Tony Scallon writes: > We also should drop the innuendo about campaign donations. This only divides the > community.
I'm sympathetic to the concerns about reckless innuendo, but I don't think that's the case in this particular example. A developer gave 10 grand to an effort that was largely concentrated on a couple of key races, and when that developer's project came up for a vote on the Planning Commission, one key beneficiary of the donation was the only one to vote for it. That's more than just an inconvenient array of facts. As a community, we need to be sensitive to reckless division, but at the same time we should not sweep suspicious incidents such as this one under the rug. I think Carol should have recused herself (and please don't use the "independent" PAC expenditure as a rationale - it may not have been legally coordinated, but it was clearly intended to influence her race, and the contribution was public before the vote, I believe). This isn't about reform-versus-incumbents. I did not personally approve of the park reform effort taking 10 grand from Billy Weisman, but Weisman's project happened in the past - there was no "live" project up for a vote. If and when Weisman was to introduce a similar project, and a key beneficiary of his largesse was to vote for it, I'd have exactly the same objection. Let's elevate our standards enough to acknowledge the problem with this, and seek ways to solve it. Voluntary recusal would be a great start. David Brauer Kingfield 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:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
