A few responses to Carrie Anne Johnson's thoughts on
Councilmember Schiff:
STADIUM
Johnson writes: I did NOT say he [Schiff] was
pro-stadium; my EXACT words were that Gary has
essentially been silent where it counts which
continues to be true.
DBR responds: What I want from public officials are
not posturing, but getting things done. Schiff was a
leader in the 1997 Minneapolis Stadium Charter
Amendment that limits public funding for
any new professional sports stadium. Something with
real results. I believe he is against the current
proposal, which is stalled anyways and hasn't been
brought to the Council.
LRT
Johnson writes: This surprised me because most people
I know and have spoken with were and are quite upset
about the LRT. I believe I said I wasnt familiar with
his exact actions in getting public input, but that
many people were upset about the process. I personally
know someone who lives next to a stop. I remember as
the LRT was going in, her husband went to all the
meetings and I personally heard him come back from
them and express serious frustrations over the lack of
response to public concerns. I dont see how Mr.
Schiff could have been doing that great a job, with
such feelings that I see and hear regularly.
DBR responds: I remember such meetings, and they were
frustrating--because of the Met Council & Dept. of
Transit. It was Schiff who dragged agency
representatives to the community and got things done.
Without Schiff, there would've been no process and the
horns would be much louder.
PARKING
Johnson writes: Gina, I think you should walk outside
and talk to your neighbors down the street on this
one, because most of them brought this up to me (I
personally wasnt familiar with the problem). Parking
is VERY much a concern. I found out the residents have
to pay $35 for a permit to park in front of their own
houses. Ridiculous. I also noted as I walked past that
I saw a number of parking tickets. I bet some were
residents cars and that MUST be frustrating.
DBR responds: Parking is a major issue in my
neighborhood and Schiff has been a ally. Remember, a
certain developer put a $1,000,000 "bounty" on Schiff
because of his focus on eliciting community input on
parking, development, and liquor license issues
instead of rolling over for new businesses. As a
sidebar, if you park illegally and get a ticket, you
only have yourself to blame. I think most residents
would appreciate strong enforcement of parking
restrictions to keep non-residents from taking their
parking places!
Also, $35 a year for a parking space in a zone that
keeps out non-residents seems like a nice deal to me.
Many cities in the country have much higher permit
rates.
GLBT ISSUES
Johnson writes: [She said to Gina:] Personally Im
bisexual, and I think that Dave will be as good as
Gary if not better on gay issues
DBR writes: I don't see how a volunteer's or
candidate's sexuality has anything to do with anything
here. Essentially what I'm hearing is that as a gay
person, one can singularly identify the authoritive
most "pro-gay" candidate. Aren't we beyond that?
POLICING
Johnson writes: A point Gina did not address in this
post that I brought up was police brutality. At this
point in time, Mr. Schiff (and his printed literature)
says that he supports putting more police on the
streets...
Yes, theres crime and it needs to be addressed, but
there has to be trust between the community and the
police first. I personally have witnessed police
brutality on more than one occasion. I have heard
scores of stories. The police need serious training,
and this is one area which our City Council person has
direct authority over. I pointed out that despite
this being a major issue to the neighborhoods
that Gary Schiff represents, that Dave took the time
to come to the National Day of Protest against Police
Brutality and to speak out against it, and that Schiff
did not attend. I also mentioned that I
dont think hes doing the right thing by supporting
more police on the streets and not addressing the
issues.
DBR: I have also witnessed police brutality and would
not consider myself a friend of the Mpls Police Dept.
But to say that we don't need more police with the
current crime problems in this neighborhood is absurd
to say the least. Yes, we do need better training,
diversity, and accountability in the police force.
The lack of accountability on abusive officers is
disappointing. But giving criminals free reign by
cutting, not increasing, the police force is a bad,
bad, bad idea. Even Dean Zimmerman, who has
consistently spoken out on police brutality issues has
supported more cops on the streets because he
recognizes that most constituents would rather have a
police officer on their street corner than a violent
criminal. Is Johnson suggesting that Dave Bicking is
against putting police on the street?
And again, let's have public officials who are
spending their time working for us, and not tear them
down because they didn't go to a rally we went to.
This is Minneapolis, there are rallies (for worthy
causes) nearly every day.
IRAQ WAR
Johnson writes: Gary Schiff is currently in a position
of authority and representation. Right now, especially
if he is against the war, it is his responsibility and
duty to speak out and be heard. This doesnt
necessarily have to happen at City Council meetings,
but if his constituents have requested it, it
certainly should be. He doesnt have to go to ALL the
peace rallies but it certainly would be nice to see
him at one or two, given what a large issue this is.
Ive seen Dean
Zimmerman at ALL the peace rallies and he seems to fit
it into a City Council persons schedule quite neatly.
DBR responds: First, love or hate Zimmerman, the fact
that he makes rallies in his City Council schedule
isn't a strong argument. It's no secret that
Zimmerman isn't the most effective councilmember. As
someone who has been to Iraq (pre-war) and has been
very upset by the daily news from Iraq (I had been at
the hotel that was bombed today in Baghdad), I don't
have any expectation that my city council member drop
everything and protest the war. That's not why I
elected him. And who really gives a crud whether a
Minneapolis DFL council member opposes the war in
Iraq?
For our decisions on the ballot, I believe the focus
should be on who is going to accomplish goals to make
the city a better place. Schiff has a strong record.
In my book that counts a whole lot more than his
attendence at rallies. Thanks to his leadership, we
have the smoke ban (#1 reason to support him as far as
I'm concerned), an anti-idling law, a renegade
shopping cart removal program, smart development along
Lake Street, expanding Midtown Greenway--just to name
a few.
I know very little about Dave Bicking, and the recent
flurry of emails have only really told be that he's a
Green candidate against the war. But what is his
agenda for City Hall, and how is it better than
Schiff's?
Derek Burrows Reise
Longfellow, Mpls
(Dislosure: Not affiliated with the Schiff campaign,
though I once had a Schiff lawnsign)
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