[Mpls] Strib on supes: Peebles' job on line, Gurban's a reform focus

[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]

A less-than-super day for superintendents in the Monday Strib:

"Peebles' job may be on the line: Minneapolis superintendent to meet with
school board today," by Steve Brandt (top of page A1)
http://startribune.com/stories/1592/5453456.html

"Park Bard faces electoral change: Controversial decisions and three open
seats could lead to a philosophical shift in leadership," by Rochelle Olson
http://www.startribune.com/stories/362/5453314.html
Gurban comes up quite a bit, though nothing on the Stone flap.

Chris Steller
Nicollet Island-East Bank
 

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RE: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[Steven Clift]

Are there any park board members out there who will make sure citizens
and candidates have clear direction on the freedom to campaign in our
public parks?  I see that there is a meeting on June 15
.
Please pass a resolution or something this week. It makes sense that the
best place to engage interested citizens early in the campaign in an
election about the parks is at the parks or with libraries at library
building entrances, etc..

Also, if there is an argument about the content of Stone's literature
(which should not have a bearing on the use of police power), could
someone post the content so others can correct the record.  The forum
will be better at refuting claims then having them float person to
person offline without accountability.

Finally, if correct, I can't believe that the political use of park
police story has not made it into the local daily newspapers or radio.
Where are our defenders of freedom? Kudos to the Observer for their
coverage.

Steven Clift
Standish-Ericsson 

Steven Clift - http://publicus.net - Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Join DoWire: http://dowire.org


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Re: [Mpls] Strib on supes: Peebles' job on line,

[Dan McGuire]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


A less-than-super day for superintendents in the Monday Strib:

"Peebles' job may be on the line: Minneapolis superintendent to meet with
school board today," by Steve Brandt (top of page A1)
http://startribune.com/stories/1592/5453456.html

From Steve Brandt's story, "Feelings about Peebles often fall along 
racial lines."  Before we make this a racial thing, let's hear what 
Lydia Lee and Sharon Henry-Blythe have to say.  Of the teachers I've 
talked to about Peebles, I can't find any racial component in the 
opinion. Same goes for parents.  If anything, the black teachers and 
parents have disavowed a connection to her "style."


And for the record, I know plenty white folks who were very much against 
Jennings' ill-advised appointment.  I can show you copies of my letters 
to board members opposing Jennings, which I started writing as soon as 
Lori Sturdevant did her pre-appointment profile piece recommending him 
for the job.


Let's not manufacture a racial problem if one doesn't exist.

Dan McGuire
Ericsson
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Re: [Mpls] Rising Crime Rates

[Laura and lloyd]

The subject of rising crime in Minneapolis has become a part of the 
charges of failure in our city's mayoral race. Minnesota Public Radio 
had a recent guest on that discussed the temptation to pass quick 
judgment when city rates either rise or fall. It is too simplistic, he 
said, for cities to claim success on falling rates as it is to condemn 
city leadership for rising rates on the short term. The problem he said 
is like the stock market, we should not put our whole portfolio on the 
line for a single set of numbers that do not reveal future probability. 
Its a crap shoot. Neither, he said, should we jump to conclusions based 
on one or two years of crime figures. That is way too short a timeframe.


That made sense to me.

Best wishes,

Laura


On Monday, June 13, 2005, at 12:06  AM, Guy Gambill wrote:





 The decline in crime rates is not a localized
phenomenon, it is a nation-wide and not clearly
understood trend. In support of this lack of clarity,
one can reference the Minneapolis City Attorney's
5 year Business Plan: Therein, on page 5 under
"Significant Trends", paragraph 2, the following
passage may be found;

   "The number of criminal cases is declining. In
CY 2003 the Criminal Division handled 35,393 cases:
In contrast, the Office handled 43,961 cases in CY
2002; 44,970 cases in CY 2001; 51,808 cases in CY
1999 and 63,887 in CY 1998. It is unclear why this
caseload decline has occurred or whether it will
continue."

Similar commentary can be found in UCR data
reports throughout most (not all) metropolitan areas
of the US.




Laura Waterman Wittstock
Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees
DFL and Labor endorsed
Minneapolis, MN
612-387-4915
www.laurawatermanwittstock.com
http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/
Wittstock for Library Committee
913 19th Avenue SE, Mpls, 55414

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RE: [Mpls] Social responsibility

[Bill Cullen]

Jim offers an excellent start.  Lets get it more specific:

1. Anyone with three or more unlawful detainers.

BC: I currently won't accept anyone with one UD in the past two years.  Are
you proposing three or more UDs in the past 7 years?  A UD stays on a
tenants record for 7 years.

2. Follow that with any person or family who has a substantial history of 
criminal behavior, particularly several arrests for drug sales.

BC: "Substantial history?"  Lets make that specific:  How about any occupant
that has 2 or more misdemeanor convictions or a single felony conviction in
the past 3 years.  Or should it be 5 years?  7 years?

3. Anyone using a rental unit for direct criminal activity that could result

in charges of controlling a "Disorderly House" under Minnesota Statute. 
(This includes, but is not limited to, tippling house, prostitution, 
gambling, and most important of all Drug dealing.

BC: I am not sure how to check this.  Are occupant names recorded with a
disorderly house or does that stay with the house?  Sorry, I am not familiar
with this crime.

4. Why in God's name would anyone rent to someone with a history of trashing

apartments? You would have to be crazy.

BC: Because we are very vacant right now and we are trying to guess: will I
loose more money with high damage or a vacant home?

5.  Anyone with a history of gang affiliation unless proof of rehab and a 
long period of separation from such activities exists.

BC: Again, I don't know of a database that tells me who the gang bangers
are.  Does one exist?  The only way I know to do this is to check criminal
records.

6. Those with a history of criminal violence towards others.

BC: Again, criminal records.

7. Anyone with a history of sexual abuse of children.  Unless that person 
has willingly or unwillingly undergone physical castration, or "tanking" 
modification..

BC: We could extend it for certain crimes:  IE, refuse to rent if an
occupant has a single conviction for murder, assault or sexual perversion in
the past, say 7 years.

BC: I am surprised we did not discuss credit. I am beginning to conclude
that credit, more than criminal is the best gauge as to tenant behavior.  I
think this is because the FICA scores are weighted very heavily towards
recent behavior.  It downplays problems you had over 2 years ago.  At one of
my sites, I am experimenting with a credit score based criteria.  It goes
like this:  If you have a 600 FICA or better, you are accepted. If you have
a 500 to 599, you are accepted with a very high damage deposit.  If you have
less than a 500, you are rejected.  I *really like* the results so far.

Dennis Plante wrote:  As for the landlords.  They don't need a list of
social responsibilities.  They need to start aggressively censuring those
landlords that choose to operate in a substandard manner, and stop making
excuses for them..

BC: Ok.  I want to be socially responsible.  How should I censure
substandard landlords?  What is a substandard landlord?

Regards, Bill Cullen.
Whittier Landlord.


-- 
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Re: [Mpls] Strib on supes: Peebles' job on line, Gurban's a reform focus

[Laura and lloyd]

The news is a little late reaching Minneapolis, but the reform trend in 
leadership has been coming for well over a decade. Traceable to quality 
circles and the Silicon Valley company explosion, the old Mr. Dithers 
model has long given way to cooperative leadership, authentic 
leadership, and leaders as learners. Rising Silcon Vally companies 
quickly learned that the creative edge went to those who praised and 
rewarded over those that scolded and punished. Intel on the one hand 
versus Enron on the other.


Employees are very tuned in to these trends and are less and less 
willing to accept leadership from people who are not true to 
themselves. Their shortcomings become apparent very early on in their 
tenures and their lapses and transgressions slowly boil until there is 
resolution.


On the one hand, the new leadership style works and results in higher 
production, more creativity, and makes for a happier workforce. On the 
other hand, the old leadership style works only in the short term but 
it uses fear as a tactic, and that negative reinforcement has limited 
power to sustain change.


It will be a lesson learned for Minneapolis. Time to wake up and pay 
attention to authentic leadership style.


Best,

Laura


On Monday, June 13, 2005, at 04:11  AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


A less-than-super day for superintendents in the Monday Strib:

"Peebles' job may be on the line: Minneapolis superintendent to meet 
with

school board today," by Steve Brandt (top of page A1)
http://startribune.com/stories/1592/5453456.html

"Park Bard faces electoral change: Controversial decisions and three 
open
seats could lead to a philosophical shift in leadership," by Rochelle 
Olson

http://www.startribune.com/stories/362/5453314.html
Gurban comes up quite a bit, though nothing on the Stone flap.





Laura Waterman Wittstock
Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees
DFL and Labor endorsed
Minneapolis, MN
612-387-4915
www.laurawatermanwittstock.com
http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/
Wittstock for Library Committee
913 19th Avenue SE, Mpls, 55414

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[Mpls] Mpls Businessman Returns from Iraq: Presentation Tuesday, June 21

[Gary Hoover]

What:  "Coming Home: From Minnesota to Iraq and back"  an account of conditions 
in Iraq under U.S. Occupation with Sami Rasouli.

