Keep a close eye on R.T. By: Booker T Hodges Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Originally posted 8/20/2003
I can remember the first time I met R.T. Rybek. It was during the 2001 campaign at a function in the city�s Third Ward. R.T. had on his turquoise blue shirt, cargo paints, white tube socks and running shoes.
My first impression of him was that this can�t be the guy everyone is talking about. But then I remembered that he was endorsed by the Sierra Club, an organization that I personally support very much. R.T. walked up to me and introduced himself. We had a five-minute conversation about how campaigning was going and what he planned on doing if he were elected mayor of Minneapolis.
During our conversation I told R.T. that the vote for mayor was going to be a hard choice for me, but in the end it wasn�t all that hard. After the primary, when it was down to just R.T. and then-Mayor Sayles Belton, the choice was easy for me. I voted for R.T. because, at the time, I felt that he was more trustworthy than his opponent. Also, I felt that R.T. would not go downtown and maintain the status quo like his opponent did.
I couldn�t have been more wrong about anything in my life.
I have watched R.T. slip and slide out of more situations than I can count. Let�s take the issues going on in Jordan right now. Earlier this year I, along with several others, asked R.T. to spend one night in Jordan; we also asked him for increased police presence in the neighborhood. Not only did R.T. not spend the night � he denounced our efforts by calling them �symbolic.�
Unfortunately, his failure to act then resulted in a 19-month-old baby being shot in her home, several others being murdered, and City Council Member Don Samuels losing more weight that he can afford. (Samuels goes on a fast every time someone is murdered in his district.)
When R.T. ran for office, he said that he wanted to clean up the streets, but I guess he was talking about his neighborhood. You know, Lake Hiawatha is having bacteria problems, and we wouldn�t want R.T. to get sick like Sherri Cruses�s baby, who lives in Hollman/Heritage Park.
R.T., like most limousine liberals, likes to talk about and promote diversity. R.T. said when he was campaigning that he wanted to see a more diverse city hall. I wonder what type of diversity he was talking about. It couldn�t have been racial, because R.T. has only appointed one African American since he has been in office.
As mayor, R.T. has the opportunity to make around 90 appointments, so why could no more than one of them be Black? For that matter, I don�t think that R.T. has appointed any more people of color since he has been in office. The reappointment of people of color who were appointed by the former mayor doesn�t count for obvious reasons. Maybe R.T. is cutting the budget of the Civil Rights Department more than any other department because he doesn�t want them to investigate his anti-diversity appointments.
The Somali community of Minneapolis has been hit hard by the recent murders of several cab drivers. The cab drivers asked the City to provide some funds to increase security in their cabs. R.T. told the cab drivers that he was unwilling to provide them funds, because the City doesn�t fund private business.
R.T. must not know his history, because the City has a long history of funding private business. R.T. should have told the cab drivers that the City doesn�t fund private businesses unless they are named Target and they give him free tickets to the Timberwolves games.
R.T. is a liberal � he should care about these people, shouldn�t he? Maybe if the cab drivers offered him free cab rides to the Timberwolves games, he might get them some money for their cabs.
Despite a new ethics policy, R.T. still continues to receive free tickets to various events. A former R.T. aide informed me that they continued to book free events for R.T. after he imposed his new ethics ordinance. Minneapolis City officials receiving free tickets to an event is nothing new, but when I voted for R.T., I thought I was voting for someone who wasn�t like that.
Members of the minority community should be
very aware that the mayor of this city has no interest in serving over 35 percent of the city�s population. Just look at his budget, his appointments, and his staff. R.T. has done no more than offer communities of color lip service.
I ask you, the readers, to watch this man � he is very slick and not much sticks to him. If you watch him closely, you will see what I am talking about. I don�t regret voting for him because I don�t have regrets, but I wouldn�t vote for R.T. if he ran for mayor again.
If you are being abused or know someone who is being abused, you can call the following numbers: Harriet Tubman Center, 612-825-0000; Domestic Abuse Project, 612-673-3526; Minnesota Domestic Abuse Hotline, 1-866-223-1111; National Domestic Abuse Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE.
Booker T welcomes reader responses to bhodges@ spokesman-recorder.com , or you can call the Spokesman at 612-827-4021 and leave a message.
Booker T Hodges North side
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