I hope the Minneapolis City Council rejects Mayor R.T. Rybak's attempt to run the police department out of the Mayor's office. I thought we were electing a Mayor two years ago-not a police chief. I approve of most of what Rybak has done as Mayor, but I don't like what he's trying to do to the police department. Here is a Star Tribune story on the police chief selection:
http://startribune.com/stories/462/4276680.html The hand-picked advisory committee had six candidates to choose from-two Minneapolis Deputy Chiefs and four outside applicants. Two women have risen through the police ranks to the rank of Deputy Chief-Sharon Lubinski and Lucy Gerold. They were the two internal applicants for the position of Police Chief. Of the six candidates, three were African American men and the two Deputy Chiefs were white women. There is one white man on the list-the Chief from Dayton, Ohio. According to WCCO, the candidate Rybak really wants is the white guy. Maybe the real unspoken question the committee asked was "are you willing to be the Mayor's boy?" No African-American man will permit such a thing. Lubinski and Gerold have never been boys. The Minneapolis Police Federation is a labor union that does a very good job representing the views and attitudes of rank-and-file cops. Many liberals and critics of the police don't like the Police Federation. The Police Federation would rather have a woman as Police Chief than another outsider. Most of the Police Chiefs over the last twenty years have been outsiders with an adversarial attitude toward the rest of the department. What is the evidence that Mayor Rybak wants to micro-manage the Police Department? First, Rybak tried to force Chief Olson out. Then Rybak tried to muzzle the police department and rank-and-file cops by centralizing communications in City Hall. All communications with the media were supposed to go through the City Hall office. If the police department is going to be run by politicians instead of run by cops maybe we should change the city charter to make the police chief an elected position. An even better solution might be to elect a new mayor. How about Sharon Lubinski or Lucy Gerold for mayor? The City Council should hold its ground and insist on one of the Deputy Chiefs. R.T. Rybak needs to stop trying to run the police department himself. (HUMOR) Is there really a glass ceiling at City Hall? Yes-and they spent a million dollars to restore it! Here is the Pioneer Press story on the restoration of the stained glass windows in the City Hall rotunda: http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/7525841.htm Ed Fesler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minneapolis Corcoran __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ 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
