Good Sunny Morning,
It's freezing cold outside in Minneapolis and going to get colder. I hope everyone stays bundled up and warm despite our usual mid January cold spell.
As for this ongoing talk over spending, I do care. I've grown tired of a government whose first reaction when it's spent what it has is "give me more". And I'm frustrated to see so many people who want to do so simply because they assume government = good. That's no more fair or realistic than those who assume government = bad.
One of the problems that any organization faces, whether it's a company, a non-profit, a social club or a city government is that it takes on it's own culture and personality. Just like individuals get set in their ways, so do organizations. I suspect this is one of the reasons why Thomas Jefferson had a soft spot for rebellion; he knew things needed to be shook up from time to time. If we don't demand the city to do things better, it never will. I feel like we're going back 20 somethin' years when people didn't feel the city had a gang problem. To some folks, it was painfully obvious that it wasn't just starting; it was a blown problem. It took the New York Times, IIRC, dubbin' the city to get us to pull our collective heads out of the sand and face up to the issue. The Star and Tribune has been trying to do the same. They've been trying to help the community have a dialogue on this, to get the ball rolling. And I'm glad to see that some citizens are willing to take that torch up themselves.
For those of you who think Victoria is a nutt case, maybe she is. If she is, I'm happy to declare that I too am a nutt case. Personally, I think those who think so are getting caught up in the symantics. They're getting distracted by a world they see as too black and white. Reality is we can criticize the police department for the way it spends it's money without meaning we hate the 5-0. We can criticize the $5 million spent on moving the Schubert without meaning we detest all things historical. We can question tax breaks the city gives developers without meaning that we're against development. So let's have this conversation and find ways to do things better. In the long run it'll be better for everyone because it'll help ensure the city has more money to spend on the things that are important to it's citizens.
Allen Graetz Lowry Hill
Victoria Heller wrote:
Vicky Heller: I sleuth around because the Minneapolis financial reports fail to disclose where public money is going. My current mission is to identify $192 million of unidentified disbursements shown on the 2005 Truth in Taxation budget. It's evident to me that no one on this List really cares, so rather than waste any more time, I'll take my research to the Legislature now that it's in session.
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