[Mpls] Budget mystery: Independent Boards are missing

[Allen]

Good Sunny Morning,

It's freezing cold outside in Minneapolis and going to get colder.  I 
hope everyone stays bundled up and warm despite our usual mid January 
cold spell.

As for this ongoing talk over spending, I do care.  I've grown tired of 
a government whose first reaction when it's spent what it has is "give 
me more".  And I'm frustrated to see so many people who want to do so 
simply because they assume government  = good.  That's no more fair or 
realistic than those who assume government = bad. 

One of the problems that any organization faces, whether it's a company, 
a non-profit, a social club or a city government is that it takes on 
it's own culture and personality.  Just like individuals get set in 
their ways, so do organizations.  I suspect this is one of the reasons 
why Thomas Jefferson had a soft spot for rebellion; he knew things 
needed to be shook up from time to time.  If we don't demand the city to 
do things better, it never will.  I feel like we're going back 20 
somethin' years when people didn't feel the city had a gang problem.  To 
some folks, it was painfully obvious that it wasn't just starting; it 
was a blown problem.  It took the New York Times, IIRC, dubbin' the city 
to get us to pull our collective heads out of the sand and face up to 
the issue.  The Star and Tribune has been trying to do the same.  
They've been trying to help the community have a dialogue on this, to 
get the ball rolling.  And I'm glad to see that some citizens are 
willing to take that torch up themselves. 

For those of you who think Victoria is a nutt case, maybe she is.  If 
she is, I'm happy to declare that I too am a nutt case.  Personally, I 
think those who think so are getting caught up in the symantics.  
They're getting distracted by a world they see as too black and white.  
Reality is we can criticize the police department for the way it spends 
it's money without meaning we hate the 5-0.  We can criticize the $5 
million spent on moving the Schubert without meaning we detest all 
things historical.  We can question tax breaks the city gives developers 
without meaning that we're against development.  So let's have this 
conversation and find ways to do things better.  In the long run it'll 
be better for everyone because it'll help ensure the city has more money 
to spend on the things that are important to it's citizens.

Allen Graetz
Lowry Hill




Victoria Heller wrote:

>Vicky Heller:  I sleuth around because the Minneapolis financial reports
>fail to disclose where public money is going.  My current mission is to
>identify $192 million of unidentified disbursements shown on the 2005 Truth
>in Taxation budget.  It's evident to me that no one on this List really
>cares, so rather than waste any more time, I'll take my research to the
>Legislature now that it's in session.
>
>  
>