--- Jim Bernstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Mr. Nolley's post is grossly inaccurate. Fiction. > Make believe. > Nonsense.
Why this sure sets a polite discussion tone. > One may certainly dispute the new ward boundaries > (some have, they filed > a lawsuit) but the redistricting commission no more > set out to eliminate > Council Members Johnson-Lee and Zimmerman than they > planned to get rid > of Saddam Hussein! TN I don't know, Jim. I've always thought that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. I don't doubt that my own contempt for the two party system comes through here, but the ward boundaries chosen by the redistricting commission were extremely partisan when a far more sensible map that followed guidelines and kept neighborhoods close basically in the same wards was presented. > As a member of the Minneapolis Charter Commission > (we appointed most of > the Redistricting Commission) I will state that any > applicant who would > have even hinted that his/her interest in serving on > the commission was > to remove any city council member would have been > instantly disqualified > from consideration! I'm sure no one wrote on their application,"My primary goal in seeking a seat on the redistricting commission is to remove council member x," but that doesn't deny the partisanship of committee members. >To accept Mr. Nolley's "theory" > would require one > to believe that a rather remarkable conspiracy was > in place when the > these individuals were appointed and that the > Charter Commission and the > City Council itself (they also appointed two > members) were part of this > conspiracy. I don't know if it was a conspiracy. I don't know for that matter if DeLay's actions amounted to a conspiracy either, both both outcomes were extremely partisan in nature . This also quacks pretty loud. > Rep. Kahn's effort to require an election so that > the new wards have > council members who actually live in those wards > isn't even remotely > close to the gerrymandering spectacle that took > place in Texas. Rep. Khan's plan may have technical differences so that it can be more easily justified, but the partisan motivation is clearly there and her feelings about the Green Party are no secret. > Texas has already redistricted, elections took place > and Democrats were > elected in four seats that Tom DeLay figured should > go to Republicans. > Of course, for a hyper-partisan ass like Mr. DeLay, > that was > unacceptable so the solution (instead of running > better candidates) is > to create districts so bizarre and so lopsidedly > loaded that even the > dumbest/weakest Republican could not lose! Minneapolis has it's elections spelled out in the city charter, changing this, this year when there actually an opposition party on the city council is pretty easy to see through. These folks have been in the legislature for years. Why only now would early elections be an issue. Also, I believe (I could be wrong about this) the charter states that elected officials only live within ward boundries for a limited amount of time and after that they can live wherever they want and continue to represent their district. > Rep. Kahn (and others) are only asking that the city > be required to hold > elections soon after the new lines are drawn so that > each ward will have > a council member who lives in that ward. Tom DeLay (and others) are much more honest about their equally partisan motivations Tamir Nolley w3 pct 2 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ 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
