I'm angry and short on time which often leads to writing posts which don't quite say what you mean.
I'll do my best to write this properly, but please feel free to ask for clarification if something seems off to you. . . . I just returned from the Minneapolis City Council meeting at which the redesigned civilian review authority plan was presented and public input was taken. There was quite a bit of input from people on why the authority needs to be restructured and different opinions on strengths or weaknesses of the proposed plan. With one or two exceptions, everyone who spoke believed a change was needed. The mediator from the Justice Department was also present to give input on whether or not outside mediation would be a helpful tool at this time. There was quite a bit of support from the assembled audience for having this done. Some of the public commentary ran long and a number of the council members had to leave for other commitments, but the Justice Department mediator did get a chance to speak and made it clear that we do currently have a situation in this city that would benefit from their approach at mediation. CM Zerby (ward 2) asked a couple of good questions regarding whether or not this mediation would suffer from current problems with the Justice Department's administration and whether this mediation would force accountable results. The mediator seemed to answer the questions to everyone's satisfaction. For various reasons, the council did vote to temporarily move the civilian review authority to temporarily be under the auspex of the Civil Rights Department. I'll leave that discussion to others until I've had more time to consider the statements made at the meeting and the reasoning behind the decision. Then came the point that I'm angry about. If I have any of the details off, I trust that someone will correct me. The council was down to 8 members which is barely a quorum. They didn't have time to fully discuss whether or not to have Justice Department mediation and a number of the CMs wanted to discuss the issues with the mediator at greater length. Since they wouldn't have been able to get an effective meeting together tomorrow and they're off next week, the next opportunity for a meeting with a vote would be September 13th although they'd be able to meet with the mediator on the 12th. To move forward in anticipation of the possibility of starting mediation, CM Schiff made a motion to have the paperwork start to be drawn up in the meantime. To my understanding, this would allow the process to move more quickly once the council reconvenes. Mediation was strongly supported by both the community and the mediator, so it seems likely that it will happen. As Schiff was stating his motion which was no more than a couple sentances, CM Barbara Johnson of Ward 4 got up and left the room so that there was no longer a quorum and the vote could not be made. She prevented ANY progress from being made on this issue until September 12th or 13th. Progress on mediation has been stalled. And this is after listening to two hours of people saying how important it was for change to happen and happen soon. Two hours of listening to personal and community horror stories. Allowing the vote would not have committed the council to anything, just get the paperwork in place. Allowing the vote may not have even had that happen - for all we know, the council would have voted against it (unlikely, but possible). However, we'll never know, because Barbara Johnson threw a wrench in the system and did not allow the vote to occur. Dirty politics. While the rules of the game may allow it, it's still dirty politics. The only excuse I could vaguely accept was that she felt that the other four CMs were being prevented their voice, but since this vote would not have committed to anything serious - it would have just kept momentum for change during a very tense time in the city - I don't think that excuse would float either. So in the middle of the situation this city currently exists in where tensions are high and there is a great deal of perception of injustice, we're going to have to wait two weeks while nothing is done. This was not democracy, this was a rules game played by Johnson to thwart a vote from occuring, and in doing so, to ignore the voices of the public. I hope the citizens of Ward 4 hold her accountable for her actions. If tensions boil over again because progress has been paused, I hope that CM Johnson and her ward are aware of the responsibility she bears for this. Btw, the recommendations regarding the civilian review authority were: To move forward -- through ordinance amendments and administrative procedures -- the issues that are within the city's immediate control, including: Training (Cultural Awareness), Standards of Conduct, Recruitment and Retention, Independence, Accessibility, Standards of Proof, Reductions in Incidents of Police Misconduct, Accountability, and Timeliness The additional recommendations would require significant legislative changes and further analysis was recommended for: Residency, Powers of: a) Subpoena b) Access to Personnel Records and c) Discipline, Openness/Transparent Process, Granduated Means of Handling Complaints, Tracking and Discipline, and Psychological Screening. It was also noted that the minority report of the committee made some significantly different recommendations and the City Council was advised by members of the committee and of the community to review that as well. There were some frustrations expressed by committee members about the form the final recommendation took. - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE (New to how the game is played, but judging by the reactions of the community and the other council members, pretty sure Johnson's conduct was low. If this is a regular approach, it is no wonder that it is hard to get change to occur in this city.) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.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
