On 5/18/05 10:12 AM, "Greg Abbott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> This is a big problem for voters trying to evaluate the candidates. > For example, the Police Federation flyer that was mailed to DFL > delegates before the convention claimed that another 90 cops are > scheduled to be cut in R.T.'s future budget projections, on top of > the 150 or so that have already been cut. Is this true? I may have > missed it, but I have yet to hear anyone from the Mayor's Office deny > it. And if R.T. does deny it, who's to say that he won't change his > mind after the election (again) and implement the cuts? As I pointed out last week, the budget for the Minneapolis Police Department has been increased during the Rybak administration, not cut. As for the Police Federation's claims, the Minneapolis Mayoral Update that I received yesterday stated pretty clearly that Mayor Rybak has no intentions of cutting police. Here's an excerpt for those who are not subscribed for it: "Public safety is and will continue to be my top priority.� Under my leadership the Police Department's budget has increased by over 14 percent - nearly $13 million more each year - despite the City's loss of $37 million annually in local government aid from the State. � We have significantly increased the public safety presence downtown with unprecedented combined patrols of Metro Transit, the Hennepin County Sheriff's office and the Minneapolis Police Department.� We have created the STOP Division, a strategic team of officers who are deployed quickly to hot spots across the City as needed.� For example, when there was a rash of robberies in Uptown the STOP Division was deployed and helped make key arrests. Since STOP was deployed we have seen a noticeable drop in serious crime in the geographic area they are working in each week, parts of town that span four different Police Precincts on both the north and south sides of Minneapolis. � We have needed to find new ways of doing business, but we also do need additional resources for public safety.� This is why we have put an additional $1 million annually into public safety from 2004 cost-savings, it is why we are in the process of hiring a recruit class of new officers, and it is why I am insisting that there will be no reductions to the police force in 2006." Therefore, if the Police Federation wants to cast blame on someone for officer reductions, it would seem that they should go look at their own contract negotiators who apparently haven't taken seriously the city's budget woes in light of LGA cuts, inherited debt, reductions in property taxes for commercial properties, etc. Other unions that represent city employees worked in partnership with the city, in light of the financial challenges inherited by Rybak and our current Council, to keep a lid on rising salaries and benefits, which in turn, makes it easier to maintain staffing levels. Question: Didn't the Police Federation also endorse Pawlenty for governor in 2002? If so, that really worked out well for them, didn't it? > Peter, unlike R.T., has a track record of following through on his > political objectives (Exhibit A: light-rail). > > No candidate is perfect, but at least with Peter what you see is what > you get. I get a kick out of how McLaughlin and his supporters like to paint Rybak as someone who takes more credit for stuff than he deserves while also going out and doing the exact same thing. McLaughlin repeatedly boasts about how he brought us LRT. Now while he deserves a lot of credit for laying the groundwork for LRT, if there's any one person who deserves credit for actually getting the deal done and making it happen, that would be former Governor Jesse Ventura, who basically held the State Legislature hostage until they agreed to finally approve funding for constructing and operating the rail line. Apparently, McLaughlin's "great relationship" with the Legislature and experience in "getting things done" that we've heard so much about just wasn't enough if it took Ventura's strong-arm tactics to make LRT a reality. 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
