In reference to the posting by G.R. Anderson, from the City Pages, with the questionable headline "mayor getting hard:"
The City Pages and other weekly and monthly publications provide great perspective that daily reporters can't sometimes provide when they are filing stories every day. It's often very helpful for them to stand back from the day-to-day to look at bigger picture trends. R.T. saw how this works well first-hand when he was publisher of the Reader. However, the danger reporters in these cases sometimes get into is that not going to every event and talking to us every day gives them an incomplete picture of what is going on. So it's usually helpful for them to actually research what they're writing about. I've talked with Gerry many times about stories he's written over the past year; he did not place a call about this story. The basic premise seemed to be that the Mayor's involvement in the Tyesha Edwards case was based on political expediency and represented a very sudden shift into supporting tough enforcement. As Mayor, R.T. is used to being in a position where his motives are questioned. That comes with the turf. But to say that his support of this family is a "political gimme" is cheap. A whole community was sickened by this murder. His role, as Mayor, allowed him to express that outrage on behalf of many people. Anderson was critical of Mayor Rybak going with the Edwards family to court when the suspects were arraigned. They asked the Mayor to accompany them, and he willingly accepted, to both support them personally and to send the public message that this is a serious case. While Anderson may question the Mayor's motives, he should know that the Mayor has also appeared in court in cases where the has been no media attention. For example, early this summer he did this in two cases involving drug dealers arrested in the Phillips neighborhood to illustrate to the drug court that the community is tired of repeat offenders being sent back onto the street. His involvement with this family was heightened by the fact that he was with them at the hospital as they learned about Tyesha's death, and the fact that as their families got to know each other and become friends. But I hope people will understand that's not a bad thing. However, Anderson is incorrect that this is a sudden change of action. In cases ranging from the death of a Somali man at Chicago and Franklin, to the Melissa Schmitt shooting, to the low-profile day-to-day incidents, the Mayor has tried to make it clear that the city and its leaders understand the human cost of these tragedies. Anderson references the story he wrote about an increase in crime on Bloomington Avenue. The Mayor, in fact, told me he read that story and said it was well written and accurate. What is not accurate is his statement that the Mayor "didn't have much to offer in the way of a solution." Before and after Anderson's article appeared, the Mayor has been involved in trying to attack the crime issues in this area. Among his actions were: riding with undercover drug officers to arrest drug suspects, walking with neighborhood patrols, opening the police substation on Franklin Av., going to police roll calls to understand officers' perspective on street crime in this neighborhood, and probably most importantly, working with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee to make changes to a system that puts too many people arrested for drugs in this area back onto the Bloomington, Franklin and other key streets in Phillips. In fact, the reason the Mayor went to the court appearance mentioned above involved an arrest at exactly the corner Anderson wrote about. Shortly after Anderson's story appeared, the Mayor was in the car with undercover officers at this corner when they arrested a person buying drugs who had a long record. My point is that G.R. Anderson never asked about any of this. Gerry has a responsibility as a reporter to check the facts before he reports something, regardless of if it's printed in a newspaper or posted on a list. I hope we're not being "hard" on G.R. Anderson but I really value good journalism and I hope he takes the care necessary to provide it. Laura Sether Office of Mayor Rybak Standish-Ericsson _______________________________________ 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
