I've been a community activist for almost my entire adult life and I've never as astonished as I was this morning to read in the Star Tribune that Park Commissioner Dziedzic thinks that twenty years from now the current leadership of the Park Board "will be viewed as visionary" in re the building of the new headquarters and the hiring of John Gurban. I don't really have an opinion about the new park headquarters but I certainly have an opinion about the Park superintendent's behavior regarding free speech in the parks.
Minneapolis parks are private property? What's really going on here? The vision I see is one of whittling away at park services - outsourcing, privatizing, creating private profit at park users' expense; positing "shared-use agreements" that would remove park land from unfettered public use to the benefit of private entities; blatant cronyism in the very hiring of this superintendent; determined efforts to insulate the Park Board from interactions with the public during public proceedings ... The "vision" I see is profoundly anti-democratic, authoritarian, and an egregious attempt to turn one of our most treasured civic assets - our park system - into something private, all right, according to the saying "what's yours is mine"! When The Star Tribune's reporter Rochelle Olson refers to the reformers as "outside groups", I am reminded of then City Council member Dziedzic's annoyed description of us urban renewal activists as "professional citizens" way back in the 1970s when sweetheart contracts were a tacky reality in the city's redevelopment process. Be happy that we stick our collective necks out, folks. Using the park police to stifle political expression is so third-world. Is this the vision we want in our history books? Fred Markus, Ward 6, Phillips West 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
