First of all, let me point out that Zack resigned from the team on his own volition back on December 17, 2002. He hasn't been involved since that time so he wouldn't know if we have or have not had meetings.
Second, Zack is incorrect in stating that Jill Clark and Jill Waite are legal advisors to the team. They were elected as full members of the team and this was reaffirmed at a meeting of the full community negotiating team. There were four people elected to the team for our expertise rather than to represent an ethnic group--myself, Ron Edwards, Jill Clark and Jill Waite. It was felt that the work of the team would be furthered by having people with expertise in police policies and practices as part of the team. We didn't elect ourselves to the team--the community asked us to step up to the plate and we did.
Lest anyone think there is some kind of glory or financial gain in this work, let me point out just how wrong they are. All of us involved have put in many hundreds of volunteer hours into this work. Some of us (Pauline Thomas, Jill Clark, Jill Waite, and myself) put in countless hours for five months just trying to get the city to accept federal mediation. We canvassed neighborhoods, held community meetings, met with council members, made and passed out flyers, filled the council chambers for key meetings, etc. Then, once the council finally passed the resolution on November 22nd, the games with Chief Olson and his cronies started in earnest and we're still working our backsides off trying to get the city to the table. All of this work has been on our own time and all expenses for it (such as printing many thousands of flyers, paying for postage and even paying for a meeting room when the Department of Justice couldn't cover it) has come out of our own pockets. The notion that anyone is or could get rich from doing federal mediation is just plain a joke. No one is paid to do federal mediation--we are doing it so we can bring about change in police policies and practices.
Zack never had any problems with the way the community team (including him) was elected--at an open, public meeting that was advertised widely, including in the Star Tribune--until he figured out that other community representatives weren't going to allow him to control the team. He arrogantly came to the first community negotiating team meeting and insisted that he be made chair of the meetings. Knowing we needed someone to run the meetings, folks agreed. However, soon he was claiming to be the chair of the team itself and using this to call meetings and decide who would be invited. He used his version of Robert's Rules to tyrannically manipulate and stifle discussions at the meetings. Folks on the team let him know quickly that he was overstepping his bounds. When he took it one step further and tried to stack the team with Chief Olson's hand-picked people, who are financially beholden to the city, the team voted it down and Zack resigned in a huff.
Zack states in his email that the Chief was finally ready to come to the table when Jill filed the writ of mandamus petition, thus delaying mediation again. Again--not true. The Chief had called the federal mediator at noon on the day before mediation was to start to say he would be there. He called back an hour later to say that he would only be there if his hand-picks were there, too. For that reason, the session was called off. Shortly thereafter, eight of us on the team decided to file the writ petition against Olson. A writ of mandamus is a legal petition that forces a public official to do an act that is part of their job. All of us, including Jill Clark and Jill Waite, filed representing ourselves as petitioners pro se. We don't have a lawyer representing us in this action. Since Olson's employers, the city council, refuse to make him follow their resolution, we needed to do something to try to get him to the table.
Mr. Metoyer has every right to hold and express his opinions about federal mediation. However, he does not have the right to spread lies and misconceptions about it. This seems to be a pattern for him. When we wouldn't add Chief Olson's hand-picks to the team, Zack helped himself to our coalition's name and attempted to collect petition signatures until we stopped him. I recently read that he contacted the Department of Justice and posed as a member of the community negotiating team long after his resignation from the team. If, as he says, the issues are what's important, why is Zack still trying to keep mediation from going forward?
The community negotiating team remains ready to sit down with the city for meaningful mediation. We have a detailed set of demands prepared from months of discussions with the community. We are ready now to start talking about these demands. As soon as the city decides to follow their own resolution and come to the table, the writ petition will become moot. With all of the ongoing problems between the police and the community, let's hope the city gets its act together sooner rather than later.
Michelle Gross Communities United Against Police Brutality Bryn Mawr
From: ZippinZack Subject: [Mpls] Federal Mediation Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 16:57:36 -0800
I find it interesting that the fate of Federal Mediation is now in the hands of Jill Clark. Are we to understand that community representatives no longer have a say in what happens?
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