You know Margaret, I don't think I've seen anybody go through such lengths
not to simply come up with a suggestion or a plan as I've seen you do with this.
And since you felt it necessary to direct this at me, I'll respond.
First and foremost, if you really think that it's the job of City elected
officials to come up with solutions then you're really missing the point of
representative government. We elect representatives to manage the City and provide
basic services, not to fix society's problems. It is our job as a citizens to
voice concerns, it is our job as experts in areas or even as someone with a
good idea to suggest it, it is not any of our jobs as citizens to say "here,
fix it".
Further, you cannot advocate for homelessness or any other societal issue to
take precedence over other issues because it is so important and then abdicate
responsibility to someone else to work on developing the solutions. Even if
you feel it is someone else's responsibility, you lower the issue's
significance by you not being willing to work on a solution yourself. If it is so
important an issue, then everyone has the responsibility of dealing with it
regardless of their elected capacity. Further, you can't complain that others don't
come up with solutions if you can't do that yourself. It is one thing to have
a plan and to question why things aren't being done that way, it is another
to not be able to come up with ideas and simply stand on the side complaining.
In addition, in the space of a day a number of people have come up with
ideas. Barb Lickness has a great idea that everyone can do, check with your local
churches. Easy, no elected official capacity required. You also said two
days ago that you sent the Mayor a list of things he could do that would not cost
the city a cent, but would serve to advocate for change." Why not: 1. Share
that with the List so we can see what can be done? There could be more people
who would do these things and more people that would hold the Mayor and other
elected officials accountable, provided they are smart and sensible steps; 2.
Give him a chance to do what you suggested, it's only been two days.
How about working towards change instead of demanding people do what you
insist is important? How about checking with the churches around you? How about
bringing the ideas you sent to the Mayor out so other people can work towards
them too? How about letting people camp on your lawn and checking with your
neighbors about doing the same? How about we try and fix the problem instead of
just complaining about it?
Homelessness is not a city issue, it's a societal one. And in order to fix
it, we have to change the mindset and get people to care, which I think most
people (including the Mayor) do, and then we have to convince them that the
trade off is important enough. It's never as simple, unfortunately, as we just
take the money from one area and put it in another. I don't agree with public
funding for the stadium, and if the decision were totally up to me, I would
put any money for a stadium first and foremost into addressing societal
problems, but then again I also think that elected officials shouldn't be making
hundreds of thousands of dollars either. Public service should be its own reward
beyond the salary needed to handle your regular expenses.
However, it's not up to me or any other individual solely, that's what
democracy is about. And whether I agree with it or not, there are people who are
not corporate raiders who support a stadium. Plenty of sports fans who are
happy to have public money go for that, and they have just as much right to their
say as I do. Further, you have to recognize that a stadium or other
development brings money and resources. Whether you support it or not, you can't make
a legitimate decision with out considering all the factors.
This is why you need a plan Margaret, this is why it does no good to keep
yelling at the Mayor to fix it. What makes your issue or your demands more
important than anyone else's?
Give you an example, I've talked a bit on this list about Level III sex
offenders and the compacting of them in Jordan and Phillips. Now I could just say
it's the Legislature's responsibility and they should fix it, but that won't
solve the problem. There's too many people who don't want them and will not
move on the issue. So myself and other people in those neighborhood are taking
action and developing plans. Residents from Jordan and myself went and
testified before the Senate Public Safety committee about the issue, and when we did
that, we had already worked with other neighbors and our elected officials to
develop solutions and plans. We presented those solutions as well as our
arguments to the committee, now we can hold them accountable, because we've given
them the ideas. We could not if we had just said fix it.
Solving the problems of society belongs on everybody's shoulders, not just
elected officials. A lot of people are giving good ideas, why don't we all work
together on formulating a solid plan and working with elected officials to
get it accomplished?
Jonathan Palmer
Victory
"My grandfather told me there were two kinds of people in this world, those
who do the work, and those who take the credit. He said to be in the first
group because there was less competition."
-Indira Gandhi
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
