Is this some sort of parallel universe, or does this list accurately depict the state of this city's politics?
So far in the mayoral race, we have been treated to the most disappointing campaign for any city race in any city that I've lived in. Even in the small towns I lived in there were ISSUES. What are, exactly, the ISSUES for those competing for office? The differences between the two DFL candidates are so thin that listmembers are switching allegiances based on the number of t-shirts that candidates have for distribution at a single public event! The contemporary (not most important) issue that should be on the front burner (due to the impending - perhaps - legislative vote to authorize the Hennepin County levy) has been reduced to a "we want as much as we can get out of the inevitable" issue as the D candidates compete for who can be a bigger cheerleader for the wrong plan. Even a Green voted for the resolution passed 10-3 last week that while phrased in the negative for CYA reasons really fails to register true opposition to the stadium plan. For all the talk about public safety coming from the McLaughlin camp, I have yet to hear a single specific proposal for how policing would change under his leadership. And while I understand the argument about policing put forth by Hakeem, it doesn't address the very real situation of gun violence that disproportionately affects some Northside neighborhoods. For all the talk about "affordable housing" neither Rybak or McLaughlin have justified the current model of non-market approaches to subsidizing housing as being an effective solution to housing affordability - while we have high vacancy rates for the market rentals. For all of the (important) talk about education: what exactly do the mayoral candidates plan to do to help the School Board and schools? When McLaughlin criticizes Rybak for being a "cheerleader," I just want to know exactly what substantive actions he will (can?) take to improve educational outcomes in the MPS. And lastly - what really gets me going is the insider party activist banter that demonstrates what the real problem is here. If the sum total of Minneapolis politics is contained in your ability to woo 300-400 activists at the endorsing convention, and/or get 10-12 union and interest group endorsements then we have truly become an oligarchy in function if not in name. Before you get all "democracy" on me - let's be clear. 90+% (and I would love to get the actual number on this) of endorsed DFL candidates win. AND - democracies function badly when become exclusively personality driven. It leads to ridiculous outcomes like "no shirt, no parade contingent, no vote." And while I don't believe that rationale drives most activists, it seems to me like the distillation of our current model of politics in Minneapolis rather than an aberration. Best, aaron klemz cooper +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Aaron Klemz, Minneapolis, Minnesota [EMAIL PROTECTED] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com 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
