>I am simply unable to understand what would motivate an incumbent to >abandon his seat to challenge the only other minority member on the >council.<
Don didn't 'abandon' his seat. The ward boundaries were changed. Should he not have run at all the first time? We would still only have one African American Council person at the end of this election. I know we lilve in a throw away world, but the Samuels have a lovely home and close ties in the neighborhood, just like the rest of us. For them to sell their house and move to an entirely new area would not only be disruptive to their two small children, but would give his political oponents even more fodder to throw at him. You are blaming the wrong people. Neither Natalie or Don wanted the new boundaries, let alone anyone in North Mpls. The critisiam should be thrown at the people who drew the lines. The redistricting affected the Fifth Ward in more important ways than the fact that we have two African Americans running against each other for the same job. The redistricting took away the most valuble property in the Fifth Ward and gave it to a ward that was already one of, if not the richest wards in the city. Money is power, so the rich got richer and more powerful and the poor got poorer and less powerful. If people in the Fifth Ward want to be angry about anything it should be that the land on which the new stadium is to be built on, along with a whole lot of other expenisve development ( non-affordable housing by most people's standards) is no longer in the Fifth Ward. Don't worry, though, the city is right behind us when it comes to building 'affordable housing' in our ward. I'm with you on the debates, however. We need serious debates between these two candidates. They need to show REAL plans, not campaign promises and pie -in-the-sky, for bringing meaningful, job producing development into our community. They also need to show what they have both accomplished, emphasis accomplished, since they have been on the council and how they are going to get better city services into our community. If you drive down our alleys today you see more crap in them now than ever before. These are issues that need to be worked on. When peoplpe live in an area that is run down they see no reason to treat it with respect. If you don't respect your home, you don't have any self-respect. If you have no self-respect, you become a failure and ofter, a bully. THEN you become a police problem. There is a lot that can be done before we have that last step and our councilmember needs to be with us on this and a fighter for this. Let's stick to the issues and get the best qualified council person for our ward. Anne McCandless Jordan 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
