I have to agree with Mr. Lohman. Peter McLaughlin has a lot of unobjectionable sound bite ideas with no details backing them up. To wit: McLaughlin says he will hire 150 new cops. Sounds good. What taxes will be raised to pay for the cops, what current programs will be cut, what other cost savings will the Mayor find to hire these cops? We deserve to know these answers before we vote.
McLaughlin wants better schools. Fantastic. The Mayor's office doesn't control the School Board's budget and doesn't even sit on it's policy making board, much less control it. So how does he intended to better the schools? Take over the School District, levy an additional property tax dedicated to the schools, buy every student a lap top? Again details Mr. McLaughlin. The list goes on and on. Now mostly such lack of detail would generally be considered "par for the course" for someone seeking office. Unfortunately we had a mayor and a City government that also didn't care for the details and pushed difficult decisions to the future, even though the impact of their policies were right out in the open for all to see. RT Rybak confronted those ignored issues head on. You may disagree with they way they were addressed but at least he did something about them. Let's not go back to the bad old days of governing with our head in the sand. Dean E. Carlson East Harriet, Ward 10 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Lohman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 2:33 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Dueling mayoral op-eds in the Strib > I am a bit confused by some of the McLaughlin supporters. > > Nikki Carlson wrote: > >Four years ago, I wholeheartedly supported Rybak as a breath of fresh air, > >and I believe I did the right thing for the time. > > [Lohman] > An explanation as to why you supported Rybak "wholeheartedly" and > "did the right thing" but now don't support him would be > helpful. Has he not done a great job? > > Nikki Carlson wrote: > >Today I wholeheartedly support Peter McLaughlin as these tough times > >call for someone with experience, focus and follow-through. > > And please tell me how these are tough times compared to when Rybak > took over 4 years ago. Rybak was handed a mess when he came to > office and in addition the State cut our LGA by $37M. In addition > the economy was very slow if not in recession most of the time. In > spite of all of that Rybak has presided over 4 balanced budgets and > kept property tax increases as low as possible. I think that shows > experience, focus and follow-through. McLaughlin has said he would > have spent more on cops and more on neighborhoods, but please, when > is he (or anyone) going to tell us how he was ever going to pay for it. > > I support Rybak because I think he has a great job during the last 4 > years - years that I would describe as tougher times than what we > have now or what appears to be ahead. I am more confident today of > the direction of this city than I was 4 years ago and more confident > that good groundwork has been laid for fiscal responsibility going > forward as well. > > Nikki Carlson wrote: > >Some call him old guard, I think of him as having a proven record. > > McLaughlin does have a proven record, and it's not a bad one. I > don't think too many people argue with that. But most of his support > is coming from constituents who have had their personal ox's gored > during the necessary belt tightening of the last 4 years, or they are > his long time DFL friends - the old guard. > > So, someone explain it to me. How does Rybak go from "breath of > fresh air" with whole-hearted support to being the bad guy? How does > 4 years of successful leadership bring about a change of mind that > chucks him out the door? He more than deserves to be re-elected for > his tireless work for this city and for the leadership he has shown > for the past 4 years. > > Paul Lohman > Lynnhurst 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