When:  Tuesday, June 21, 7 PM

Where:  St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN

Sponsored by:  Twin cities Peace Campaign - focus on Iraq and WAMM.  
Cosponsored by: Anti-War committee, Iraq Peace Action Coalition, Pax Christi 
(Twin Cities), St Joan of Arc/WAMM Peacemakers, Veterans for Peace (Chapter 27) 
and others.

For info, call: 612-522-1861 or 612-827-5364.

Iraqi-American Sami Rasouli has two homes:  Minnesota and Iraq.  He returned to 
Iraq and participated in delegations to document conditions there under US 
military occupation.  He helped to form a Muslim Peacekeepers Team to 
collaborate with the Christian Peacemakers Team.

Come hear first-hand about conditions under military occupation in Iraq.

Art from Iraqi artists will also be on display and will be available for sale 
to support continuing human rights work in Iraq.

Sami Rasouli will return to Iraq in July to continue peacemaking, documenting 
conditions, and human rights advocacy.
*
Minneapolis citizens and policy-makers:connect the dots!  Energy and 
Transportation policy beget foreign and military policy.  The way we live now 
demands war.  Our infrastructure investment priorities here in Minneapolis 
directly impact our demand for oil.  We have the power to choose peace by 
choosing to prioritize funding of low-energy transportation and urban 
infrastructure.

This is one important aspect of our local policy that needs to be addressed 
clearly and consistently.

Write your favorite mayoral candidate and ask him or her to make a public 
statement about the relationship between our urban infrastructure policies, 
energy, oil, and war.  Ask all candidates for local office to describe how this 
understanding will affect their approach to public infrastructure project 
priorities.

--pedaling for peace and ecojustice from Lynnhurst -- Gary Hoover
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RE: [Mpls] Strib on supes: Peebles' job on line, Gurban's a reform focus

[Michael Atherton]

 
Laura wrote:

>  It will be a lesson learned for Minneapolis. Time to wake up and pay 
>  attention to authentic leadership style.

Which type of leadership style is most effective is context
dependent.  Effective is the key word here.  If your criterion
is making teachers happy then Peebles might not be the right
person.  I'd be more interested in seeing how much test scores
improve, whether there is a narrowing in the acheivement gap,
and whether Peebles is able to correct some of the fundamental
injustices in the system.

Michael Atherton
Prospect Park





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[Mpls] Correction on violence prevention information

[ArthurTHimmelman]

Please note that CeaseFire, Chicago's violence prevention partnership, can  
be found at  
_http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/_ (http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/) .   
Sorry, I believe I included a link that was incorrect in an earlier posting  
about it. The original posting has stimulated some mpls.mnforum discussion 
about  
adapting violence prevention models to Minneapolis and, in particular, the 
pros  and cons of CODEFOR.  
 
However, I am still hoping that those knowledgeable about such programs and  
partnerships also will take a look at CeaseFire and offer their assessment of  
its possible usefulness for Minneapolis.

 
Arthur T. Himmelman
Loring Park
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Re:[Mpls] Gurban should resign ...

[Fredric Markus]

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

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Re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[nikkicarlson001]

No one ever said people couldn't campaign in the parks. Of course people can 
campaign and pass out literature for whatever they want in the parks. People do 
it all the time. Parks are great places to campaign and exercise freedom of 
speech.
 
Jason was blocking the door and it violated some rule about egress. That's all.
 
This forum is like a lynch mob.
 
My great grandmother always said "No matter how thin the paper, there's always 
two sides." I truly don't think in this case we are fighting evil.
 
Nikki Carlson 
Linden Hills
 
 
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Re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[Annie Young]

Actually, General Manager Don Sigglekow at the June 1 meeting did quote a 
PB ordinance that says that candidates need to get a table but can not just 
wonder through the park handing out literature and campaigning.  I have 
even reviewed the tape and this is what I heard.


There are two things going on here - campaigning in the parks and Free Speech.

Quite a mess we have going on wouldn't one say.

But why 3 police cars is my question - was there a riot about to ensue?  I 
wish I could get 3 police cars to some of the parks like East Phillips to 
deal with the drug dealing and sometimes uncontrolled behaviors flagrant on 
our public basketball courts.  Oh, another mixing of apples and oranges.



Annie Young
citywide Park Commissioner




At 10:33 AM 6/13/05 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
No one ever said people couldn't campaign in the parks. Of course people 
can campaign and pass out literature for whatever they want in the parks. 
People do it all the time. Parks are great places to campaign and exercise 
freedom of speech.


Jason was blocking the door and it violated some rule about egress. That's 
all.


This forum is like a lynch mob.

My great grandmother always said "No matter how thin the paper, there's 
always two sides." I truly don't think in this case we are fighting evil.


Nikki Carlson
Linden Hills


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Re: [Mpls] Re: Jason Stone

[Steve Nelson]

Michael J Flaherty wrote:


Mr. Stone,

I don't know what happened at Pearl Park.  You do.  If you really wanted 
to
provide an account of it, then I'd expect as much from you in a first 
person

account.


Dan McGuire
Ericsson

replied
I think Mr. Stone is on pretty solid ground in his use of the third person 
in a political report, especially one that characterizes the actions of a 
another political person or competing theory.  He is in good company in 
doing so; a few that come to mind are: Aristotle, more than one Caesar, 
Dante, Machiavelli, Benveniste, Barthes... The list is long and the 
technique is very effective when used judiciously, as I would say  Mr. 
Stone has done here.


To this I can only say "AMEN" and let's not forget our more recent example 
of Presidential candidate Bob Dole who raised third person references to 
one's self to a fine art.


Steven M Nelson
Willard Hay
http://citizenshipchronicles.blogspot.com/
http://minutemenworldwide.blogspot.com/
Get UP! Get OUT! & GET INVOLVED!!! 


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[Mpls] Stone's poor judgement

[James Bush]

The event at Pearl Park last Wednesday was to have community imput into the 
design and useage of the Edward C. Solomon Park, and it's extremely unfortunate 
that Jason Stone took that opportunuity to turn it into a "Political 
Event"...whether he was or was not legally within his right to distribute 
information (other than obstructing the door, which he was until the Park 
Police arrived) is not the issue, but rather his poor judgement and 
inflammatory response to being told of his inappropriate action.

Jim Bush 11 Ward/7th Precinct



   Insert a catchy tag line here 
  
Jim Bush
Fundraising Consultant  DAPA, Inc.
4737 - 12th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407  
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  tel: 
  mobile:  612-825-2707
  612-599-8943  
   
 

 
Signature powered by Plaxo Want a signature like this? 
 
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re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[Eric Oines]

Bill Kahn wrote:

To drive home Randall Cutting's point:

"PB2-19. Parades, entertainments, public meetings, etc. Bands, processions,
parades, military displays, entertainments, exhibitions, public meetings and
constitutionally protected expressions shall be allowed, given or held in 
the

parks subject to the rules and regulations regarding such activities as
promulgated under this section. (Code 1960, As Amend., § 1010.271; Pk. Bd. 
Ord. No.
90-103, § 1, 9-5-90)" --one section in a chapter of thirteen chapters of 
MPRB
laws one can find by following the link to the muncode.com site from the 
City of

Mpls site (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/)

One would think Gurban and the board would be familiar with these laws.

Eric writes:

Just to give a couple examples at my own local park - Webber Park: Joe 
Mullery, Linda Higgins, and Barb Johnson regularly attend events, including 
neighborhood group meetings and elections, make speeches, etc.  The local 
Republican chair uses the common room for mailings.


During campaign season three years ago, I campaigned every week at the 
various music events held throughout the district parks.  On several of 
these occasions, I ran into one or both of my opponents also campaigning as 
well as others who were running for various offices.  At the same time, I 
saw Park Board employees, former city officials (Alice Rainville still goes 
to everything), and the above mentioned current office holders.


The only thing I was told was not to offer lit or other materials to public 
employees (park staff, police) while they were working the event.  
Otherwise, no one ever said boo about anything.


Clearly Gurben is out of line here, not only with the regs, but with 
tradition.  He should apologize and reverse the ruling, or resign (or both).


Eric Oines
North Minneapolis

"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we 
seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue 
peaceful ends through peaceful means."

 ~ Martin Luther King Jr., Agitator

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RE: [Mpls] This Week in The Minneapolis Observer

[Dennis Plante]

Excerpts from the MPLS Observer:

MTN Drops Suspension of Hodges and Flowers

(June 13) Less than a month after suspending commentators Booker Hodges and 
Al Flowers for alleged threats made against City Council Member Don Samuels, 
MTN officials last week revoked the suspensions and Hodges and Flowers will 
be back on the air again next Sunday.


“It’s an absolute joke,” said Hodges.

An MTN appeals committee on Friday viewed the allegedly offensive tape “15 
times,” said Hodges, and were unable to confirm the remark that led to the 
suspensions. “Nowhere in there did I say we need to ‘kill the house nigga,’” 
Hodges said.



