Mayor Rybak writes: > I just checked my email and saw the inaccurate statement that I called on > Natalie Johnson Lee to apologize. > > That is incorrect. > > I did not and the statements I have made have not referenced her email and > letter. > > The last thing this community needs right now is people raising more heat > based on inaccurate facts. > > This is a great time for people to find ways to come together.
According to the KSTP.com website: "In a written statement, Mayor RT Rybak said 'While it is appropriate to express sympathy to any family member that has lost a loved one, it is not appropriate to equate these two deaths. Responsibility matters.'" I agree that the Mayor never asked for Johnson Lee to apologize. I think it was a little unfair for critics to "ask" whether he did - a disingenuous way, in my opinion, to keep a divisive rumor alive. That said, I find the mayor's last sentence above disingenuous, too. His written statement (at least the part quoted by KSTP) does not mention Johnson Lee by name, but it is clearly - in the context of the controversy during which it was released - a rebuke of her (calling the equating of two deaths "not appropriate.") If the mayor had really wanted to bring people together, I think he would have acknowledged what Johnson Lee clearly meant - that there is grieving on all sides and now is the time for non-violence and community togetherness - while also recognizing the Federation's sensitivity at a difficult time (I remain willing to give them a break in the spirit of Melissa Schmidt). Instead, the mayor tweaked Johnson-Lee. As his constituent, I was disappointed in that. David Brauer King Field _______________________________________ 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
