I received an e-mail from a reader whom I respect saying that Roger
Bargouthi could have had his face filleted like a walleye by the druggy, no
matter who was Mayor, and that McLaughlin needs to run on more than just the
crime issue. Though I do not run the McLaughlin campaign I totally agree.
I did not say this would not have happened if Peter McLaughlin were Mayor.
What I was making fun of was the "Risky Behavior" line of RT's. I was also
using it as an example of how just living in Minneapolis is more "Risky" if
you do not have adequate numbers of police officers. We might be able to do
better policing than we do with the number of police officers we have also.
Unfortunately we just are not doing that either.
I am afraid some people might have the wrong idea when I am critical of RT
and the crime issue. Some might think I do it to support Peter McLaughlin,
but come on folks. I would be doing the same if Peter McLaughlin was not
even running for office. The problem is not one that McLaughlin has anything
to do with, the problem is that RT's staff has not placed ANY priority on
the loss of police officers. That is until now, when it becomes a campaign
issue that threatens his campaign and there jobs. Don't you wish that bunch
would have worked a little harder on doing a good job instead of just
keeping their job? They do a great job of running a campaign, but they suck
at running the City.
It is a ridiculous situation, but the only time we seem to get attention
from politicians on the important issues is during election year. It
certainly makes a good case for going back to two year terms for both the
Council and the Mayor. Minneapolis really needs to go back to that, and
needs a referendum on it no matter who is Mayor or Councilpersons.
I can assure Issue readers that I would much rather be talking about
affordable homeownership, community based urban planning, new technology in
building for greener more efficient houses to guarantee sustainable
affordability. Those are the issues I am concerned with. But if your front
porch is on fire it is a little hard to plan the new gazebo in the back yard
until that fire is put out. I believe I have about a fifteen year history of
addressing crime issues for inner-city neighborhoods. I was part of the
organizing for the anti-drug marches from the Sabbathani in the Central
neighborhood, led a Phillips group to help when the Northside marched to
shut down the store &deli selling crack, part of innumerable such things in
Phillips. It is not new thing because Peter McLaughlin is running for
office. I am quite willing to beat up on ANY Mayor not doing his job on
crime, even a friend. I believe I even promised RT Rybak I would be doing
just that while I was helping him get elected four years ago. RT Rybak even
asked me to hold his feet to the fire if he was not doing a good job.
I would be happy to get back to beating up on RT about CPED and how much
more difficult it is to do affordable housing because of the extra layers of
bureaucracy RT's appointees have added while mucking MCDA up. I would be
happy to be prodding and giving advice on how to make that mess more
efficient and user friendly. I was a big time critique of MCDA, but man
CPED has made MCDA look good. It is MCDA problems squared. The problem
with MCDA was that it was mismanaged by politicians using it as a private
slush fund. So to fix it they made it TOTALLY controlled by the problem,
the politicians? I would be happy to talk about "one stop shopping" and the
joke it has become. But then someone might really think I was partisan,
because I think that same staff has really screwed that situation up. It is
not a matter of RT, I think RT is well intentioned and a great guy. It is a
matter of RT's inability to appoint people who can actually do the work
Minneapolis needs. RT does a great job of being the PR face for the Mayors
office. RT just did a terrible job of appointing the people who could
actually get the job done for the City.
Well off my morning rant about RT's appointed "Leadership". Just remember
RT, it is never to late to become what you could have been......
------------------------------------
But does anyone have an explanation for the yellow water coming out of the
tap of the houses on my block yesterday? My teeth still feel gritty and I am
going to use bottled water to brush them this morning. I can live with ring
around the body, but water the color of urine is not at all appetizing to
run over the old sonicare brush before putting it in your mouth.
Jim Graham,
still engaging in risky behavior in Ventura Village
"Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present"
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