----- Original Message -----
From: "David Brauer"
Jim Graham writes:
The Mayor has a difficult time with this situation. The only veto of
Mayor
RT Rybak in four years in office was in favor of the criminal Basim
Sabri.
Fortunately enough Council People had good sense that they overcame
Rybak's
illegal veto. ... What politician in his right mind would support a
project that resulted in Basim Sabri getting not only a city block, but
even
the City street for only $125,000. Perhaps this is part of the reason
for
the FBI investigation. Where will the next FBI investigation be?
I think this is really unfair speculation.
We know FBI agents raided Zimmermann's home. As of now, we don't know
why -
as his campaign manager notes, the affidavit is sealed. The Sabri
connection
here is a guess, and to then leap to the suggestion that a third party
(Rybak) is criminally involved is simply a smear."
Unfortunately some read into my post something that was not there. I did
not say that RT Rybak had done anything illegal or criminal. Did not even
speculate that he had. What I reported was "Speculation" on the Mayor's
race, and I reported it accurately. Of those fourteen calls, all but two
had that very speculation about the impact of this news-coverage on the
Council and Mayor's race. And yes Mr. Brauer, it is very fair speculation.
The record speaks for itself. A nobody that few people even knew, with the
help of neighborhood activists and voter dissatisfaction fueled by news
coverage of corruption at City Hall, became Mayor of Minneapolis. That Mr.
Brauer is not just idle speculation that is fact. It is very legitimate to
speculate that the same might occur again.
What I questioned was judgment! The judgment of a Mayor to have so little
concern that he would back a criminal who was known to bribe Minneapolis
public officials for the very purpose for which the Mayor was interceding on
his behalf. To have spent the ONLY veto of his entire career in office for
such a purpose is indeed darn poor judgment, and is indicative of other
examples of poor policy judgment on the Mayor's part. Getting in bed with
known organized criminal bribers is NEVER sound public policy or judgment.
This is not something RT did in isolation, even if he was unaware of the
implications of such poor judgment his staff certainly had to know.
My writing on "List" about this is NOT new. I have written many posts
saying the same thing. Possibly some who support Rybak object to my pointing
this out during last night's tragic news coverage. If I had suddenly done
so, possibly they would be correct, but I started notifying the "List" of
this problem from the time it began. I even publicly asked the Mayor on
List to rethink the terrible mistake his staff was allowing him to make. I
know for a fact that the Mayor does read the "List". His judgment was to
ignore that advice. It was very poor judgment.
When the other Council Members were presented with the facts of the Elroy
Block development, they used good judgment to reverse themselves and
over-ride the veto. That is the difference between sound judgment and poor
judgment. I believe Don Samuels and Scott Benson were two who exercised that
good judgment. It is why I respect them. People do make mistakes and when
presented with more information use good judgment to change their minds. I
respect that. I once whole-heartedly supported RT Rybak to be Mayor of
Minneapolis. Even defended RT against his critics. When presented with more
accurate information I used sound judgment and changed my mind.
As a footnote on this sad issue, could the Rybak supporters please not send
personally insulting e-mails to me off list? They bother me. Heated
discussion is welcomed, but simply throwing insults is not. Please use
Jonathan Palmer as an example. While heatedly disagreeing with each other
and debating issues there is a level of respect that continues afterwards in
personal communication. He is able to continue working towards shared goals
without allowing disagreements to become personal. And I respect that
characteristic in Jonathan. (Even though I might still disagree with him)
Jim Graham,
Ventura Village
"Do not so firmly follow a belief that it blinds you to justice."
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