On Friday, November 19, 2004, at 08:05 AM, Margaret Hastings wrote:
The first term of Mayor Rybak has proven to be (in my opinion) more of a
Public Relations campaign then anything else.
Perhaps I am in the mode of anybody but Rybak. But in the forthcoming year, I
do hope that there is a challenge that prompts the Mayor to be a bit more
responsive to all of his constituents.
Also, I look forward to hearing the Mayor's response in the upcoming campaign
to the question "Do you support public funding for a stadium?"
Mayor Rybak had the monumentally difficult task of walking into the maws of the debt plus decreased revenue with less ability to bring in new sources. This "perfect storm" as some described it has been raging in the City. Far from being public relations, countless hours of financial and budgetary work had to be done - real hard work - to guide the City back toward some semblance of stability and the ability to meet obligations and pay off the debt.
One thing I would like to see happen - whether anyone runs against the Mayor or not - is a return to the issues, an understanding of where we are as a city, and journalism that gets at those questions. We can ask about support for a stadium, but along with that, let's invest some time as citizens of the City to better understand what we have been facing.
Changing seats in local government, i.e., the propensity to drive out incumbents and put in new candidates is not a bad thing. It can signal a direction for change. But once that happens, time is needed to make the correction asked for. There is still a lot for our first term Mayor to do.
On the other hand, if all we as citizens want is the status quo, then we are at odds with our own interests. We can't both balance out revenue versus spending needs for vital services and keep everything as it was or is and not see that there is a price to pay for that dual thinking.
It is misplaced to accuse the Mayor of facile pursuits when he is doing what we elected him to do - and magnificently, I might add. He has great opposition. But nonetheless, in balance, he is moving us toward solutions.
If someone else wants to come along and say, "I can do better than that," fine. That is the democratic process. But inferred is a difference between competently doing the work of government and political positioning. I give a lot of credit to the Minneapolis voters to know the difference.
Best,
Laura Wittstock Southeast Minneapolis
Laura Waterman Wittstock MIGIZI Communications, Inc. 3123 East Lake Street Minneapolis, MN 55406 612.721.6631 ext 219 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.migizi.org http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/
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