Tracy Nordstrom Wrote:
The really cool thing about the Peace Ball (aside from the location - the former bottling house for the Grain Belt Brewery, neatly restored and a great place for larger gatherings), was the coming together of people from different agencies working for peace. Of course, there were branches of the local government represented - I saw park board people, city council members and staff, our tireless mayor and his wife, the chief of police, and so on. There were social agencies and corporate entities represented. There were labor people, artists, musicians, local merchants, state legislators, and various community activists. Then there were a lot of people like my husband and me, regular citizens eager to find out more about the efforts to help heal some of the more troubled areas of our city.
Dennis Plante Responds:
It WAS really great to see such a diverse gathering of decision-makers in attendance. Did the Governor have an aide in attendance? I didn't recognize one.
I commend Councilmember Samuels in bringing this to fruition. The educational process that must occur before significant change can occur is somewhat daunting. Getting everyone in the same room at the same time, without agendas goes a long way towards accomplishing that.
It does somewhat amaze me however, that the Governor apparently does not recognize the importance of solving some of the more significant problems in the largest city of the state he governs.
Southern Minnesota experiences a traumatic flood and the Governor calls for substantial federal AND state aid to assist in rebuilding their communities. Numerous inner-city neighborhoods experience sustained, traumatic problems and the best we can get are 12 borrowed state troopers and a helicopter (that's flying-by anyway) . I guess I just expect more social compassion and wisdom from a Governor of the state I live in. Maybe the answer is to change the zip codes in the traumatized inner-city neighborhoods to something more closely resembling suburban minnesota.
dennis plante jordan
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