Mr. Abbott makes some good points. My problem with Peter McLaughlin is that it doesn't seem that he has learned from the SSB mistakes and wants to back to the bad old days of spending more than we have and worry about the impact on the budget later.
Dean E. Carlson East Harriet, Ward 10 ----- Original Message ----- From: Greg Abbott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Saturday, October 22, 2005 12:29 pm Subject: [Mpls] R.T. beats a dead horse, and takes credit for the inevitable. > 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 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > 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.htmlFor 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 > 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
