"We are opposed to State Government funding of the Colin Powell Youth Center."
During debate, opponents of this resolution made it clear that this was the only Minneapolis item in the Governor's bonding bill proposal. In my opinion, the Governor should be supporting the Planetarium.
While at the convention I met David Strom from the Taxpayer's League. I asked Strom where the Taxpayer League was with opposing Stadium Taxes. Strom told me he thought the DFL if they were smart would make the republicans get the votes to support the stadium and the Northstar corridor without Democratic help. While I agree with this, it didn't answer my question about where the Taxpayer League was on this issue.
There were 3 separate anti-gay resolutions passed during this convention. My resolution - to oppose both state and federal anti-gay amendments failed. What was frustrating to me, is I was not allowed to make my case because of the rule that the convention had to vote to allow debate on the topic. Before these resolutions were heard, Dan Matthias giving his stump speech for running for congress against Sabo went into a long winded diatribe about how gay marriage leads to incest and polygamy.
Still the Colin Powell Youth Center - being pushed by Urban Ventures is a boondoggle. I was pleased that the convention supported this resolution. I hope that Sen. Higgins and Rep. Ellison take note of this resolution.
Commissioner Stenglein spoke at the convention - and I asked him about the possiblity of Hennepin County passing a resolution in opposition to the constitutional amendment. He told me that Peter McLaughlin had been interested in doing something like that - but he, Stenglein opposed doing this. I told Stenglein that the signs at the rally in downtown St Paul included "Death Penalty for Homosexuals", "No Homos in Leadership" and "No Sodomite Marriage" - and that the county had an obligation to speak out against this type of hate mongering. Stenglein was unconvinced. I encourage others in Stenglein's district to call or email him about this topic.
Eva Young Near North Minneapolis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Blog is up: http://lloydletta.blogspot.com
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