Wizard, my sentiments exactly!
On Saturday, July 31, 2004, at 07:57 PM, WizardMarks wrote:
After reading the morning paper today (Strib), my reaction was (a) photo op! photo op!
Don Samuels is only now just beginning to understand the crime problem. He's starting to talk about the need for jobs, but still hasn't come up with a plan to keep jobs and create more, He still hasn't grasped that the other side of our crime problem is the lack of any real penalties for all but the most violent felonies- when all drug dealing, pimping, and drunken/drugged wreckless driving without license or insurance gets the felon is but a couple days free air conditioned room and board there not about to change their behavior. And don't think I'm just picking on Don- many of the other Council Members have even lest grasp of the crime crisis we're sinking into.
(b) these city council folks have not one idea of how to contend with what is urban guerilla warfare by assorted ganglords and their minyans for all intents and purposes. This current situation has existed, to one degree or another, both north and south sides since 1987, that I can personally attest to from here in Central. Seventeen years!
Many of our Council Members seem to not have lived here or forgotten the sad heyday of Murderapolis, a city we're again becoming.
City council members all know the grim realities of the situation and have been through those areas--probably on their way to somewhere else. No doubt they are grateful that the areas do not fall into their wards. It gives them the freedom to upgrade already nice areas in their own wards.
And rail against airport noise of greater than 60 decibels while gunfire rages in the 'hoods. Gunfire kills, has airport noise ever killed anyone?
Will those council members help the more problematic wards? I seriously doubt it. Except as they are aiming for a higher office, there is no particular advantage to be had by so doing. Touring impacted neighborhoods has very little value to them, so why do it? Plus, of course, drawing the attention through photo/story ops does nothing to change the situation either.
Then one day, probably the one after a city election, they'll wake up and realize that Minneapolis has reached the tipping point and the cancer of crime has metazised to a majority of the wards. They'll lose reelection to either a crime fighting newcomer or a gang lord.
That the council members whose wards these are appear to be making no headway in building solutions is the really unfortunate situation we face.
We're looking at a repeat of the late '80s when city officials and even the Police denied we had a gang problem. By the time they 'fessed up to the epidemic of violence we saw over a hundred murders a year.
back from vacation in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
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
