On Tuesday a poster asked what McLaughlin has done as a county
commissioner about the sheriff's loss of personnel. That's the wrong
question, I think, because it focuses the scope and latitude of a county
commissioner post on too narrow a spot..
More than 10 years ago, we in his district requested that McLaughlin
contribute leadership and county funds to both our economic and crime
and safety efforts. He delivered. The Lake St. Repaving Project and the
35W Access Project were both requests for his leadership on huge
efforts. I was in the room when the request was made. We did this
because we have 11.6 acres of dead land in the middle of our lives
(Sears) and that deteriorated infrastructure has nurtured criminal
behavior beyond our capacity to cope. That dead land had to be put to
use. He also brought in LRT and bought out the Soo Line tracks as a
transportation corridor (the Greenway), preserving it as a
transportation corridor. We can get to jobs at the Mall of America and
the airport without a car and get home both day and night with that
train. This was truly a grass roots effort which would not have worked
without someone with his particular skills in a commissioner seat.
The basic reason for all of our efforts was to return to the good old
days when these Minneapolis neighborhoods were safe to walk, safe to
play, safe to work, had jobs and contributed more to the tax base than
it took out of the tax base. All of our efforts for the last 15 years
have been on economic viability and safety.
His job as commissioner is to bring home the bacon to his district for
our legitimate public uses. The job of mayor is the same. It would take
the mayor we now have another 20 years before he has the skills to do
anything similar.
Given conditions in the city at this time, McLaughlin's skills are the
ones we desperately need in the mayor's office.
WizardMarks, Central
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
