Tony Scallon appears upset with the Park Board thread. I must disagree. This is the stuff of which soap operas will some day be written. I recommend if Tony is tiring of the multitude of posts that he treat this thread somewhat like a soap opera, one need not ready every post to get the gist of the positions taken.
Actually neither side has been strong on arguments. Apparently the key to this discussion is to repeat your attacks and name calling, take the high ground and blame your opponent for all sins committed. Let's face it, if you're working towards "team work, concensus (sic) building, and acting openly and fairly" as mentioned by one "Friendly" advocate I can't imagine a more non-productive way to achieve that goal then labeling your opponent the "Gang of Five". Your worthy cohorts are of course the "Friendly Four" If we continue at this level of discourse its hard to imagine what heights this forum will eventually achieve. At a process level the opponents have more clearly defined their positions. Basically from what I understand the "Gang of Five" has not acted democratically because they didn't want to open up discussion with the "Friendly Four" about the Gang's favorite to be the Park's new Czar. (I'm not sure Mr. Gurban has been accused of being a Czar yet but let me be the first to start this line of thought). The "Friendly Four" are of course strong advocates for open democracy. Their intentions are pure and if only they could figure out how their four votes could beat the Gang's five votes they would, of course, "change everything for the better." Perhaps the "Friendly Four" should follow the Bush example and see if the courts will let them be in charge even though they have fewer votes. Drawing closure on this topic is difficult. So far the best I can do is this. Democracy works. Five votes beats four. A secondary conclusion. Being one of the five allows you to go "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!" A third conclusion. Being one of the four tends to make you go "Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah." I would suggest that perhaps a more interesting line of discussion might be why exactly this apparently dysfunctional board has split into two camps. Might one group have different goals and expectations for the parks than the other? Since the "Friendly Four" have taken the high road of asking for a more open democracy, perhaps one of them would like to educate us as to why this board split in the first place. Bob Gustafson 13th 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
