[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
At the Wednesday March 2nd Mpls park and recreation board meeting, a parent spoke in favor of the DeLaSalle home field. On Friday, 3/4/2005, on Minneapolis Park Watch, Chris Johnson called a DeLaSalle parent a liar, printed her home address, and went on to name her minor daughter. "âMs. Blaseg, of xxxx Linden Hills Boulevard, was rather disingenuousâ"
I did not call any parent a liar, not even Ms. Blaseg. I refer you and Nikki Carlson to any good dictionary. From the American Heritage Dictionary:
1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: âan ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who... exemplified... the most disagreeable traits of his timeâ (David Cannadine).
2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naÃf.
Ms. Blaseg feigned ignorance of the DeLaSalle plan by saying that "we the parents" had only known about the plan for 2 weeks at the March 2 Park Board meeting during pulic Open Time. In actual fact, she knew about it back in January, when both she and her daughter had Letters to the Editor of the Star Tribune published on this very topic. That is clearly a textbook case of disingenuous behavior.
Ms. Carlson's accusation is false.
All citizens who make statements during Park Board meetings at Open Time are required by the board to state their addresses. These meetings are recorded on video tape and broadcast on cable TV. DVD copies of the recordings are available to citizens who ask for them. The official minutes of these meetings also contain those names and addresses, and are published on the Park Board web site once those minutes are approved by the board. Ms. Blaseg's name and address have thus been made part of the public record and published in a variety of forms which are easy for the public to access. Ms. Carlson may not like that policy, but it is the Park Board's policy, not mine. It might even by a part of some state open meeting law, I don't know.
As for using Ms. Blaseg's daughter's name -- her daughter also wrote a letter to the Editor, and thus her name was printed in a newspaper with wide circulation. I merely tied the names together to reduce the lack of candidness on Ms. Blaseg's part.
In a March 16 park board meeting summary post, Chris Johnson writes, "the first 3 speakers are Minneapolis-resident students at DeLaSalle, who all try to persuade the Park Board to give park land to DeLaSalle for the construction of a football field. This whole presentation is obviously scripted..."
Again, it wasn't scripted.
Prove that. Or, provide any evidence at all. It sure looked scripted to me.
Let's see, 3 students who happened to be residents of Minneapolis -- after it was pointed out very publically that half the supporters deluging the board commissioners with letters of support did not live in Minneapois -- all got up and in their own words called for support of DeLaSalle. Just coincidentally, WCCO cameras were in the audience, when they have never been there before in much more heated and controversial and newsworthy situations. And just coincidentally, John Derus was in the audience. And just as coincidentally, the audience was full of other DeLaSalle students, many of whom approached the commissioners right after the 3 students spoke (an unusual act in itself -- normally members of the public/audience do not walk up to and interact with the commissioners during the meeting), and handed them letters of support. There was no coordination between any of the students, parents, faculty or alumni on this? Give me a break. It was a perfect marketing ploy.
Are you also calling the students liars about their community service?
No, I am not calling the students liars. What could possibly lead anyone to that idea? I said they claimed they contribute many hours to the community. I only have their claim that they do and have not bothered to spend any time researching it. I only reported what they claimed. Is it true? I don't know. Is it significant? That depends. What's the average amount of community service donated by high school students on a per school basis? Is DeLaSalle unusual in this regard?
Ms. Carlson talks about trying to see the high road. I'm not surprised she has trouble when she makes false statements about me in this manner.
-- Chris Johnson Fulton
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