I DO know that Brian was elected in the Eight Ward, but when we in the Sixth Ward needed an ally to fight for a crime ridden neighborhood it was Brian Herron who was there for us. Much of the development along Franklin Avenue can be traced back to Brian Herron fighting for us. When we came before the Council to have a proposal go forward to the Metro Council to do planning around the Franklin LRT Station we were all but sneered at by some Council Members and staff. We were told we had five minutes at most to make our case. Told that they did not have time for us. Brian knew this, so he continued to insist on asking questions until Paul Ostrow also became interested and joined Brian, and that opened a crack we could slip through. Those non-Sixth Ward Council Members have been thanked and should be thanked some more.
I can remember several times Brian calling me and asking me to help with some problem that a resident of the Sixth Ward had come to him with. I once asked him why he would call me to help instead of the Sixth Ward Council Member. Brian said, "You know Jim, we call on who we think will actually help someone. If we don't help, then who will?" Brian Herron was always there to help. It is why I feel the injustice that has gone on with Basim Sabri continuing his "organized" activities to exploit Minneapolis while Brian had already been to prison. Brian Herron was indeed out in deep water with that crowd down at City Hall. Though Brian was at that time considered by many the most honest member of the Council, he finally tried to do what the people around him were doing and sadly (Or perhaps gladly) Brian Herron was a guppy among sharks. Brian had not learned to be dishonest enough to be able to swim with the sharks around him, so the small fish was netted while the sharks swam free..
Brian never had the power on the City Council to force things to happen. It was why he needed to help people slide through "cracks", and to ask for help from neighborhood people. Brian could not just make things happen at the Council. Basim Sabri's portraying this meek, humble, little man as a "Powerful" threatening bully who scared him into offering bribes is both comical and ridiculous. For years Sabri has arrogantly flaunted his illicit activities, and thumbed his nose at our laws. Bragging that he "owned" politicians and that City politicians and City Staff were his "friends". I wish the U.S. Attorney would show that jury that holds Basim Sabri's life in its hands (just as Basim has held the lives of some poor immigrants in his hands) a video tape Ventura Village had made of Basim Sabri's bullying attempt to take over Ventura Village. Or show his interview with the Channel 9 reporter after the Central Neighborhood takeover. Perhaps they should show it immediately after Brian Herron testifies. The idea that the arrogant man who was even so sure of himself that he was willing to swagger on that television news tape would be scared of little Brian Herron is at best laughable.
We should all be heartened by Brian's new work. It strengthens my faith in redemption. We all need to know that there is good purpose to our lives no matter how we have strayed, if we would only reach out and grasp it. Remember, I even hold out some hope for PPL. I am very happy that Brian Herron continues on with what Brian was always best at, helping people. Even though he succumbed to temptation (and the examples around him) and did the crime, perhaps Brian was just too good a man to be in the job downtown that he once held. Perhaps Brian's God had a plan and Brian was needed somewhere else.
Jim Graham, Ventura Village, Phillips Community, Sixth Ward of Minneapolis
"It is always an utter folly to underestimate the lure and attraction of a great evil. The whitened bones of their victims litter the highways and byways of mankind's history. Stopped only by the few willing to pay the ultimate price and make a stand."
- Toe
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
