You cannot argue for an insider on the basis of "they stay". Maybe they stay because they have risen to the level of their incompetence and only go further by the intervention of some patron. The fact is that ANY candidate will be out if they don't satisfy the customers. What we need to achieve is a situation where WE are the people they satisfy, not some politician. That takes some doing in our so-called "democracy". But one of our fundamental problems is that while people will argue all sorts of positions, it is hard to check how FACTUAL their claims are. It is largely guesswork, and that makes an opening for politicians to appoint people based on their personal job needs, NOT the satisfaction of the voters. That's just a reality we have to work with (or maybe work AGAINST). >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> You know I was thinking the other day that its too bad that the Traffic Management Center seems to totally ignore anything that doesn't happen within the view of their camera system. There was an enormous snarl on the Lake Street bridge due to the fire that burned down West River Commons. But KBEM didn't broadcast anything about it because the cameras don't see things like that. Moreover, scheduled things like parades COULD be mentioned, but TMC doesn't seem to think that there's more to traffic than "slow and go" on area freeways. With all the cell phones in cars, they could get a lot of volunteer spotters working for them, but I don't know if they care enough to use the info. I know the local broadcast media has used weather spotters to find out something beyond what NOAA and the doppler radar tell them. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I seriously doubt that many municipalities spend a lot more than we do on libraries. I know the temptation is great to ASSUME there's greener grass somewhere else. But I'm leery of that temptation. I want to SEE that it is true and also that they truly get more for that greater spending. I suspect we could easily hand over more money to the library board and get frills rather than substance. We see what they gave us when we approved the referendum for the new main library. Enthusiasm is not enough. The thing that sets nuts apart is their enthusiasm. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For those of you who think our voting in Minneapolis has gone pretty well, think again. The federal government (thanks to Florida) and the Secretary of State plan to spend LOTS of money to "enhance" our voting experience. Check into her website and tune in now to help keep politics clean in our city (and state). >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
===== Jim Mork Cooper Neighborhood Longfellow Community Minneapolis A great town, which can and WILL BE greater! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com 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
