"Those that raise the fear that this is "centralization" worthy of a communist state should explain how the communities of St. Paul, Chicago or New York have less police accountability because their police's communication departments are integrated with the rest of the city's communication activities." -- Joseph Barisonzi
Those who would make such a claim need to seek a career in standup comedy. Claiming that POLICE should be independent entities, operating without "government interference" are obviously satirically inclined. ****** I don't believe public works, the MCDA, city attorney, licenses, regulatory services and inspections department all need their own communication departments -- so why should the police department? Should the public works department have their own communications department so that when the city council changes budgets a driver of a plow truck can say "Well this will just result in massive car pile ups and stranded vehicles?" --JB Well, there WAS the claim sometime back that police chiefs were unduly influenced by political concerns, so they gave chiefs a term that overlapped administrations. But I still think that there's too much chaos in communicating the facts of police cases. However, that does suggest one caution. Whoever ends up communicating for police MUST take into account the needs of sensitive investigations. There's little value to communications that mess up possible prosecutions. Maybe the ultimate prosecutor, whoever that may be, should have some veto power over what goes out, to insure that it goes out in a way that's compatible with successful prosecutions. ***** "nd dare I hope I read one less stories that quotes a police officer who lives in the suburbs saying something to the effect of - Downtown Minneapolis is just scary; I would never bring my family here" Huzzah! It's one thing to allow city employees to reside wherever they want. It's quite another to have them find the nearest mike and badmouth the city that employs them. In fact, that sort of thing should lead to instant termination. Let them find a JOB in the city they think is so much better! ******* "Brandt: One doesn't need coordinated strategy to get those stories. Read below:" --Steve Brandt That isn't the typical story, Steve. That is an in-depth story, and they are rare. By the way, maybe suburbanites won't bring their kids into town, but some apparently bring themselves to Philips for recreational requisites, according to the story. ****** "These problems are: Legality, managerial control, participation, equal representation, effective decision making, and accountability. I'm going to cover these in a series of posts." ---Michael Atherton You know, Michael, this could be the springboard for a disquisition by a communist pundit. NRP is "bad" because mere citizens don't know how to properly run stuff like this. We must have the political vanguard, with their experience "leading" the proletariat through the confusions of social development. Not that you are, by any stretch, such a person. I merely find it ironic that here, as well, we have someone claiming that ONLY government can handle societies problems and therefore should retain control of the funds. No withering away of government here. I, as you can guess, think the mere citizens have done a very good job. Haven't found any $800 toilet seats have you? Nor any $700,000 apartments such as Vicky was complaining about. My NRP financed garage rehab was at a very cheap competitive price. I gave it to the lowest bidder among the people I knew I could trust. The fiduciary controls here exceed any that apparently exist in the Minneapolis government. We're not going broke, and unlike Brookfield or any of the other corporate welfare recipients, we'll pay back what we borrowed. Maybe an NRP group should have been in charge of THOSE projects, NOT a government bureau!!! -------------- Jim Mork--Cooper "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our Country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out." Gen. William T. Sherman (1864) Letter to the Mayor of Atlanta. Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail 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