Excerpts from the May 25th Spokesman Recorder Editorial by Shannon Gibney:

During the broadcast in question, Hodges said, “Ultimately, all the things 
that we sit here talking about, whether it be economic development, which is 
job creation, people like Council Member Samuels...it’s simple. We as a 
people, one, must unite. We have to learn from like Nat Turner’s mistake, 
and we have to kill the house ni**as, we got to kill ‘em, and that’s what 
we’re doing on this show. We trying to kill the house ni**as. And we have to 
get in power. You have to understand, as long as we have to go begging to 
somebody, we are never going to get where we need to be.”


Hodges asserts that he was not actually encouraging viewers to kill Samuels 
or anyone else; he says that he was speaking euphemistically, that Samuels 
knows this, and that Samuels and his supporters (whom he claims mainly 
reside in the Rybak camp) are exploiting the situation for political gain.


“I’m competitive. When I’m playing sports, I say I want to kill my 
opponent,” says Hodges. “Does that literally mean that I want to kill them? 
No, but it’s a figure of speech. I don’t think [Samuels] has any valid 
concerns. If you look at his statements, he never says, ‘I feel Booker or Al 
is going to kill me.’ He says, ‘I feel threatened by the statements.’


“I think people should be able to make statements like that, and they do 
make statements like that. I wasn’t trying to advocate killing someone at 
all — and people who know me know that.
“I feel that MTN staff — there was more pressure put on them than a 
submarine at 2,500 feet in the ocean — by Gail Plewacki [City of Minneapolis 
communications director], who I’m told threatened their budget, Mayor Rybak 
and Council Member Samuels.”

Both Samuels and Plewacki deny these accusations.

“Basically, the speech that I felt broke the law was the threatening nature 
of ‘You have to kill the house ni**a’ — I think [Hodges] said it about four 
times,” said Pam Colby, MTN executive director. “I felt that that was where 
it crossed the First Amendment, and it moved into threatening speech.


“Since 9/11, our country has less tolerance for threatening speech of any 
kind. I think intent is another topic. But that’s how it comes across, that 
it’s threatening speech,” said Colby, who added that she has received calls 
(both in support and critical) about The Real State of the City Address for 
months.


Hodges said, “I apologized to Don. I said, ‘Look man, if you’re threatened 
by those statements, cool, but you still got to answer for the Big House.’”


Dennis Plante Writes:

Which one is the truth?


Dennis Plante
Lind-Bohanon


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Re: [Mpls] Stone's poor judgement

[denny wagner]

Um, pardon me I'm new around here, but I don't think it was Jason who 
turned it

into a "political event." He was simply a candidate trying to spread his
message to folks who probably cared (since they were attending a meeting about
the parks). If blocking the door was the real reason the police were called,
then they should have left when Jason moved away from the door. Instead they
continued to harass him until he was forced to leave altogether. That's where
the infringement on 1st Amendment rights occurred.

I too would like to hear Mr. Gurban's explanation of the situation, 
considering

that he seems to have orchestrated it. Hopefully we'll receive such an
explanation at the next park board meeting - if not sooner.

Denny Wagner
NE Minneapolis



Quoting James Bush <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:

The event at Pearl Park last Wednesday was to have community imput 
into the design and useage of the Edward C. Solomon Park, and it's 
extremely unfortunate that Jason Stone took that opportunuity to turn 
it into a "Political Event"...whether he was or was not legally 
within his right to distribute information (other than obstructing 
the door, which he was until the Park Police arrived) is not the 
issue, but rather his poor judgement and inflammatory response to 
being told of his inappropriate action.


Jim Bush 11 Ward/7th Precinct



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[Mpls] RE: Peebles' Job On Line

[Ray Marshall]

If Superintendent Peebles loses her job in the near future, what will her
severance pay be?  How much "unused sick leave" will she get paid for?

I think these kind of provisions are absolutely outrageous in contracts when
someone is removed for bad or non-performance.  Everybody always claims how
important a school superintendent is to the District.  But we sure go
through them like hot cakes.

I understand that it is a very political recruitment process and job.  But
candidates know that going in. When you have a political job, it is most
assuredly in your interest to keep your supporters happy.  If you can't do
that, do you really expect to get rewarded with a couple hundred thousand
(or so) bonus for leaving?

Ray Marshall
Hiawatha


Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 04:11:49 -0500
From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Mpls] Strib on supes: Peebles' job on line,   Gurban's a
reform focus

A less-than-super day for superintendents in the Monday Strib:

"Peebles' job may be on the line: Minneapolis superintendent to meet with
school board today," by Steve Brandt (top of page A1)
http://startribune.com/stories/1592/5453456.html  

Chris Steller





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Re: [Mpls] Gurban should resign.... (Abuse of Power)

[ken bradley]

Minneapolis Issues Folks,
 
I have great concern that first amendment rights, and using the police for 
political purposes will return to our city. During the previous Mayor and 
former Council leaders we had numerous examples of this abuse of power. The 
targeting of Hardtimes Cafe, May Day Parade arrests, ISAG (infiltration of 
police into demonstration), and Hwy 55 reroute just to name a few. I don't 
believe the entire council or the mayor prompted each of these events, but they 
did not send a message that such abuse of power will not be tolerated. 
 
The police should never be used for political means, or to violate citizens 
First Amendment rights!
 
We have seen plenty of criticism of Chief McManus, and I feel some of it has 
been warranted. The Chief should be given credit for the polices overall 
improved behavior towards our cities citizen First Amendment Rights. I hope the 
Park Police are not being used in away that violates citizens rights.
 
Ken Bradley
Kenny

Niel Ritchie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The fact that three squads were disipatched to hassle
Jason Stone for his perfectly legitimate activity
certainly makes me question the need for a seperate
park police force, especially one with such poor
control over its resources.


Niel Ritchie
Linden Hills





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[Mpls] MTN suspensions sucessfully appealed

[megan goodmundson]

Excerpts from the MPLS Observer:

“It’s an absolute joke,” said Hodges. “Nowhere in there did I say we need to 
‘kill the house nigga,’” Hodges said.

Megan's response:
 
I saw an unedited version of the tape myself.   The only thing I can think of 
after reading this remark is that the tape got edited/censored before being 
shown to the appeals committee.  How else can one explain this discrepency of 
'it was said'  vs 'it was not said'.   If MTN decided to appeal the suspension, 
so be it, life goes on.  But for Booker to say that nowhere did he say 
that.   very concerning.  Perhaps watching his own show will refresh his 
memory. 
 
Megan Goodmundson
Jordan resident 
 

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[Mpls] Stone's judgement - community events are political events

[megan goodmundson]

Jim Bush 11 Ward/7th Precinct writes: 

The event at Pearl Park last Wednesday was to have community imput into 
the design and useage of the Edward C. Solomon Park, and it's extremely 
unfortunate that Jason Stone took that opportunuity to turn it into a 
"Political Event"...whether he was or was not legally within his right 
to distribute information (other than obstructing the door, which he was 
until the Park Police arrived) is not the issue, but rather his poor 
judgement and inflammatory response to being told of his inappropriate 
action.

Megan writes:
 
List members: I'd love to read opinions on this thought:  
 
Most especially during an election year, when candidates need to get their 
message out to community members...  Aren't all community events a 'political' 
event in the sense that is where a candidate can/should reach people?  Certain 
exceptions aside, a funeral, a memorial ceremony or something along that 
line  other than that aren't all public events an appropriate setting to 
reach people as long as good judgement is used in how to approach people and 
offer the message. 

Megan Goodmundson
Jordan

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Re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[nikkicarlson001]

  
I'd like to modify what I said in my previous post. I received 3 off-line 
replies calling me, among other names, a lying b.
 
I am sorry. I should not have said that Jason was "blocking" the door. It 
seemed innocuous enough when I was writing it, but on rereading it, not 
precise. I just meant that the issue was where he was passing out literature 
(at the door), not that he was passing it out in the park, or the contents. 
 
The fact that I received these name-calling, enraged reponses makes me think 
that things are a little out of proportion, and maybe out of control. In fact I 
think the whole incident is a symptom of that and a natural outcome of the very 
personal attacks. I'll try to be more constructive and respectful of 
differences of opinion.
 
Nikki Carlson
Linden Hills
 
 
 
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; mpls@mnforum.org
Sent: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 10:33:58 -0400
Subject: Re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech


No one ever said people couldn't campaign in the parks. Of course people can 
campaign and pass out literature for whatever they want in the parks. People do 
it all the time. Parks are great places to campaign and exercise freedom of 
speech.
 
Jason was blocking the door and it violated some rule about egress. That's all.
 
This forum is like a lynch mob.
 
My great grandmother always said "No matter how thin the paper, there's always 
two sides." I truly don't think in this case we are fighting evil.
 
