Craig Miller wrote:
Brian Herron-ConvictedWM: The thing that bothers me about rants on the issue of crooked politicians is not separating influence from underhandedness. You listed two people convicted of a crime and three people convicted of nothing.
Jackie Cherryhomes- Never charged or convicted of any crime. Joe Biernat- Council VP Convicted
Sandy Hillary- No crimes or convictions
Mark Andrew- Next up to be indicted?
These are all DFL'ers who rose to the pinnacle of power in their city or
county.
We elect people because (1) we think we can influence or already have influenced their thinking on issues and (2) we think they have or can develop influence in the city, county, state, or federal legislative units to open the purse strings to serve us.
When we elected Brian Herron in the 8th ward, we were banking on the fact that he could persuade the city council to vote for issues we wanted to see passed. The Healy Block and a couple of adjacent blocks, I think, wanted pedestrian lighting. The debate in council was around the issue of whether or not we could afford the installation of approximately two square blocks of pedestrian lighting [not real sure about the parameters of the installation any more]. (This pre-dated NRP.) Herron had to persuade the majority of the council that even though we are poor, we do have the right to spend our own dollars as we see fit. Consider what that means. He persuaded the council.
Lilligren and Zimmerman made the same type of mumbled accusations about McLaughlin, Rybak, and Ostrow who wanted to use their influence to shake loose the dollars for access and amelioration. Since he disagrees with building this freeway work, he thinks it underhanded that McLaughlin, Rybak, and Ostrow might influence the legislature in another direction. They had influence with Welles Fargo, Abbott, St. Mary's, and whoever.
Lilligren came in the middle of that struggle and could not have expected to be able to exert influence against the tide. Herron organized this confluence of people to help improve the economic status of neighborhoods abutting Lake St. between I35W and Hiawatha. Access was a major, first thing on the table issue, as were jobs, housing and safety. Neighborhoods, industries, politicians, non-profits, police, MCDA, the city in the person of SSB all signed on to make the changes that would make us an economically viable sector of the city.
Then Herron made a stupid mistake (is there such a thing as a smart mistake in anything more important than post-its?) and got caught in an FBI sting.
Does that negate his excellent performance on the issue of economic viability and safety for which we elected him? I don't think so if we have gone from having to debate the issue of whether or not we could spend our own money to buy street lights for a couple of blocks to being able to finesse amelioration of blight and increased access to transportation corridors for a better economy.
Other politicians haven't made the mistake Herron made or the one Biernat made. Hopefully they used their influence with the consent of the governed.
Certainly, in as far as there is paperwork to trace this adventure, I can absolutely say that McLaughlin, Herron, the council, and the county board used their influence with the consent, nay pushing of the governed. If that's a crime too, then we have set up the entire political processes of this country to support that crime.
WizardMarks, Central
Craig Miller Shocked and waiting for other shoes to drop. Former Fultonite. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Driscoll" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Minneapolis Issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 10:48 AM Subject: [Mpls] Apology I have been properly upbraided, and not defensively so, for citing the Mark Andrew story as "lazy reporting" for clich�d adjectives describing Andrew - and other story figures over time. I really should have focused on the phrasing and writing, not the reporting. The reporting was quire wonderful, frankly. Mark Andrew is know by many of us as a liberal, and I fall on that side of the line myself, unabashed, as it were. Mark is known to reporters and old party hacks and colleagues as a liberal. The story is a good one, ferreting out as it did the "guy" helped out by a plumber's union official who pled guilty to using union funds to perform work on an elected official's private residence. Important story. Not lazy reporting. Clich�d adjectives come easy after nonstop research and meeting deadlines. I just wish they didn't fall so easily off the tongue and onto the keys for publication. But it's not always the reporters' job to catch them. It's an editor's. So the charge is easily spread around the newsroom. Clich�s are bad enough, but when used in print or broadcast news by reporters, editors, commentators, the effect is to reinforce unnecessary stereotypes. So. I apologize to Steve Brandt and Rocky Olson for implying, even explying, that the story represented lazy reporting. It did not. It was good. Andy Driscoll Saint Paul -------- "The most consistent and ultimately damaging failure of political journalism in America has its roots in the clubby/cocktail personal relationships that inevitably develop between politicians and journalists. When professional antagonists become after-hours drinking buddies, they are not likely to turn each other in." --Hunter Thompson Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1973 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
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