I'll just say what I've said to Rep. Kahn before. Given the overall lack of democratic quality in American democracy (as witness the fact that our present governor only REALLY has the consentof 32 percent of the governed), her complaint about ward representation is fairly insignificant. There's lots of evidence suggesting stolen elections all over the place, and this tendency towards corruption is laced throughout our foundation documents. Take on THAT fight, Rep. Kahn. Stop asking Mpls to spend $500k on a nearly meaningless election when state government has its hands around our throats and threatens our health and safety in the process. Spend your energy and brainpower on stopping Pawlenty from his garrotting of Minneapolis. The world will live another day with Don Samuels in office till the next scheduled election.
I don't think you are a "liar", Rep. Kahn. I think you sometimes obsess about a certain tree when the whole forest is burning down. I await with hopefulness the upcoming vote on the budget because I've been assured that I am represented by someone who wholeheartedly opposes the concept of sacrificing public safety. How many police could we save by simply sacrificing the less necessary functions of government? I thought today how the body acts when facing starvation. What it does is sacrifice the less necessary organs for the ones without which the body will die. I think nature is wise and we need to do something similar. I'm fairly confident that the valuable things we do will remain valuable WHEN we are fully able to afford them again. Candidly, the suburban business people who LONG to see regulations relaxed cannot prevent us from restoring enforcement when it is more in our interest. They seem INCAPABLE of pushing any candidate into office in our government, which seems to imply voters in Minneapolis have their number. By the way, one real thought is to shift SOME functions to user fees when they are substantially used by people who have escaped regular taxes by leaving the city. Since our jurisdiction only covers people who choose to live here, user fees remain the sole way to get something back from all who benefit. If our city government has any talent at all, it should be able to distinguish what can be effectively financed from property taxes and what require fees or alternative taxes. In fact, the only real question I see is how to do this to maximum profitability. Basically, it comes down to a realization that NOTHING can be free when police and firemen are at risk. We didn't want to come to this, but a hostile state government has forced it on the city. -------------- Jim Mork--Cooper "Only a LUNATIC would cut schools in order to pay for more bombs." "Depart from me, you cursed of my Father. Inasmuch as you have not done it to the least of these my brethren, you have not done it unto me." 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