Nikki Carlson 
Linden Hills
 
 
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Re:[Mpls] Stone's judgment

[Fredric Markus]

Anyone who runs for the independent boards has a daunting task concerning
reaching out to voters. Park District 5, for example, has 21 precincts in
which a total of over 37,000 people voted last November - a little over 12
square miles on the ground. Of these more than half are settled voters who
have voted in the last four even-year elections.

So, how does someone with a full-time job take on the task of contacting
voters likely to have an interest in this race in November, 2005?

Or consider at-large candidates, where the grand totals voting city-wide are
several times these numbers?

I don't know how much the Park Commissioners get paid, but their annual
remuneration probably wouldn't even pay the postage for a first-class letter
to their voting constituents. We are told that the Ward 13 candidates may
drop as much as $10K per precinct into each of their ten precincts. At least
the winner there will have $60-70K income each year for four years. 

If candidates for the Park Board can't campaign in the parks, ought school
board candidates not be permitted to use school facilities? Ought all
candidates be barred from what Superintendent Gurban calls "private
property"? Ought the Park Board ordinances trump the ordinances of the City
of Minneapolis? 

Inquiring minds want to know. It's a vision thing.

Fred Markus, Ward 6, Phillips West

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[Mpls] If You (don't) Build It, They Will (not) Come

[RyanTCurry]

Annie Young wrote: 
I wish I could get 3 police cars to some of the parks like East Phillips to 
deal with the drug dealing and sometimes uncontrolled behaviors flagrant on our 
public basketball courts. 

Board Commissioner Young highlights a negative view of basketball that I find 
common and troubling.  One thing I love about basketball is the way it brings 
people together.  Every background and color of Minneapolitan brought together 
throughout the City to team up, compete, exercise and enjoy the fresh air.  
This happens all summer long.  I’ve met so many interesting and diverse 
people that I would most likely never have had the chance to interact with 
without a common interest in basketball.  Unfortunately I’ve noticed that 
most newly completed/renovated parks tend not to have full court basketball.  
Half court or some other geographically nonsensical configuration is the new 
norm.  Hockey has assault built into the structure of its game as an acceptable 
option and I don’t see any half ice rinks being built to stop hockey from 
being played the way people like to play it (and thus making the rinks only 
truly available for kids etc. - I believe that’s the intent in purposefully 
eliminating the real basketball courts).  Thugs play basketball and get into 
fights and yell and cuss and grab their genitals; all this sometimes near to 
where kids play.  Sure, once in a great while.  Mostly other stuff happens 
though; just good old fashioned recreation.  It’s easy to demonize inner city 
basketball, and there is an element of conflict/disagreement in its culture 
that can be perceived as unruly.  So space the courts further from the 
playgrounds or crack down hard on unlawful behavior to send a message, but let 
the people play ball.  Build the courts right and don’t cater to fear.  

I would like to say that this is not intended to speak against Commissioner 
Young.  I don’t know her stance on this issue, it was merely her remark that 
I found indicative of a prevailing negative view of inner city basketball…I 
do know what I see in my City though, and it’s an attempt to filter out real 
basketball through design moving forward.  I find that unacceptable.


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Re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[Randall G Cutting]

Nikki, it's unfortunate that people would be so blind as to attack what
you said with disrespectful language.  This thread is about freedom of
speech after all.  And the purpose of the freedom of speech is to foster
the free and open exchange of ideas.  Something Gurban is apparently not
alone in his lack of understanding.  Whether what you wrote was correct or
not and whether your word choice accurately reflected your position or not
doesn't excuse such disrespect.

I would encourage those with such strong opinions on the subject to offer
a correction to Nikki's post - although at this point to do so isn't
really necessary given Nikki's modification.

I do have a question that someone on the list may be able to shed some
light on.  Minnesota law prohibits the use of government resources for
political purposes.  I would argue the law includes the use of government
resources to stifle the voice of a politician with whom a government
employee disagrees with.  Did Gurban violate the law when he called the
park police?  It seems to me that the police (Minneapolis police of
course) should investigate this potential illegal action.


Randall Cutting
Seward


>
> I'd like to modify what I said in my previous post. I received 3 off-line
> replies calling me, among other names, a lying b.
>
> I am sorry. I should not have said that Jason was "blocking" the door. It
> seemed innocuous enough when I was writing it, but on rereading it, not
> precise. I just meant that the issue was where he was passing out
> literature (at the door), not that he was passing it out in the park, or
> the contents.
>
> The fact that I received these name-calling, enraged reponses makes me
> think that things are a little out of proportion, and maybe out of
> control. In fact I think the whole incident is a symptom of that and a
> natural outcome of the very personal attacks. I'll try to be more
> constructive and respectful of differences of opinion.
>
> Nikki Carlson
> Linden Hills
>


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[Mpls] PARENTS, LEADERS IN BLACK COMMUNITY SAY PEEBLES' JOB SHOULDN'T BE ON THE LINE

[batalara ra]

Minnesota House of Representatives
District 58B  (651) 296-8659
229 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155

Contact: Joel Johnson,  (651) 297-1934
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

June 13, 2005

PARENTS, LEADERS IN BLACK COMMUNITY SAY
PEEBLES' JOB SHOULDN'T BE ON THE LINE

A group of concerned parents and leaders in the North Minneapolis
community will hold a press conference at 5:15 p.m. Monday, June 13 at
the Minneapolis Urban League to say that Thandiwe Peebles' future as
Minneapolis School Superintendent should not be in doubt.

"We believe it's irresponsible to talk about firing," State Rep. Keith
Ellison said. "Superintendent Peebles should be judged on her
performance and she should be given more than a year. Considering the
success Minneapolis students have demonstrated this year, we believe
recent actions by the Minneapolis school board are premature."

The press conference will be held at the Minneapolis Urban League
offices at 2100 Plymouth Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55411. For information
on the press conference, contact Representative Ellison at (651)
296-8659 or (612) 229-6484.

-30-

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Re: [Mpls] Correction on violence prevention information

[wmmarks]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

Please note that CeaseFire, Chicago's violence prevention partnership, can  
be found at  
_http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/_ (http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/) .   

offer their assessment of  
its possible usefulness for Minneapolis.
 

It's hard to tell from a web site whether or not the program is 
effective. However, I do see some real advantages to starting from a 
public health perspective and keeping the first position in the hands of 
a doctor (depends on the doctor, of course, wouldn't want Bill Frist who 
can diagnose from video tape--or so he says).


In Central we have been exploring this idea for the last four or five 
years in the PEACE Project which also begins from a public health 
perspective. It has had a very positive effect on the lives and work 
lives of those who have stuck with the Project and did the long term 
training process. For the most part, the MPD was not thrilled with the 
idea, for whatever reasons I do not know. But the program does challenge 
each person to operate towards themselves and others from a public 
health perspective. It's much less wearing on the nerves, for one thing. 
And it goes past the notion of throw away people to support for people 
who are changing their lives in a positive fashion.


Since what we are looking for in anti-crime efforts (I'm assuming) is a 
change in behavior on the part of those who are committing crimes, it 
has the value of allowing that conversation to take place.



WizardMarks, Central


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[Mpls] Stone's opponents Co-Chair fails to disclose postion while attacking Stone

[Dann Dobson]

While Jim Bush is busy writing negatively about Jason
Stone, he fails to disclose his position, (as I did in
my first post), that he is Mr. Stone's opponent's
campaign co-chair.

Candidate:  Carol Kummer
Campaign Co-Chair:  Pam Blixt & Jim Bush
http://www.carolkummer.com/index.asp?Type=B_LOC&SEC={A5D873D3-2F32-42A0-82BC-FF20D9C519C8}

This appears to be more heavy handed tactics by the
Park Boards incumbents. Trash your opponent, but don't
disclose your interest in the matter.

Maybe Mr. Bush can tell us how his candidate, Carol
Kummer will handle the matter of Mr. Gurbin's
inappropriate actions, when the matter comes before
the Park Board. 

Will Carol Kummer vote to condemn Mr. Gurbin, ratify
his actions, or do nothing?

Dann Dobson 
Saint Paul


--- James Bush <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> The event at Pearl Park last Wednesday was to have
> community imput into the design and useage of the
> Edward C. Solomon Park, and it's extremely
> unfortunate that Jason Stone took that opportunuity
> to turn it into a "Political Event"...whether he was
> or was not legally within his right to distribute
> information (other than obstructing the door, which
> he was until the Park Police arrived) is not the
> issue, but rather his poor judgement and
> inflammatory response to being told of his
> inappropriate action.
> 
> Jim Bush 11 Ward/7th Precinct
> 
> 
> 
>Insert a catchy tag line here
> 
>   
> Jim Bush
> Fundraising Consultant 
> DAPA, Inc.
> 4737 - 12th Avenue South
> Minneapolis, MN 55407  
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]  tel: 
>   mobile:  612-825-2707
>   612-599-8943  
>
>  
> 
>  
> Signature powered by Plaxo Want a
> signature like this? 
>  
>   Add me to your address book... 
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Re:[Mpls] Gurban should resign ...

[David Shove]

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005, Fredric Markus wrote:
> 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?

