I've been involved with the I-35W Access/Excess project almost since the beginning, and have seen it morph from what seemed like good ideas at the time into a terrible waste of public funds (think how far $150 million could go if used in other ways - fund NRP, schools, park board, etc). I am currently against most of the project, because it has gotten so out of hand and ridiculous.
What went wrong? Too many consultants and too few residents. I believe that the consultants involved have been manufacturing "consensus" around goals they had from the outset. Why else would Tom Johnson, project coordinator, claim that options popular in the neighborhood (passed by Lyndale), were not the preferred options in the neighborhood - he lobbied the vote in Whittier, from what I've heard from residents. Lesson for Peter McLaughlin: Listen to the residents - they may not have the deep pockets of some of the institutions, but they vote and have voices too. Your unwillingness to compromise and work out solutions with residents has caused folks to oppose the entire project. If the project fails now, it will be a direct result of failing to listen to the people. This whole incident has done damage to the DFL party, as many former DFL residents are moving to the "No new highways" Green Party position. Do you have any idea how many Green party fundraisers are occurring in this area? The Greens Party can thank the "Excess" Project for their new members. Oh, and, by the way - there is a Green Party candidate in the race, if you haven't noticed. Don't forget to visit the STRIDE website: www.stride-mn.org. David Piehl Central __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.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
