A couple of issues: First, as to the library, I think we have Highway 55-reroute all over again. That is "this has all been discussed before". No it hasn't. Because whatever got discussed, it wasn't in the context of our huge shortfalls and our staggering debt. That could have been IMAGINED, but until now it wasn't real. Now that it IS real, it has to be considered. If I have a dream of a Mercedes and then find myself without a job in a competitive job market, it doesnt MATTER how I looked at buying the Mercedes before. Now, I'm dealing with survival and the conditions are radically different. The thing about warehousing books is that it neednt BE a permanent solution. Of course, when you do it awhile, all these frightening concerns heard from the people who long for the glass palace may turn out to be empty concerns, in which case you make the warehouse a permanent solution. But unlike a hugely expensive glass palace, a warehouse can be sold to someone who needs it. Whereas if the glass! palace fails, the likelihood of recovering the investment is minimal.
Once again, we are operating in the "we're broke" scenario. I'd have to see the records to believe anyone planning the glass palace ever accounted for a "we're broke" scenario. But the time to do so is NOW. Second issue: The police layoff I hope people are thoughtful enough to realize we lose a LOT by forcing our trained police to find another home or a new career. Some of them have decades of useful service ahead. Cut their jobs and their family responsibilities will necessitate them being no longer available to us. There HAS to be a better way! Can you IMAGINE the costly process of bringing the force to full complement again? The academy can only train a small number at a time. Can you IMAGINE what the malefactors will make of all this? Home security systems aren't cheap, plus if you catch someone doing your home, who'll you call to collar them? Cutting them is as close to insane as anything I've heard proposed in my four decades in Minneapolis. I think it is time for R. T. to sit down with his buddies in the union to work out the best way for both the officers and the city. Rotating furloughs? Part time jobs? Whatever. I have always considered managements that just let their trained workforce go l! azy and stupid. I hope I didn't elect a full complement of lazy, stupid managers into office. My signature: The comment about buying bombs with money taken from education has NO relevance to my discussion of the library. I'm not talking about maintaining the ability to aggress against foreign states, I'm talking about taking money from open-stack libraries to maintain a DEFENSIVE force against the criminals among us. Whoever can't discern this difference has a need to refresh their own education. -------------- Jim Mork--Cooper "Only a LUNATIC would cut schools in order to pay for more bombs." "We hold these truths to be self-evident....that the just power of governments derives from the consent of the governed." Declaration of Independence 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