I suggest they be trained to walk a little bit more like over-fed geese,
and to salute with one arm straight out at 45 degrees, palm down. Each
would be required to grow a cute little mustasche and wear their hair at
a 45 degree angle down over one eye. Each would be fashionably bedecked
with a charming metal helmet with clevely flaring edges and an
awe-inspiring spike on the top. Since they are park police, batons should
be replaced with baseball bats at the ready. A few could have horse-shoes
ready to throw at the ankles of opposition political candidates and
supporters terrorizing the neighborhood with UnPresentMajorityParkBoard
leaflets.

The cost of doing this amounts to only 3 cents in every $20, so we should
proceed with this change full speed ahead, with little (or better no)
further public discussion.

--David Shove
Roseville
just my $2 billion worth
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Re: [Mpls] Stone's opponents Co-Chair fails to disclose postion while attacking Stone

[Chris Johnson]

Both Jim Bush, Carol Kummer's campaign chair, and Nikki Carlson, a Bob Fine 
supporter and a DeLaSalle parent, claim that Jason Stone was obstructing the 
door to the Pearl Park Recreation Center.


I have a simple question for Mr. Bush and Ms. Carlson:  Were you there in 
person at Pearl Park and did you observe people have difficulty entering the 
recreation building as a result of Mr. Stone's obstructing the door?


If so, do you have a witness to prove it?  Mr. Stone has witnesses that say 
otherwise.  Who are we supposed to believe?


If not, you owe us and Mr. Stone an apology for your groundless and false 
accusation.


--
Chris Johnson
Fulton

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[Mpls] MPRB free speech rules: a rogue board?

[WJKAHN]

In regard to Jason C. Stone's comments regarding free speech in public 
hearings of the MPRB, the ordinance section (from Chap. 2) that I cited (and 
Scott 
Vreeland as well I see in reading back on this topic) would be irrelevant; that 
chapter addresses activities in the parks. Open meetings of various 
committees and/or/of MPRB would be governed by state law and Chapter 11 of the 
Park 
Board ordinances. It is pretty well routine for any government body hearing 
public testimony to schedule it in any appropriate place in a given agenda; 
Stone 
can call it limiting public input, but as a too frequent attendee of these 
sorts of hearings, I am glad there are limits--possibly the worst thing here is 
not getting anything done rather than limiting public comment. Though I haven't 
read all the park board chapters, I don't see anything regarding political 
campaigning anywhere else; I think political buttons or displayed 
identification 
would be okay anywhere on public property in Minnesota (or the USA) outside of 
election polls. If Gurban or MPRB have policies that are inconsistent with 
their own ordinance, state law, or the US Constitution, I think they have quite 
a rewrite project on their hands.

As far as any defense of Gurban or the Park Board commissioners involved in 
unlawfully restricting Mr. Stone's right to freedom of expression, I don't 
think there is one. Like Stone, I'm not a legal expert either, but this seems 
like 
a clear case of prejudicial abuse of authority (not because I've personally 
outlined the clear case, but because I like saying and writing "prejudicial 
abuse of authority."). Gurban should just resign and the public can vote out 
the 
offending commissioners and start from scratch using folks with a modicum of 
knowledge of how MPRB fits into our federal system. MPRB's supposed 
independence is well defined by state and federal law; Gurban and more than a 
few 
commissioners have abused that independence through deliberate bone headed 
ignorance 
of the law--they should go now with thanks for their service in whatever 
actual good they have accomplished outside the shaky lucidity of testosterone 
funks 
like they exhibited in the Stone incident. 

Bill Kahn
Prospect Park 
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[Mpls] Park Board Meeting, Wednesday, 5pm, June 15

[Chris Johnson]

Please attend the next meeting of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.


When:  5:00pm, Wednesday, June 15

Where:  2117 West River Road, the administrative headquarters building


Some possibly interesting agenda topics:

*  Will Jon Gurban be reprimanded for abusive use of the Park Police to step 
on candidate Jason Stone's First Amendment rights?


* Annual Parkway Paving Program report.

* 2005 Dutch Elm Disease Report

* Open Time -- a couple of citizens have already signed for this always 
interesting segment.  If you want to speak, you need to sign up by today by 
calling Diane Hill at 230-6404 Monday (today -- so unless you read this in the 
next hour or so, it will likely be too late).


* The May Superintendent's Report -- what's in the text is usually more 
interesting than whatever "highlights" Mr. Gurban chooses to talk about.


* Approval of over $140,000 purchase of lawn chemicals for parks and golf 
courses.  Are they being used in an environmentally reasonable fashion?


* Approval of $45,000-plus for cooling equipment for the operations center.

* Approval of a schematic plan for the Berger Fountain renovation.

* New Business -- what surprises lie here?

* Petitions and Communications -- what are the constituents concerned about 
this month?


* Another $49,410 to bring total to $1,233,539.61 for Mill Ruins Park phase IV.

* $225,000 for professional umpires for 2005 softball season.



Plenty of parking and even nearby bus service.  If you can't attend in person, 
you can also watch it simulcast on Minneapolis cable TV channels 14 and 79, 
and webcast at this address:  http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts/


Cable TV / webcast only covers 5pm to 8pm, meetings sometimes go longer.  And 
of course, being there in person allows you to see what's really going on, not 
just the focus of the camera.  See who is in the audience!  Will Crown Hydro 
backer Bill Hawks be there?  He's got the best attendance record of any 
audience member.  You just never know.



--
Chris Johnson
Fulton

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[Mpls] Peebles on KFAI

[Steve Brandt]

My apologies to any of you who tuned into KFAI today expecting to hear Supt. 
Peebles.  The school district put out a misleading press release saying that 
she'd be on from 11 to 1.  Turns out that she appeared on the second hour of 
the program for about 20 minutes, and only the first hour was broadcast today.  
The second portion of the show was taped, and apparently will be broadcast on 
KMOJ sometime between 9 and 11 Saturday morning.  She was not asked by host Al 
McFarlane during that segment about the status of her evaluation by the board.

Steve Brandt
Staff writer
Star Tribune
Phone: 612-673-4438
Fax:  612-673-4359
425 Portland Av.
Minneapolis, MN 55488

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[Mpls] Minneapolis Coffee House Free Wi-Fi

[WLDJ36]

An interesting NEW YORK TIMES article about free Wi-Fi use in Seattle  coffee 
houses. Some coffee houses are cutting free wi-fi on weekends and have  seen 
revenue increases. Here is a quote from the story . . . 
 
"But there was also a disadvantage, staff members said: the cafe filled  with 
laptop users each weekend, often one to a table meant for four. Some would  
sit for six to eight hours purchasing a single drink, or nothing at all.  
Even worse, when lingerers were confronted, they were bellicose. "We get  
yelled at by people who feel it's their right" to use Victrola's Wi-Fi without  
making a purchase, Ms. Strongin said." 
Let's hope Minneapolis coffee house patrons show common sense and respect the 
 fact that coffee house proprietors have to make a living. However, if a 
coffee  house encourages lingering without purchase, linger away. 
Here is the link to the NEW YORK TIMES story but registration is required: 
_http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/technology/13wifi.html?pagewanted=all_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/technology/13wifi.html?pagewanted=all)  
Bill Dooley (Kenny) 

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[Mpls] MPRB Stone vs. Gurban

[Dan Prozinski]

How did Mr. Gurban "summon" the park police?  If he called 911, the 
call logs should be available.  Does anyone know how to access this 
information.  It would be interesting to know what communication may be 
on record.


Dan Prozinski
Cedar-Riverside

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[Mpls] RE: Predatory Lending

[Jim Bernstein]

Predatory lending is a serious problem in Minneapolis and elsewhere and
should not be flipped off so casually by Mr. Thompson. 

Predatory lending is disguised in different ways but essentially it is
an action or series actions undertaken by a lender to conceal the actual
terms of a loan from the borrower, and/or a loan where the lender knows
it cannot be repaid by the borrower and may result in foreclosure,
and/or misrepresenting the terms and conditions of the loan.

Quite simply, a predatory loan is a deliberate act designed to take
advantage of a borrower.  Few consumers know as much about the process
or the myriad details of a mortgage or a second mortgage as the loan
officer sitting across the table. It is relatively easy to mislead or
misrepresent a mortgage loan to a borrower and there are good, honest
people in Minneapolis and the entire state who have had their equity
stripped or lost their home because of unscrupulous predatory lending
practices!  Almost all predatory loans are made in the sub-prime market
which is especially vulnerable to the siren song of a predatory lender.


This was a priority issue for me personally and the Ventura
Administration when I was Commerce Commissioner under Gov. Jesse
Ventura.  We succeeded in getting some reforms passed but not enough.
Along with Attorney General Mike Hatch, we also lead a multi-state
campaign that resulted in significant changes (thanks to stiff financial
penalties) in how sub-prime loans are made.  There is still more to be
done! 

Organizations like ACORN, AARP (some seniors are especially vulnerable),
Legal Aid, and Legal Services Advocacy Project work diligently to help
homeowners who have been financially raped by these unscrupulous
lenders.  

