I've done a little bit of criticism of the mayor, but I would say that it doesn't pay to go to ridiculous lengths in lampooning him. That only alienates potential allies. I think when the time comes that serious complaints are due, it would be a shame to get no audience because of a moment of weakness when things like hair and door-opening came up. That really sounds like schoolyard stuff.
Who could run to replace Mayor Rybak? How about Fast Eddy Felien? Or Jim Graham could run. Then we could complain about his administration.
Issue: Budget Cuts
Well, it is fairly rare these days to read on the Web and get genuinely GOOD news. So, I'm pretty pleased to hear that some flexible thinking might bring back firefighters. I don't know how many of you have personally benefitted from the work of our firefighters, but I have. So when I hear of any of them being laid off, it bugs me. Every time you hear the siren of a fire engine (and that's a pretty constant thing), it is our tax dollars at WORK, doing some good for a change. The paramedics save I don't know how many lives a month. They should sometime release the aggregate data on that. I learned years ago to be attuned to those fire department sirens. If you live near a senior citizen highrise, you get to hear them a lot. And so you come to realize the fire department, far from taking lives, is preserving lives, either through the old-fashioned fire fighting mission, or through the more modern medical mission. And it is hard for ME to determine just what price to put on that. Just because they don't risk THEIR lives in these responses doesn't mean it isn't heroic. Any personal stories out there? My house has called them a time or two. And they are really nice guys, especially when you need them.
________________________________________ Jim Mork Cooper Neighborhood Longfellow Community Minneapolis, Best City I Know
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