On 3/9/05 9:06 AM, "gemgram" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > That being said, Mark has again missed the boat as many others from more > affluent neighborhoods have. It is not the job of those from poor > neighborhoods to figure out the budget, organize, and go get the money. It > is the job of the elected City "leaders" to find those funds. TO LEAD FOR > GOD"S SAKE! The problem that Mark just fails to understand is that > enforcement of law and providing "EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW" are > mandated by that law. A pattern of behavior whether willful or not that is > still discrimination. There has been a "Pattern of such discrimination" > because those in impacted neighborhoods have not received equal protection > under the law. Prima fascia evidence of this is what is what has been > allowed to happen along 26th from Penn to Lyndale, along Bloomington Avenue, > and once along Franklin. It is not a matter of Minneapolis residents > choosing "their" priorities, it is a matter of law. It's (to make it clear > one more time) "EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW"!
I've been reading this "EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW" sermonizing for over three years now and what has it gotten us? I don't "fail to understand" anything. I simply realize that this approach that Jim Graham has been using of attempting to shame city leaders with all his preaching isn't getting anywhere, so perhaps it's time to try something else. As Albert Einstein was credited with once saying, �The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.� > Mark says, >> "He was simply making the point that if you choose the approach of paying >> for more cops by cutting something else, there's always going to be >> somebody who complains when their thing gets the ax. I don't have >> children, so it probably wouldn't bother me that much if summer art camp >> went away. But I can guess an awful lot of parents would be pretty peeved, >> especially those who do not live in the areas where bullets are flying on >> a regular basis and so cannot fully appreciate with folks like Jim Graham >> are living with."< > > To begin with parents all over Minneapolis will probably, if not fully > understand, at least appreciate the fear and concern other parents have for > their children when bullets are flying, or being offered drugs, and > certainly the fear of them being stalked by sexual predators. I think if > those from "Better" neighborhoods talked to some of those parents and > imagined those poor neighborhood children as their own we would have them > also screaming for action. I think we have caring people in Minneapolis, > the problem is that they do not think about such things because they do not > see them. So how do you get those parents from the "Better" neighborhoods together with the ones from the poor neighborhoods for these conversations to take place? Simply wishing for it isn't going to make it happen. Whether you think we should be cutting elsewhere in the city budget in order to spend more on police staffing or raising revenue to increase police staffing, you're going to need to have to get that wheel squeaking a lot more loudly than you have so far in order to get the grease. That's why I suggested getting organized and coming up with a plan for how to pay for these additional cops or whatever other public safety resources you seek. Get all the folks who are involved with MADDADs, PEACE Foundation, the various neighborhood NRP committees, the court watch folks and any other groups out there that are interested in working to stop the violence and the crime and with all those various people getting together and working collectively with a common message that's so loud and clear that it's impossible for our elected city leaders and legislators to ignore, and then you can probably really start to have some influence and get something done. > By the way, the StarTrib article giving credit for what happened in Phillips > was more than a little off. Politicians did not make the difference, it was > the residents. Franklin was the worst of all of Phillips and it was largely > cleaned up by "empowered" residents and the efforts of one "eager seeker" of > a cop who also took things personal and made the neighborhood "his". That > empowerment came in no small part because of the personal touch that David > Lillehaug brought to the people around Franklin Avenue. We became convinced > that even if downtown politicians did not care, that one of the most > important law enforcement officials in the country did care and was "one of > us". That caring contributed more to cleaning up Franklin Avenue that > anything City officials did. Exactly. So why wouldn't you take this same approach for fighting crime in North Minneapolis instead of just continuing to wait and hope for the politicians or other city officials to finally do something? Remember that Einstein quote above... Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
