As a former city party chair, I couldn't agree with Bob Spaulding. In
fact, I would like to thank Bob for his very reasoned and thoughtful
posts about party politics in recent weeks.
As a council aide, I would like to add that perhaps Chris Coleman's
greatest strength as a councilmember was his selection of Nancy Homans
as his aide for his final years on the council. Highly skilled,
professional and extremely knowledgeable, Nancy became the entire city
council's access point on GSE, providing accurate information on the
legal battles, and great responsiveness to the community.
Whoever wins the DFL endorsement must be a person who knows how to
select talented people who can become effective leaders in their own
right in a new administration.
Jane Prince
>>> Bob Spaulding <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 04/08/05 1:40 PM >>>
Now that the debate has subsided a bit, let me step back and make an
observation.
I'm sure Randy Kelly would very much appreciate the DFL sending him a
bruised and bloodied candidate, whoever that is. Randy surely doesn't
mind doing his part to provoke the fight, and watching the punches fly.
We're heading that way, and we really ought to save that energy up for
the general election, not each other.
Instead, I want to get out of the DFL endorsement with a very healthy
candidate. If the DFL endorsement means anything to you beyond a
simple "my way or the highway" approach, I would *strongly* suggest we
make sure we are sharing information, not simple barbs...please, no
body-slamming among friends...
I think the main points on GSE have been covered. West 7th District
Council President Diane Gerth and Councilmember Dave Thune think GSE
was handled well by Coleman. Resident Arno Karner, Ortega Campaign
Manager Dennis Hill, and Green/environmental activist Andy Driscoll
don't think GSE was handled well.
Quite honestly, I just want a couple informational perspectives on the
major issues surrounding both candidates, and not all out war. The
more I hear unproductive harping on GSE, the more I think a sense of
fairness requires we have a parallel investigation of the Riverview
Corridor Busway ("Transit Thing"), Commissioner Ortega, a lack of
community input, and the proposed removal of businesses and trees.
But this whole line of discussion becomes pretty ugly pretty quickly.
While its easy to get sucked into our own issues, with all due respect
to my West 7th friends, there are other concerns in this race, some of
a flatly universal nature, several of which are more important to me.
Issues that help us look forward. A few examples:
- What are your top three issues *AND* what do you think the three most
important issues are to St. Paulites (think beyond yourself now), and
how do the candidates fare on those issues? (Please answer BOTH parts
fully.)
- What do people think are the biggest accomplishments both candidates
bring to the race?
- The candidates each bring unique skills - which will serve the City
better in its current state and why?
- What would each candidate's general election campaign look like?
- Who has a better chance head-to-head against Randy Kelly?
- Whose website is better? Whose campaign is more skilled at
developing the grassroots? Who will have more success fundraising?
Whose got better lit pieces? Who is a better communicator? Most
critically, which campaign has a better logo?
- OVERALL, who has a better chance of putting an end (for good) to the
City's rightward drift?
Those are a few of the questions I've been pondering quite seriously,
and any feedback would be quite helpful. These are the issues that
rise to the top for me.
Thanks,
Bob Spaulding
Ward 2, Precinct 8
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