM Lane as follows. She said that the Park Board first feared for $5 million they needed (was that from the referendum bypassing deal they made with the Old Regime?), but would likely get much of the money. But there was about $1.9 million that CM Lane was not sympathetic to. Then she said something to the following effect. When doorknocking she found the Somali men in Starbucks drinking coffee, and the Somali women and children home in their high rise apartments, isolated from the community. The city would need to have park staff and programs to integrate them into the community, and the budget to accomplish it. Then she said something to the effect that otherwise we would have another generation of terrorists. Yes, terrorists! I didn't realize so much was at stake in keeping CM Lane from being Ways and Means Chair. Disappointed to see she was elected Park Board Vice Chair. Hope she lets up some on the stereotyping. And the heroic leaps. The next most disturbing presentation at the Central Committee meeting was from my friend Brian Biele, who was representing labor interests--Teamster DRIVE and I think Building Trades. (He is Political Director for Central Labor Council, I believe.) His unions did not want CM Lane as Chair because decisions come up at Ways and Means on contracts and city expenditures that affect union members, and CM Lane was perceived as hostile to the spending to keep all those members employed. I guess Barret isn't the pushover that they would prefer--but do we citizens want a pushover in a fiscal crisis? (I say provide services and build things when you want those services and things, not to create a jobs program. Otherwise you are redistributing income from one group to another. If that's what you want to do, do it through the front door, not through unnecessary or wasteful programs.) (Guess I won't get to be Ways and Means Chair either.) But the real disturbing part of Brian's presentation was when he "rebutted" an email that CM Ostrow had earlier quoted from, from a public employee union representative. This poor Jill or Joan someone had emailed that she regretted the "strong-arming" that was going on over the Ways and Means Chairmanship. Brian explained to us that this woman had spoken out of turn, didn't have authorization to say anything in her union capacity, and--this was the distressing part--would lose her job for having sent the email. Seemed CM Lane wasn't the only one losing a job that night. The rigidity and lack of freedom of conscience that some DFL Central Committee members were proposing was tracking the rigidity and lack of freedom of conscience that the union hierarchy was going to enforce. I wonder if some of the DFL CC members wished they had such "iron fist" enforcement mechanisms over some of their minions and candidates. BTW, CM Ostrow and several other CM's were present at the meeting on the 27th. Both Ostrow and Scott Benson give excellent arguments against the resolution (to keep a non-DFLer out of the Ways and Means Chairpersonship). And I should also note that the first count on the resolution was 17 for, 16 against. It was only on a recount that the numbers changed to the 19-16. So it was closer than you thought, and obviously the true believers were more motivated to rally their troops two days after Christmas. So it was really close. Yeah, the more I see of the internal workings of parties the less I want to be involved in politics. But then you would be allowing these people to have easier access to the levers of power over you and me. I wish all the newly elected CM's had been there that night to see whom they were siding with. Green CM's too. These are not your friends. Alan Shilepsky Downtown Independence Party member _______________________________________ 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
