I just wanted to make a public shout-out to John Erwin for posting this thoughtful, respectful response here.
I know public officials "work for us," and we need to demand answers � I do it for a living - but at times the dialogue becomes disrespectful on both sides, everybody digs in, and nobody really gets informed. As a journalist who usually "plays offense" (asks questions), I know it's more fun than "playing defense" (answering them). So I have a lot of respect for someone, like John with the question below, who answers with grace and class. You don't have to agree with him, but at least he's engaging constructively and thoughtfully. This doesn't always happen, for many reasons, but I just wanted to note a model of good behavior and the list rising to its potential. That's due to inquiring, thoughtful list members, including elected officials. David Brauer King field on 7/1/03 9:26 AM, John Erwin at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Dear Chris, > > Thanks for stimulating discussion on independent boards, their budgets > and, whether they cooperate. It is completely reasonable to bring up > many of the questions that you have and question the system or status > quo. Good politics. Gives us a chance to explain ourselves! As you > mentioned before, these are our tax dollars! > > I am a newly elected public official and admit that I entered the > political process questioning motives and decisions of many officials > and elected bodies. Since being on the Park Board, meeting many other > elected officials and seeing financial numbers on a daily basis, my > faith in the Minneapolis public governing system has increased > immeasurably. I would like to take a moment to make a few points. TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ 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