It was both heartbreaking and eye opening for me as Commissioner to meet
with and hear people's stories how they had been targeted and then
swindled by predatory lenders. I have had the privilege to speak to a
number of groups about this issue and would be happy to sit down with
Mr. Thompson or anyone else to outline in some detail how predatory
loans are made and the horrific impact they can have on families!

Jim Bernstein
Fulton

-Original Message-
 
As for the Greens and "predatory lending": what exactly is "predatory
lending?" Seems to me if one doesn't want to pay 10% or 24% or 48% on a
loan, the answer is quite simple: don't get the loan. Must we have yet
ANOTHER law that protects people from themselves?

"Living wage" and "predatory lending" are advertising buzz words that
sound
really neat when preaching to the great unwashed, but practical
application
of these concepts in the real world is unwieldy, impractical and
borderline
socialistic.

Mike Thompson
Windom

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[Mpls] In Ballot Box: Gurban responds to Stone accusations

[Craig Cox]

In Ballot Box: Gurban responds to Stone accusations

Go to:  and click on "Ballot Box"
--
Craig Cox
Founder/Editor
The Minneapolis Observer
www.mplsobserver.com
612/721-0285

Support the independent media! Pick up your neighborhood newspaper!
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[Mpls] voting for library board

[wmmarks]

Listers,
Those of you who will be voting to seat a library board in the fall, may 
want to read the August, 2005 issue of the Utne Reader (when it comes out).

www.utne.com
Knowledge for Sale: Why American libraries are in trouble
by Librarian Chris Dodge.

WizardMarks, Central
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Re: [Mpls] PARENTS, LEADERS IN BLACK COMMUNITY SAY PEEBLES' JOB SHOULDN'T BE ON THE LINE

[Eva Young]

See also Lloydletta's Nooz for more coverage on this. 


http://lloydletta.blogspot.com  

http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2005/06/parents-leaders-in-black-community-say.html

I went to this press conference, and they were fine
with bloggers covering this.  

Who spoke:  

Keith Ellison, Natalie Johnson Lee, Alfred Babington
Johnson, Louis King, Duane Reed (Keith's opponent in
2002) and several others I can't recall names for. 
Don Samuels was not at this press conference.  I'm not
sure if this was because he wasn't asked to be part of
it or because he chose not to come.  

The talking points:  This appeared to be about style,
rather than results - and that Peeples is getting
results for African American kids.  She is
successfully closing the gap.  

I talked with Bill English from the Council of Black
Churches after the press conference - and English
stated that school board meetings in Plymouth (where
he lives now) are more open and allow the public to
speak much more than the Minneapolis School Board
meetings. 

I think this is another example of how a DFL hegemony
in Minneapolis elections fails the Minneapolis Public
Schools - especially for African American Children.  

Eva Young

--- batalara ra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Minnesota House of Representatives
> District 58B  (651) 296-8659
> 229 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155
> 
> Contact: Joel Johnson,  (651) 297-1934
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> June 13, 2005
> 
> PARENTS, LEADERS IN BLACK COMMUNITY SAY
> PEEBLES' JOB SHOULDN'T BE ON THE LINE
> 
> A group of concerned parents and leaders in the
> North Minneapolis
> community will hold a press conference at 5:15 p.m.
> Monday, June 13 at
> the Minneapolis Urban League to say that Thandiwe
> Peebles' future as
> Minneapolis School Superintendent should not be in
> doubt.
> 
> "We believe it's irresponsible to talk about
> firing," State Rep. Keith
> Ellison said. "Superintendent Peebles should be
> judged on her
> performance and she should be given more than a
> year. Considering the
> success Minneapolis students have demonstrated this
> year, we believe
> recent actions by the Minneapolis school board are
> premature."
> 
> The press conference will be held at the Minneapolis
> Urban League
> offices at 2100 Plymouth Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
> 55411. For information
> on the press conference, contact Representative
> Ellison at (651)
> 296-8659 or (612) 229-6484.
> 
> 
> -30-
> 
> 

Eva Young
Near North 
Minneapolis
Blogs: 
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com
http://www.outletradio.com
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[Mpls] Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse Likely A Controled Demolitio n

[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]

Sender 
   
To : "!TheMulti-D" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
   

Subject : [Grassroots-CA-OH-FL] ] Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse 
Likely A Controlled Demolition And 'Inside Job' 
   
Date : Mon, 13 Jun 2005 00:33:31 -0400 
   
 
   
 
   
 
Posty by [EMAIL PROTECTED] to GDI (Greens for Democracy and Independence) list. 
  
  cross post widely

Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse Likely A Controlled Demolition And 
'Inside Job'
Highly recognized former chief economist in Labor Department now doubts 
official 9/11 story, claiming suspicious facts and evidence cover-up indicate 
government foul play and possible criminal implications.
June 12, 2005 
By Greg Szymanski

A former chief economist in the Labor Department during President Bush's first 
term now believes the official story about the collapse of the WTC is 'bogus,' 
saying it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers 
and adjacent Building No. 7.

"If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 
9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America 
would be compelling," said Morgan Reynolds, Ph.D, a  former member of the Bush 
team who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National 
Center for Policy Analysis headquartered in Dallas, TX. 

Reynolds, now a professor emeritus at Texas A&M University, also believes it's 
'next to impossible' that 19 Arab Terrorists alone outfoxed the mighty U.S. 
military, adding the scientific conclusions about the WTC collapse may hold the 
key to the entire mysterious plot behind 9/11.

"It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the 
cause(s) of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7," said Reynolds this 
week from his offices at Texas A&M.  "If the official wisdom on the collapses 
is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering 
analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory 
is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to 
account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three 
buildings.

"More importantly, momentous political and social consequences would follow if 
impartial observers concluded that professionals imploded the WTC. Meanwhile, 
the job of scientists, engineers and impartial researchers everywhere is to get 
the scientific and engineering analysis of 9/11 right." 

However, Reynolds said  "getting it right in today's security state' remains 
challenging because he claims explosives and structural experts have been 
intimidated in their analyses of the collapses of 9/11.

>From the beginning, the Bush administration claimed that burning jet fuel 
>caused the collapse of the towers. Although many independent investigators 
>have disagreed, they have been hard pressed to disprove the government theory 
>since most of the evidence was removed by FEMA prior to independent 
>investigation.

Critics claim the Bush administration has tried to cover-up the evidence and 
the recent 9/11 Commission has failed to address the major evidence 
contradicting the official version of 9/11. 

Some facts demonstrating the flaws in the government jet fuel theory include:

-- Photos showing people walking around in the hole in the North Tower where 
10,000 gallons of jet fuel supposedly was burning.. 

--When the South Tower was hit, most of the North Tower's flames had already 
vanished, burning for only 16 minutes, making it relatively easy to contain and 
control without a total collapse. 

--The fire did not grow over time, probably because it quickly ran out of fuel 
and was suffocating, indicating without added explosive devices the firs could 
have been easily controlled.

--FDNY fire fighters still remain under a tight government gag order  to not 
discuss the explosions they heard, felt and saw. FAA personnel are also under a 
similar 9/11 gag order. 

--Even the flawed 9/11 Commission Report acknowledges that "none of the [fire] 
chiefs present believed that a total collapse of either tower was possible."


-- Fire had never before caused steel-frame buildings to collapse except for 
the three buildings on 9/11, nor has fire collapsed any steel high rise since 
9/11.

-- The fires, especially in the South Tower and WTC-7, were relatively small. 

-- WTC-7 was unharmed by an airplane and had only minor fires on the seventh 
and twelfth floors of this 47-story steel building yet it collapsed in less 
than 10 seconds. 

-- WTC-5 and WTC-6 had raging fires but did not collapse despite much thinner 
steel beams. 

-- In a PBS documentary, Larry Silverstein, the WTC leaseholder, told the fire 
department commander on 9/11 about WTC-7 that. "may be the smartest thing to do 
is pull it," slang for demolish it. 

-- It's difficult if not impossible for hydrocarbon fires like those fed by jet 
fuel (kerosene) to raise the temperature of steel close to melt

[Mpls] Update on Pebbles and community support

[List Manager]

Strib's been on it all day...here's the latest:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/5454852.html

David Brauer
List manager

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[Mpls] Park Board policy on campaigning

[List Manager]

Apologies if I missed it in the Stone/Gurban blizzard, but can someone post
the Park Board's permitting policy for campaigns (helpfully referred to in
Craig Cox's insta-report today...)?

This would be a useful document for further list discussion ... 

David Brauer
List manager

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Re: [Mpls] MPRB rules regarding free speech

[Dorie Rae Gallagher]

Freedom of speech is freedom of speech... whether you like what is being 
said or not. For people to write off line and name call is so repulsive. You 
have something to say...say it on the list with conviction  right or 
wrong...that's what the list is for. Can't say it on the list...don't say 
it.  Surely if you think you are right, someone will prove you wrong and if 
you are wrong...they sure in the heck will correct you...it only boils down 
to smatterings with a few facts.

