1. Sharon Sayles Belton is not on the ballot this year. Peter
McLaughlin is, a candidate with a long history of effective and
responsible government service behind him.
2. Everyone compliments R.T. on cleaning up the budget mess. The
truth is the situation was so bad he had no choice. It is my opinion
that had Sayles Belton been re-elected, she would have been forced to
do many of the same things. I think because of R.T.'s presence there
is a longer-term focus and a cleaner process than there might have
been otherwise, but 95 percent of the policy decisions would have
been the same, IMHO.
3. Sayles Belton gets a lot of criticism for letting the situation
get so bad. Much of that is deserved, particularly with respect to
borrowing from the Internal Services account. However, it was the
governor and legislature that initiated the "perfect storm" of
reductions in LGA funds and severe reductions in the ability to use
TIF revenues for other purposes. It is unfair to blame Sayles Belton
for not anticipating the effects of Jesse Ventura's big tax reform
plan, in combination with Tim Pawlenty's LGA cuts.
4. How much of the credit for budget reform should go to R.T., as
opposed to say Barb Johnson and Barrett Lane? R.T. takes all the
credit, but from what I can see R.T. has been the passive vessel
through which decisions made by staff and the Council have been
carried out.
Greg Abbott
Linden Hills
On Oct 22, 2005, at 11:19 AM, Dorie Rae Gallagher wrote:
Whomever that person is in the state making the comment should
realize the mess
RT took on the first day of office. The debt left by the beloved
SSB. The Southwest
Journal has some good articles with the facts and figures listed.
Had we not elected
RT and had gotten SSB back in office, I can't imagine the financial
nightmare the city
would be in. Thank goodness the people of Minneapolis voted her and
part of the
council out...with others going to jail. Time to clean up
Minneapolis politics...
Greg Abbott
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