Hey, nice post. I completely agree with you. Even politicians are people -- we can't expect them to be superhuman. They are busy too. And what benefit does it do them to enter this hornet's nest? I think there are dozens of politicians who monitor this List (or at least have a staff member do so), but know that answering a posting will just result in much more abuse. I'm impressed that RT has participated as much as he has.
Mark Anderson Bancroft ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Snyder" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Minneapolis Issues Forum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 7:39 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Responds to own emails > > Here's a question: > > Why is there this presumption that Mayor Rybak is obligated to respond to > everything posted to the Issues Forum? Or any other local office holder, for > that matter? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the > oath of office that requires a Minneapolis politician to answer every > question that comes across this forum. If they did, I think they'd be > working even more than the 10-12 hour days that I've heard several of them > do. What makes the several hundred of us so special? > > I've found I usually get answers to my questions for either the Mayor or my > CM by asking them directly (politely helps too) and not by trying to shame > them through a public forum. Last week, I saw several people ask the Mayor > pretty tough questions at the community meeting held in Bottineau Park for > the Minneapolis budget. He answered all of them or brought up members of his > staff to do so when appropriate. > > Although I don't agree with Mayor Rybak on every issue, I'm damned impressed > with how much emphasis his office has placed on community outreach and > providing information compared to previous administrations. And I think > anyone who truly believes Mayor Rybak only responds to the feel-good stuff > needs to pull their head out of the sand. He's shown a great deal of > leadership on tackling a lot of tough issues related to crime, the city > budget and long-overdue efforts to revamp city government in the past year > and a half. > > Cut the guy a little slack, OK? > > Mark Snyder > Windom Park > > On 8/8/03 12:59 PM, "Tom Welling" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Well, he responds when he likes the question enough to respond anyway. RT > > STILL hasn't responded to the conflict of interest accusations surrounding > > CPED, Smith Parker, and the Access Project. RT has displayed no leadership > > whatsoever surrounding these issues, seemingly preferring easy fluffy feel > > good issues to the real ones. > > > > Tom Welling > > CARAG > > 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, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls 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, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
