The Festival is now in its fourth year. It is an event that I originated, with a lot of help from the community, as a response to the low level of political involvement (as evidenced by the low voter turnout) in this part of the ward.
While campaigning in 2001 I committed to working to educate people about the importance of political involvement. Using my office to organize this festival is one way I've tried to deliver on this commitment. Others are; participating in political caucus trainings (both partisan and non), visiting schools (both in the ward and citywide) to discuss government and politics with students, and participating in voter registration and GOTV efforts in low voter areas. My credo is, "those who participate in their government find their needs best met." There is a focus on youth involvement and attendance at the Festival. The strategy here is to expose young people to political discourse and to build an expectation in these youth that politicians will pay attention to them and their communities. Pam Taylor writes: If your office is already paying for this event, why charge anyone an additional fee? RL: My office budget (which is no great shakes) contributes to the costs of the event, but as I explained in an earlier post to this list it does not cover the entire budget. We seek sponsorships from a number of sources. We have corporate sponsors like Allina and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Individuals contribute, too. Many festivals and events seek contributions and sponsors to cover costs (like MayDay and GLBT Pride). Also, many charge campaigns for space in parades and/or parks (like MayDay and GLBT Pride). Different levels of sponsorship bring different levels of benefit. I will ask my Assistant, Tiffany Green (now in her third year of doing an excellent job coordinating this event) to post to this list the schedule of sponsorships. PT: This being an election year, I want the budget for this event to be disclosed. RL: No sweat. I will ask Ms. Green to post the budget to this list. Three of the four years of the festival have been election years. PT: This leads me to ASSUME that candidates who do not pay are not allowed to speak at this forum RL: As in years past, any candidate for any office from any party that attends is given mic time. PT: Now with the bruhaha about campaigning in the parks...Do you have the right PERMITS FOR THAT? RL: Park staff have been involved in planning since the beginning. I expect them to inform us if we are out of compliance. This year does seem to have a new dynamic regarding campaigning in Minneapolis parks. As Fred Markus posted on this list recently re. this weekend's Pride festival: "Loring Park will have score of people wearing buttons, t-shirts, funny hats, and the like,waving flags and offering campaign literature and persuasive campaign dialogues to the masses...Does this escalate into a matter of Kevlar vests, pepper spray, water cannon, rubber bullets, festive plexiglass shields on the horses of the mounted patrol?" Let's hope not. PT: Mr Lilligren, please CLARIFY RL: I hope I have. The Festival will be Saturday, July 30 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Green Central Park at 34th St. and 4th Ave. PT: See you at the gathering! RL: I couldn't have said it better myself! Yours, Robert Lilligren Council Member Ward 8 Candidate 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