Dorie Rae Gallagher/Nokomis



The fact that I received these name-calling, enraged reponses makes me 
think that things are a little out of proportion, and maybe out of 
control. In fact I think the whole incident is a symptom of that and a 
natural outcome of the very personal attacks. I'll try to be more 
constructive and respectful of differences of opinion.

Nikki



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Re: [Mpls] Park Board Candidate Considers Legal Action to

[Michael J Flaherty]

On 6/12/05 10:47 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 14:41:19 -0500 (CDT)
> From: "Randall G Cutting" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: [Mpls] Park Board Candidate Considers Legal Action to
> ProtectFreedom of Spee
> To: mpls@mnforum.org
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Message-ID:
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> Let me start by saying thank you Jason!  Never back down when your rights
> are being abused by a government official.
> 
> I do have two questions however.  First is what repercussions will there
> be for Gurban?  Will he be fired for this abuse of power?  Not likely with
> the current park board majority.  Will he be suspended with, or without,
> pay for any period of time?  Not likely with the current park board
> majority.  Will he have an official letter of reprimand placed in his
> personnel file?  Again not likely with the current park board majority.
> Will he get off with no punishment what-so-ever?  Likely with the current
> park board majority.


Could be that I'm missing something, but...

I haven't yet heard a credible account of what ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

I'm glad that we're all opposed to things that look like the denial of
someone's right to free speech or solitary public assembly, but I'm not too
sure that anything similar occurred here, aside from a guy... a candidate
who was, ( as was just alleged by another poster) obstructing the entrance
to a park board meeting.

Still waitin' with an open mind for an honest account of events from Mr.
Stone...  skip the version from the invisible man, FWIW.

MJF

Nokomis East

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[Mpls] mpls@mnforum.org

[Michael J Flaherty]

 > Message: 4
 > Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 14:41:19 -0500 (CDT)
 > From: "Randall G Cutting" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re:
[Mpls] Park Board Candidate Considers Legal Action to
> ProtectFreedom of Spee
 > To: mpls@mnforum.org
 > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 > Message-ID:
 > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 > Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
 >
 > Let me start by saying thank you Jason!  Never back down when your
 > rights
 > are being abused by a government official.

 > I do have two questions however.  First is what repercussions will there
 > be for Gurban?  Will he be fired for this abuse of power?  Not likely
 > with
 .
 
 
 Could be that I'm missing something, but...
 
 I haven't yet heard a credible account of what ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
 
 I'm glad that we're all opposed to things that look like the denial of
 someone's right to free speech or solitary public assembly, but I'm not
 too sure that anything similar occurred here, aside from a guy...a guy, a
candidate, who was, ( as was just alleged by another poster) obstructing the
entrance to a park board meeting.
 
 Still waitin' with an open mind for an honest account of events from Mr.
 Stone...  skip the version from the invisible man, FWIW.
 
 Mike Flaherty
 
 Nokomis East

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[Mpls] Replay times for Decriminalization of Homelessness Study Session

[m1r3201]

At this study session the Decrim Task Force of the Community Advisory Board 
on Homelessness presented information and recommendations from the 18 plus 
months of research they conducted in order to address solutions to homelessness 
in 
a collaborative/constructive manner with City Leaders.

The Study Session will replay Mondays and Fridays at 8pm and Tuesdays and 
Saturdays at 11am, on channel 14.

City Council members displayed interest and enthusiasm during the course of 
this Study Session.

 Margaret Hastings
Kingfield
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[Mpls] WIFI at coffeehouses or just really good coffee??

[Gina Palandri]

As I like to think of myself as a coffeehouse expert-I am not sure that  
its as big of a problem here as it might be in Seattle.  As a matter of  
fact, I do not know of one coffeehouse owner that I have ever heard have  
issues with lingering, or that they think WIFI causes people not to  
purchase beverages.  I know of a few coffeehouses that just do not have  
WIFI, and have outlets for people who want the juice to power laptops but  
do not have any internet access and they do just fine.  The local places  
like Blue Moon, Tillies Bean, even the Bean Scene; do not have issues with  
people lingering.  I think our market is different here- I think we have  
alot of Minneapolitans that are good coffeehouse customers, and sometimes  
they even drop by the same place 3x a day for the same drinks.  What I am  
happy to see, is the evolution of coffeehouses changing, adding beer and  
wine, adding wifi, or computers, adding single origin organic coffees,  
having really good food! Look at the May Day, Look at Gigis, Look at the  
groovy new place called Sip..I mean what are we complaining about?

Gina Palandri
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RE: [Mpls] Social responsibility

[Bill Cullen]

We are making progress here.  With on-line and off-line discussions, I have
come up with a list of proposed rental criteria.  Below is the minimum
standards this board recommends private landlords use when offering housing.


Remember, I want this to be a recommendation from all of you, so please
comment:

1) No occupant can have a felony or greater than one misdemeanor conviction
in the past 5 years.

2) No occupant can have any conviction that would make the individual
dangerous to the safety of others.  Especially assaults or sexual
perversions.

3) No occupant can have a successful eviction in the past 3 years or 2
evictions in the past 7 years.

4) All occupants older than 18 must have a credit score greater than 500 and
at least one occupant must have a credit score greater than 600.*  No
bankruptcies in the past 3 years.  (*for first time renters and full time
students, exemptions are allowed)

5) Applicant families must not exceed 2 individuals per bedroom.

6) All applicants over the age of 18 must have finished high school (or
achieved the equivalent GED) and be able to offer evidence that they are not
part of any gang activity.

7) All applicants over the age of 18 must pass a drug test.

8) The household monthly income must be 3x the monthly rent.

Is this strict enough?  Surely, it will keep many families with historical
behavioral problems out of housing, but I wonder if it will do enough?
Would this rental screening make a landlord socially responsible?

Best Regards, Bill Cullen
Whittier Landlord.

-- 
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Re: [Mpls] Social responsibility

[gemgram]

The List was asked for suggestions about how a "Responsible Landlord" should 
act, and I gave a few.  And yours are?


The #3 was possibly misunderstood.  It was meant to be where the Landlord 
might be charged with controlling a "Disorderly House".  A criminal charge 
against the landlord punishable by 1 year in jail and a three thousand 
dollar fine.  Landlords should not be expected to place themselves in 
jeopardy of jail to rent an apartment.


In reply to Bill Cullen, you certainly sound like a responsible landlord. 
The credit points part is interesting.  My suggestions were intended to be 
the minimum, not what should be expected.  As I stated my own expectation is 
that a landlord will not rent an apartment to anyone whom that landlord 
would not willingly have live in the same house with his family. Because 
they will be living with somebody's family.


Sort of that old golden rule thing, "Do unto others as you would be done 
unto".  Most rental property owners are wonderful people, but there are some 
who deserve what happens to them.


An example:
Just across the street from me a Real Estate Agent bought a small duplex as 
a speculative property.  She immediately rented to some less than desirable 
people with a business breeding pitbulls in their house as well as other 
possible things given their desire for privacy.  We attempted to tell the 
"agent" owner the problem with her tenants, but she got snotty and said she 
would take care of her own tenants.


These folks who rented the apartments reminded me of some white folks from 
back home in the trailer park.  In fact I had to remind my wife that I might 
have come from similar roots, so to stop with the White Trailer-Trash 
remarks.  Heck, my family aspired to live in a trailer when I was young, so 
back then I was "Wantabe Trailer Trash".  The renters kept all the windows 
covered with blankets or blacked out, and got real uptight if someone looked 
at them when they were entering their house.  This did make me a little 
suspicious about what they might have been "cooking" for dinner.


These people often let their dogs get into my yard and threaten my people 
until one lunged over a fence and almost bit me in the face.  After that I 
gently reminded them that there were people in this world that understood 
the language of violence, but who might be fluent to a level they were 
totally unprepared to deal with. I explained that I considered an attack 
trained pit bull to be a lethal weapon, and might be afraid for my life, and 
as such I would have to deal with the person who was threatening me with 
that weapon.  It really was indeed a language that made impressions upon 
those folks, so much so that they then understood exactly why I thought it 
unsafe for them to allow their dogs to attack someone.  Afterwards they then 
managed to successfully keep their dogs pinned up and away from members of 
my family.  I called the police once when the dogs were lose, but an officer 
said they had to witness the dogs threatening someone, or the dog had to 
bite someone, before they could do anything.  I figured after that the best 
course of action was to "Splain" it myself..


I had a moment of pity as the woman came to view her building after several 
months not seeing it.  Just a moment, when she was screaming and crying 
because those tenants she would not listen about had destroyed her house, 
the garage and the total yard.  After that I felt some pity for her, but 
only for that moment, until I remembered what could have happened.  Then I 
was again happy that she had gotten what all irresponsible landlords 
actually deserve.  She probably will lose twenty-five or thirty thousand 
dollars for the thousand dollars a month she received for that eleven 
months.  A judge should have sentenced her to live with that crowd for six 
months as a punishment for the mounds of dog feces and lunging nasty dogs, 
just so she experienced what she had inflicted on my neighborhood.


