There are 800 names on this list. CM Colvin Roy won her last election by less than 800 votes as did Councilmembers Niziolek (663), Zimmerman (181), Zerby (108) and Johnson Lee (72). In the normal course of city events 800 people will have a significant influence. 5 of our 13 council members won their election by fewer votes than the number of names on this list.
We don't prevent anyone from participating on this list. We have at least one regular participant who tells us that he does not own a computer and uses free public internet access at the library. No barriers to entry. We don't have any intimidating guards that you might find at, say City Hall, that might scare someone away. That 800 people are even aware of this discussion is a wonderful thing. Even better, this is not a one sided lobby group, this group sees a variety of opinions on many issues. I cannot help but wonder what kind of dream world Councilmember Johnson is in to suggest that an 800 person discussion is to powerful, the City only surveyed 1,210 in their recent attempt to determine citizen priorities. Grow tell us "Johnson comes at this with a north Minneapolis resident's distrust of south Minneapolis". Maybe we need some councilmembers who don't distrust people based on where they live. Maybe I wish I had enough ego to think that an email list has enough power to intimidate city officials into making a specific decision. Rather, I think the open public discussion that has been created is something we should all be proud of. That Mayor Rybak and a number of council members participate only emphasizes that it is a serious discussion. No not to powerful, just interested, concerned and involved. Terrell Brown Loring Park terrell at terrellbrown dot org _______________________________________ 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
