I went to the fifth ward convention uncommitted, and I chose to support Ortega after listening to both men speak.
The reasons I chose Ortega:
I spoke with Ortega twice on the phone and he seems to understand one of my important issues,
which is the importance of encouraging and supporting small family and privately owned business.
The DFL party should be a natural ally of small business, but too often speaks about business
interests in a negative way. People have as much right to aspire to own a business as they do to aspire to simply have a job, but the DFL misses this.
I liked Ortega going in, because he has been successful in life by building on his own achievements,
not by family connections. He has experience building and running a large private social services organization , and he was a good speaker at the meeting.
In the last mayoral election, I voted for Kelly. I was wrong, and I admit it. I could
give you a long list of reasons why I supported Kelly, and why he has disappointed me.
One of the audience members asked both candidates to explain who they had endorsed
and supported at the last election. I think, although I am not sure, that Coleman endorsed and
supported Kelly. He could have used this opportunity to own up to his mistake, and to
explain why today he wants to run against the person he endorsed a few years ago. Instead,
he sidestepped the question completely, and used his time to explain how he would bring more
diversity into the DFL.
There was some joking that the new mayor should be careful about drinking the water in the
mayors office, since the last two mayors have abandoned DFL principles. I liked Ortegas confident
answer to this question, he is not afraid of the water, because, he said "I will be a Democrat until I die"
Another reason I do not support Coleman is that he endorsed Kris Reiter for city council after her father died.
I understand personal loyalty and the need to support family after a death, but elected office in our
country is not an Inherited Right. Cris Coleman showed a willingness to try to use the political influence
granted to him by the voters of our city in order to advance the career of a family friend who lives in Roseville. I told him I thought that was a betrayal of the voters. We had a good candidate in Lee Helgen, who actually lived here, and I don't understand why Coleman felt it necessary to lend his hand to defeat Helgen. (Why Helgen endorses Coleman is still a mystery to me)
So, this is why I, an Ex-Kelly voter, am now supporting Ortega, a man who was right when I was wrong!
At 05:10 PM 3/23/2005, John Sherman wrote:
Bob TreumannTo complete the string her are my unofficial numbers for Ward 5 DFL convention
Ortega - 29 Coleman - 15 various uncommitted - 15
Como Area
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