Dorie Rae Gallagher wrote:
No one really won since they all spoke with knowledge and heart with
some being better in oratories than others.
And in a somewhat related thread, Dean Carlson responded to a Minneapolis
Observer article which claimed that "No one, however, seemed to have an
answer to the systems ongoing budget crisis, beyond sending a more
city-friendly governor to St. Paul in 2007" when he wrote:
This is the most important issue facing the library system
and 13 potential libary candidates didn't seem to have any answer?!?
I'm sorry but a more city-friendly governor is NOT going to magically
fix the library funding crisis.
My response:
All my fellow candidates truly have heart-felt passions for the reasons they
are running. Some are running because their employment with the library
system has been threatened or terminated due to the draconian budget cuts
the Minneapolis Public Library has been forced to undertake. Others believe
they have ideas that will help our libraries. I am proud to be in such good
company and look forward to working with whomever is elected should voters
decide to award me the same opportunity.
However, I hope those who attend or read about the forums (not debates) will
be careful about using labels such as "winners" and "losers". In my humble
opinion, all these candidates, by the very nature of putting their neck on
line and facing the incredible personal costs in terms of time and finances,
are "winners" because they are voters with a wealth of choices. As a
result, Minneapolis will be the ultimate winner.
Let us also remember that given the number of candidates and the
time-limitations placed on candidates to answer complex questions is most
often 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Further, due to the structure necessary to
conduct these forums, not all candidates are afforded the opportunity to
answer the same questions that some other candidates are asked. All this
adds up to, at times, an inability to adequately provide specific or
detailed answers to complex questions. Candidates are often forced into
sound bites when what we truly want is to lay out our ideas and plans before
a buzzer sounds or voters' eyes glaze over. This is why it is so important
for voters to take the time to speak to candidates before and after forums,
when the come to your front door, and even when they are standing in line at
the grocery store.
Lastly, to my friend, Park Board candidate Scott Vreeland's comments about
never seeing a library board candidate with a book (good-naturedly inferring
that we may not be readers of literature), I ask that he and others visit my
website <alanhooker.com> and click on "Alan's Faves & Raves". There is a
list of not only books I have read and treasured, but my favorite music and
film and artists whose works can be found in Minneapolis libraries. I'm
sure Scott knows that libraries are much more than just books. Just as
parks are more than only trees and grass.
Alan Hooker
Victory Neighborhood
Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board
DFL / Labor Endorsed
www.alanhooker.com
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