Greg,
Because I was not convinced by your rather shrill defense, I am not
apologizing. (This is not to say I'm above apologizing, I did apologize
last week to the Mayor and members of this forum, when I erroneously
referred to the absence of higher ranking police officials at a community
meeting last week.) One issue is speculation around Phyllis's intent
regarding HF 67. Who's to say your take or the Mayors take on her
intents and purposes is more valid than mine or the other members of this
forum who question her motives? The other issue is a practical one. Is
it really wise for the city of Minneapolis to fund a special election,
mandated by the state, when the next election is two years away and we
face the real possibility of making cuts in police and fire services?
And don't forget the downtown library funding fiasco. Yes, the
constitutional issues Kahn raises are important and they should be
addressed. But her timing is bad, if not questionable . . . I was
honestly happy to hear from the Mayor. Now that he's come to PK's
defense, I hope he'll come to the defense of homeless people who have
been at the mercy of rogue cops. (There are constitutional issues here
as well.) This problem with some of our police officers just isn't my
perception. Refer to the editorial by the Star Tribune, hardly a bastion
of left-wing thought, regarding this shame on Minneapolis ("Hurting the
homeless/ Does it really happen rarely?" 2/10/03). But I realize Mayor
Rybak is in a difficult situation here having sought and accept the
endorsement from the Minneapolis Police Federation two years ago. Too
bad people who are homeless and suffer from serious and persistent mental
illness don't have comparable political clout. If a good number of them
were to show up at the Mayor's office in silk pajamas, would he start
taking their concerns serously?????????.-----------Peter Schmitz, CARAG
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
