Mike- You said:
"The fact that the NRP pits neighbor against neighbor and brings manipulative politics out of city hall and into our communities is one of the factors that contributes to making the NRP a very bad thing." I say: I didn't see any neighbors pitted against any neighbors at the meeting last night. And, I certainly didn't see any manipulative politics. In fact, what I did see pleased me greatly. There were nearly 300 who came out on a cold night to participate in a grass roots democratic process. A process run by volunteers. A process widely advertised in the neighborhood. Of these 300 people, there were nearly 80 East African and Somolian residents from Glendale. I felt the process was very fair and went far and above what NRP demands in process. Conducting business in "Roberts Rules of Order" and then interpreting the process into the Somolian languages was difficult. I watched some of the Somolian woman laugh a bit when it was interpreted to them that they had to vote to end the discussion and then vote on the actual motion. I think that concept struck them a bit odd. I found their discovery of our democratic system exhilarating. I was proud to be a part of such a wonderful display of democracy. I was even prouder that these New Americans came out to take part in the process. The so-called special interest groups you referred to were residents in Prospect Park that brought forward proposals for things of importance to them. One proposal was to help trim trees for people who could not do them. One proposal was for a youth program run by a woman in the neighborhood. One proposal was to fix the retaining wall that runs along a street in PP. One proposal was for the textile center. A couple proposals were for home rehab loan programs brought forward by people in the neighborhood. One proposal was to renovate a small pocket park and one was to install air conditioning in Luxton Park. I can't remember the others off hand. How can you say that "special interest" groups were behind these proposals? The proposals that were chosen for the reallocation of funds were from Pratt school which would allow the school to expand from K-3 to K-5. One was from the Somoli womans group and one from the Southeast Seniors. The majority of people at the meeting that endorsed these selections were parents of children who LIVED in Prospect Park including the Somolian parents from Glendale. Yes, someone did a good job of organizing to get people there to support these proposals. That is called democracy. Not unlike the same organizing efforts that take place within political parties to get people to the caucuses and people out to vote. You said: "This is in contrast to representative democracies where ideally our elected officials try to balance the needs and conflicting concerns of their constituents." I say: Ideally yes, realistically no. You want to talk about special interest groups. What do you think the political parties and the groups like the PAC's and unions that support them are? I am not condemning these groups. I am only pointing out that these groups have special interests and it does affect how each politician votes. You speak of balancing conflicts. I thought the conflicts were balanced very well last night. The vote confirmed that the overwhelming majority of the people in that room last night wanted to support Pratt School, Somolian Woman and Senior Citizens over the trees, parks, art, housing and an air conditioner. Barb Lickness NRP Staff to Prospect Park ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ 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
