[Mpls] Hiawatha Flats

[Mark Snyder]

On 12/5/05 4:27 PM, "David Brauer" <mplslist at tcq.net> wrote:

 
> While I'm not intimately familiar with Hiawatha's development plan, in
> general, I support greater density in transportation corridors, though
> that's not a blank check since the devil is so often in the details.
> 
> However, my views aren't that important in the current discussion; I think
> the views of the neighbors and elected and appointed officials matter much
> more.
> 
> One thing I know from my time in journalism is that the current Planning
> Commission is strongly pro-density and hardly anti-development. That makes
> it more significant that six of them voted against the Klodt project in
> committee, with only Carol Kummer voting for it.

I agree. And my understanding is that the Planning Commission's decision was
appealed to City Council and that a committee vote should take place next
week. It will be interesting to see how that plays out since there are
several council members who have Klodt contributions on record in their
campaign finance reports.
 
> Greg Abbott writes, of Wendy Wilde's suggestion for mandatory recusal when
> an official receives a direct or indirect political contribution:
> 
> There are non-trivial First Amendment problems with this proposal, not the
> least of which is defining what an interest group is.  Should someone who
> takes support from, say Progressive Minnesota, be banned from voting on the
> whole range of public issues that PM has taken a position on?
> 
> Me again:
> 
> I think this is a red herring. PM is a broad-based group with broad-based
> interests. To me, that differs significantly from a single developer with a
> single significant interest.
> 
> However, I agree generally with Greg, which is why I proposed voluntary
> recusal rather than mandatory. I'm not sure exactly where to draw the line,
> but I feel Ms. Kummer's vote was clearly on the wrong side of it.

I agree also with the idea of voluntary recusal. Which brings up the
question - if Kummer should have voluntarily recused herself because of the
Klodt contribution to PIP that reportedly was spent on getting her
re-elected, than what does that say for Sandy Colvin Roy, whose campaign
received a significant chunk of it's financing from contractors from another
Klodt Development project in Ward 12 (Hiawatha Oaks)?
 
> Also, a member of Park Watch informed me offlist that Billy Weisman's
> contribution was $5,000, not $10,000 as I earlier stated. My apologies for
> the error. There was some additional analysis that Weisman's share of the
> reform effort's money was far lower than that of Klodt's for the Board
> majority; I hope the details are shared with the list.

I looked at the two Citizens for Park Board Reform finance reports and
between them, about $20,000 was raised. There were two $5000 contributions,
Weisman's and one from Friends for Lisa Goodman. There was one $3500
contribution from someone named Cyrille DeCasse (sp?) and a bunch of
contributions ranging from $100-$275 to go along with about $4500 in
non-itemized contributions.

Compare that now to PIP - $25,000 total. $10,000 from Klodt, $10,000 from
Vance Opperman, $2000 from Art Petrie, three contributions between $150-$250
and about $800 in non-itemized contributions. Seems pretty clear that
without Klodt and Opperman, PIP would not have been a factor.

Mark Snyder
Windom Park