But I have digressed in my joy that this family has moved on to plague some 
other poor neighborhood.  So please, you other List members help Bill out. 
Property owners really do need to have a code of ethics for their 
profession.  Help Bill to develop one. Bill is acting amazingly responsible 
to his community and City, so folks should participate with him.  So Tim, 
now what was your suggestion? I know you have at least one. We all do.


Jim Graham,
Ventura Village

"Without conflict communication and novel synthesis of information cannot 
take place. Conflict is the fertile soil in which creativity grows."

- (I probably stole  this idea from Zimmel)


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Re: [Mpls] Social responsibility

[Laura and lloyd]

Well we do have the prisons for convicted persons. Perhaps we could 
extend the prison system to include those who do not qualify as 
renters. When we run out of space, failed renters could live in camps 
in summer and abandoned hotels in the winter, refurbished to handle 
down market occupants.


This will provide many new jobs for matrons and guards.

On second thought perhaps we have done something like this before in 
England and in American large scale public housing.


There will always be the chance that innocents will be thrown in with 
the failed renters at any given point in time, so there should be some 
sort of appeal process -- juries of landlords perhaps?


Best wishes,

Laura


On Monday, June 13, 2005, at 10:36  PM, Bill Cullen wrote:

We are making progress here.  With on-line and off-line discussions, I 
have

come up with a list of proposed rental criteria.  Below is the minimum
standards this board recommends private landlords use when offering 
housing.



Remember, I want this to be a recommendation from all of you, so please
comment:

1) No occupant can have a felony or greater than one misdemeanor 
conviction

in the past 5 years.

2) No occupant can have any conviction that would make the individual
dangerous to the safety of others.  Especially assaults or sexual
perversions.

3) No occupant can have a successful eviction in the past 3 years or 2
evictions in the past 7 years.

4) All occupants older than 18 must have a credit score greater than 
500 and

at least one occupant must have a credit score greater than 600.*  No
bankruptcies in the past 3 years.  (*for first time renters and full 
time

students, exemptions are allowed)

5) Applicant families must not exceed 2 individuals per bedroom.

6) All applicants over the age of 18 must have finished high school (or
achieved the equivalent GED) and be able to offer evidence that they 
are not

part of any gang activity.

7) All applicants over the age of 18 must pass a drug test.

8) The household monthly income must be 3x the monthly rent.

Is this strict enough?  Surely, it will keep many families with 
historical

behavioral problems out of housing, but I wonder if it will do enough?
Would this rental screening make a landlord socially responsible?




Laura Waterman Wittstock
Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees
DFL and Labor endorsed
Minneapolis, MN
612-387-4915
www.laurawatermanwittstock.com
http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/
Wittstock for Library Committee
913 19th Avenue SE, Mpls, 55414

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Re: [Mpls] Park Board policy on campaigning

[Elizabeth Wielinski]

This is the outline of the policy presented by one of the district 
managers recently hired by the MPRB Paul Hokeness.  From what I could 
see the rules were made by the district managers to answer questions 
presented by staff at the recreation centers.  I doubt that the 
"freedom of speech" issue came up but the MPRB does have an attorney, 
Brian Rice and he could have been asked to give an opinion.


New Business ( from the June 1, 2005 MPRB meeting )

Campaigning in the Parks
Commissioner Young brings this up now to have a standard set of rules 
for the upcoming political season.


GM Siggelkow when checking into this found that it had come up and the 
3 district managers had set a policy


Lakes District Manager Paul Hokeness give the presentation...

1) Follow building guidelines and if questions check with district 
supervisors
2) Political Parties may use rooms other than the gyms free of charge 
and may pass lit within the room but no fundraising (fee if room is 
used outside of regular center hours or for gym)
3) staff is discouraged from voicing opinions on park property or on 
MPRB time

4) give facts/ do not offer opinions
5) use common sense  and if in doubt ask a supervisor
6) at festivals and celebrations the candidates may purchase a booth 
like all other participants but may not freely wander the crowd handing 
out materials


The fact that no one questioned this at the time doesn't mean that the 
policy is lawful.  Commissioner Young was just trying to make an even 
playing field for campaigning.  The fact that the place you will find 
people who are interested in park issues is at the parks seems to make 
rule 6 a little too much and Superintendent Gurban's response was 
overkill.  For the record I am not a Gurban fan and I support Jason 
Stone and all reform candidates to the MPRB.


Liz Wielinski
Columbia Park

for more information check out www.mplsparkwatch.org

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[Mpls] Park Board Rules

[Svattheriver]

First, I want to thank Craig Cox and his Ballot Box for giving us a rich  and 
interesting commentary on our Minneapolis campaigns.
As a Park Board Candidate I was very interested in Superintendent Gurban's  
reply to the Pearl Park Incident with Jason Stone.
 
>From the Observer:  In Ballot Box: Gurban responds to Stone  accusations

Go to: <_http://www.mplsobserver.com_ (http://www.mplsobserver.com/) > and  
click on "Ballot Box"


The last two paragraphs of the Gurban response...
 
"This incident is troubling from a number of perspectives. Not the least of  
which was that Mr. Stone attended our Board meeting on the previous Wednesday  
evening. At which we gave a broad overview of what was acceptable behavior  
during the "political season". Another matter is that he was told repeatedly, 
by  multiple sources that what he was doing was not acceptable. He refused to 
modify  his behavior, perhaps (my speculation) to create an incident to 
increase his  profile.

"The type of activity Mr. Stone was engaged in requires a  permit. He did not 
have one. As a candidate he is responsible to know the  rules
and regulations governing his campaign."
 
I wasn't at Pearl Park but I did watch the broadcast of the last Park Board  
meeting. What I think I saw was Park staff dictating a policy to the board 
that  candidates can not freely wander about and campaign at festivals and  
celebrations. One of the primary functions of the Board is to set policy. The  
Board is dysfunctional if it does not understand its role in determining  
policy. 
There was no board vote or discussion of whether this policy was legal or  
desirable.( Don't they have a lawyer?)
 And there was no discussion about a permit to distribute literature.  (And 
no written policy?)
 
Requiring politicians to buy a table or booth was discussed but this should  
be up to the organizers of a particular festival to determine, and really 
isn't  the business of the Park Board. I have organized festivals where there 
was 
never  any requirement for politicians to be permitted or charged to 
participate,  but as a candidate I have also had to pay fees to campaign at 
some events.
 
I think lost in all this was some good advice from the District manager  
about Park Employees not taking sides while they are on duty.
 
The object of the rules should be to encourage use of our parks, even by  
politicians.
 
Thanks,
Scott Vreeland   Seward
 
 
It seems really odd that the broadcast or the web archive of MPRB is the  
only recorded archive available, there aren't minutes online available for  
Park 
Board meetings any more. So apparently to know the rules, it is my  
responsibility to watch all the archives of web casts which are really hard to  
search, 
watch broadcasts or attend the board meetings.
 
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[Mpls] Jason Stone

[Jim Bernstein]

The outrageous conduct of Jon Gurban and Bob Fine as they tried to
intimidate Jason Stone underscores the bullying tactics both men employ
to get their way. That they did so in such a public forum and with so
many witnesses is, in a bizarre way, a public service since it focuses
public scrutiny on a Superintendent and a commissioner who were clearly
way, way out of bounds!

What is especially troubling is that the Park Police, normally as solid
and fair minded group of people you could ever meet, were being used by
Mr. Gurban and Mr. Fine simply to intimidate Jason Stone and not enforce
any law.  They were put in an impossible position.  

Not only do Mr. Gurban and Mr. Fine owe and apology to Jason Stone and
the citizens of Minneapolis, they owe an apology to the Park Police as
well for using them as they did.  

Jim Bernstein
Fulton
Candidate for Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, District 6





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[Mpls] Re: Park Board policy on campaigning

[WJKAHN]

"Apologies if I missed it in the Stone/Gurban blizzard, but can someone post
the Park Board's permitting policy for campaigns (helpfully referred to in
Craig Cox's insta-report today...)?

This would be a useful document for further list discussion ... 

David Brauer
List manager"

It certainly would be a useful document, but none of the permit pdf files on 
the MPRB website deal with the subject. Searches on "rules," "policy," and 
"minutes" done on the site do not turn up anything relevant to political 
campaigning either. Scott Vreeland's experience on the subject and my own bear 
out the 
relative uselessness of the website for obtaining any useful information 
regarding rules, policy, archived meeting minutes, or even a link to the city 
parks ordinances on the municodes.com site. If we are going to see such 
documents, 
they will have to come from the MPRB or staff I guess. I will put in a call 
to my MPRB district commissioner, Walt Dziedzic; I'm sure he can provide the 
information given his fine record of constituent service, or at least he can 
get 
it from Gurban (given he says the permit info is out there for candidates in 
his e-mail to the Observer).

Bill Kahn
Prospect Park
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