I am coming in late to this discussion but have been told about it in various phone calls. I have heard there is a "pissing" match going on between Lisa and Natalie regarding the name and sounds like others have bones to pick besides.
Here's my three cents worth: #1: This roadway is going to be part of a much larger connection to north and south Minneapolis and again is going to last long after all of us have said goodbye to Minneapolis. Seems we should find someone or something much more long lasting to name a street, boulevard or parkway after. #2: From my hospital bed the other night on Almanac they had Rev. Battle who is chair of a Commission that is looking at the naming of Martin Luther King Drive in St. Paul and I think we should take some lessons from them rather than letting a couple of people decide. Part of that process includes a citizen's committee and a way for the public to have proposed about 19 streets that could be renamed. They then have used some criteria to get down to three choices now and will be going out to four public hearings throughout the City for public input. Then the committee will make a recommendation to the CC and Mayor and a decision will then be made. #3: Now since we pride ourselves so highly in Minneapolis about our citizen participation and citizen input this seems like an automatic project where the citizens can help the decision makers make a decision. On the citizens committee should be prominent northsiders, some who lived at Sumner and were part of the Hohmann decree activities and all the shennigans of the past ten years about this land and space. #4: Let us remember Sharon is married to a Beltom - she is a Sayles. And if Belton is to be in the name then it should be named for the Belton mother, Ernestine - who raised the fine Belton family and has been the Head Librarian and promise keeper of many Sumner Library and northside activities in the Olson Hwy area. So on that note - my idea is ... Martin Luther King Drive - West and have St. Paul have... Martin Luther King Drive - East After all isn't this all supposed to be about Human and Civil Rights and the fight for freedom for all. It certainly isn't about Lisa and Natalie, or Jackie and Sharon. Annie Young East Phillips At 05:39 PM 6/30/02 -0500, JIM GRAHAM wrote: >This post is in response to about three different postings but in >particular Wizard Marks. > >First, for PennBroKeith - what in the hell has the Gay Community >got to do with the failures of Sharon Sayles Belton? A good portion >of this community and the Democratic Party worked very hard to >get rid of her by electing RT Rybak. You should be thanking them. >Or are you under the delusion that the Republican Party elected RT? > >Wizard is correct about the dead horse analogy, so in this regard >Sharon is dead politically. Even so Dean Zimmerman, I do not think >a Street naming is appropriate. With Dean's sense of humor I am sure >he was trying to bait and elicit just such a response, >(so you got me Dean). > >The most damaging criticism I have heard regarding RT is always >that, "He is acting like Sharon". Pretty damning criticism of a >politician when a similarity to your administration is considered an >insult. Given the feelings of most voters concerning their perception >that City Leaders were in bed with large developers this is understandable. >The ongoing Federal, and hopefully Hennepin County, investigations >into City Hall and what might have been outright graft do provide a >foundation for such perceptions. > >Sharon had the political world at her feet with great potential when >she came to office. As a black woman she could have done things >that others could not, but instead she and her advisors decided to >do business as usual. Her administration and City Hall under her >became infamous for their doing "Business As Usual". > >So Wizard, >What would the emblem of this street be? The dollar sign? I heard >a City Council Member use the term "Sharon For Sale Belton" on >Television. Given this popular belief, whether true or not, I can not >see either Sharon or the other "Good Old Girlfriend" network of city >council members dumped in the last election returned to office. Lets >face it, the City went to hell under them. They proved women could >be as into "Business" and dirty politics as men. They controlled >Ways and Means, Planning, the Council, and the Majors office >as no "Good Old Boys" network ever have and did it just like they >were men. And I absolutely do not mean that as a compliment! > >I think RT , Natalie, Dean, and some others won because they were >viewed as different from those voted out. For these powerful politicians >to be so convincingly voted out of office the public had to be pretty >feed up. I can not believe the public would smile about the prospect >of having any monument to them. Unless something can be erected >as a monument to failure. > >So RT, if you hear any criticism that you are doing something like >Sharon, do not think of it as a compliment. Immediately start looking for >what is wrong. Also when people compare your staff and advisors to >the Belton Regime, it is not a compliment. It means you have a wall >separating you from the input of your true friends, the residents of >Minneapolis. Your paid advisors and cronies may let you down, but >the people of the City will not. Unless you let them down by not listening. >That was the Sharon Sales-Belton problem and pattern. >Cut your own cloth, the suit will feel better. > >Jim Graham, >Ventura Village, Phillips Community Planning District, City of Minneapolis >----- Original Message ----- >From: WizardMarks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2002 8:02 PM >Subject: Re: [Mpls] "Sharon Sayles Belton Free-way"/Take a Ride > > > > You know, SSB is no longer the mayor, so it seems like beating a dead > > horse to keep harping on her record since it's archival material at this > > point. > > > > I'd have to disagree with Ms. Johnson-Lee, though. SSB may not be mayor, > > but she ain't dead yet either. If we're going to name a street "after" > > anyone, I'd rather it wasn't someone walking around and likely to live a > > good long time yet. She could yet pull off another miracle (there IS > > something to being the first African American woman mayor of a city in > > the USA. It's important and a thing to note). That she could do it in > > this city at the time she did it is also fairly impressive, particularly > > since it was the city who voted for her. She is not a nunc-schlepp. She > > won. The number of African Americans who voted for her could not have > > put her in office. We thought it was a good idea at the time. She made > > some big mistakes, but then, the further up the political ladder, the > > bigger mistakes you're in a position to make. > > > > Heaven help the poor woman who is the first president. She'll be in a > > good position to really step in it at one point or another. (Our record > > on presidents is not all that impressive; some did important stuff, and > > some step in it big time.) > > > > WizardMarks, Central > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > >Other then being "...the first woman, and first black to be the city's > > >mayor.(Strib)", I doubt that Natalie Johnson Lee has much warrant, or >will, > > >to commend the record of Sharon Sayles Belton. > > > > > > > > >_______________________________________ > > >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 > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > 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 > > > >_______________________________________ >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 _______________________________________ 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
