------------------------------------------------- To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------- I�m very concerned that some sort of stampede to is under way coronate Corky Finney as the next mayor of St. Paul. Few St. Paulites like Corky more than I, but I have serious reservations about this discussion.
First of all, it is far too soon to be presuming that other candidates at least as qualified to govern a city - perhaps more so - are not to be found. There are several dozen others in St. Paul who have a wider and deeper experience in local government than Corky, whose entire public service career has been as a police officer. And, although, as chief, he�s had to deal with budgets and management issues as a mayor surely must, the broader exposure to issues of local governance are not part of his r�sum�. These are things that do not disqualify Corky from consideration, but these are a few of the issues we must ask about. Frankly, I worry out loud about the number of police officers in local government. AT the moment, we have two former police officers out of the seven city council members, and I am severely ill at ease over the dominance of people whose professions have generally been limited to law enforcement setting policy for a huge range of issues confronting this city and its place in the region and the state. This is not a matter of who, but what. The Mayor�s deputy is a former cop and former head of the statewide police officer�s federation. For all his attractiveness as a person (and I�ve never yet heard a woman not semi-swoon over the tall, charismatic chief), Corky remains a police officer whose advocacy in government has, by virtue of that job, kept that advocacy narrow. Men and women with a deep understanding of the myriad matters of comprehensive planning, zoning, economic development, public works - water and sewer and street infrastructure, health department, libraries, open spaces and recreation, not to mention City Charter mandates and the city�s relationship with the Met Council and state government should not be discouraged from coming forward as potential replacements for Kelly � and he does need replacing. Let�s cool our heels on the mayor�s race for the moment rather than rush to assume the only challenger to Kelly should be Corky Finney. Andy Driscoll Crocus Hill/Ward 2 ------ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
